Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center (GBNCC)

The Compassionate Center was founded by Rev. Pierre-Louis Zephir in 1996.

The mission of the Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center (GBNCC) is to provide relief to the most vulnerable, distressed and underprivileged, undeserved, under-represented people of the greater Boston area, with a particular emphasis on the Dorchester’s and Mattapan’s  community, Immigrants,  the youths , and the vicinity.

 Our aim is to promote the health, education and welfare of our community and also to serve as a supportive link to the wider U.S. social and economic system.

The Compassionate Center was founded by Rev. Pierre-Louis Zephir in 1996.

The Compassionate Center was founded by Rev. Pierre-Louis Zephir in 1996 as a voluntary ministry of the Church of the Nazarene Friends of the Humble to respond to the spiritual and socio-economic needs of its community and particularly of the residents in Boston. As a faith-based institution affiliated with a worldwide body of believers, the Church of the Nazarene believes that churches cannot focus solely on the spiritual dimension of human kind. Therefore, the Compassionate Center was created to address the broader needs of the people the church serves and the greater community

In 2002 the Center incorporated as a tax exempt non-profit organization and created the Dorchester Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) as part of a larger faith-based movement to introduce immigrant and minority youth to college opportunities, making them their family’s first generation of college applicants.

By 2008 the Church and the Center had far outgrown their rented space at the First Church in Codman Square in Dorchester. With the help of the congregation and visionary leadership, the Church of Nazarene Friends of the Humble purchased a building in Mattapan, in the heart of Boston’ community.

Today, the GBNCC and the Church of Nazarene Friends of the Humble serve as a “Community Hub” for Boston’s growing  residents community. Our boards of directors have met and together have pledged to coordinate a capital campaign that will expand our facilities to meet our ever growing needs.

Impact

As  concerned citizens and faith leaders, we  traced  the root causes of factors that are jeopardizing the health and welfare of  the community  and take a vested interest in building the capacity of our  the members  through outreach, direct service  and education. We strongly embrace the idea of reaching out and addressing the needs of the whole individual in a culturally complete and sensitive way.

Our primary participants are immigrants and other Caribbean families, as well as African Americans. Many of these families work multiple jobs and are active in their church communities. Among the Haitian immigrants, a large percentage is clustered in the allied health fields, especially as nursing home health workers. Many also work in delivery (such as school bus drivers) and other low-skill service sectors. Their children are forced to make their way as double minorities in school and on the streets.

 The Church of Nazarene Friends of the Humble meets in Sunday Services with an attendance of 300-350 people; the entire congregation is either Haitian or of Haitian parentage.  The primary languages spoken are Haitian Creole, French, and English respectively.

Typically, our youth programs serve 150 students per year ranging from after-school and summer enrichment for elementary school students to mentoring, arts, and college prep for older teens.

Our adult education programs offer English language training, as well as computer literacy and basic literacy for over 100 immigrant adults per year.

Our health education programs employ a “train the trainer” model and our community health outreach teams reach thousands through our church based networks. Our focus this year has been on breast cancer awareness and diabetes and obesity prevention. In the past, GBNCC has taken the lead in teaching the  community about HIV-AIDS prevention.

Our food pantry serves 700 or more families per month, reflecting the enormous need in our community for basic services. In 2011, we served distributed nearl $1 million worth of food to families and individuals.