Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey | New York City, New York
Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel appointed serving in New York City, N.Y. as ministry facilitator for Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries.
The Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, in the heart of midtown Manhattan, supports a highly diverse community, including a vibrant Hispanic and Latino population comprising nearly 20 percent of residents. On the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, entertainment industry executives meet homeless veterans and young professionals work alongside Port Authority operators. Where the midtown bustle often drowns out the needs of Manhattan’s most vulnerable, Metro Baptist Church is a consistent and life-giving presence among the city's most marginalized white, black and Latino communities, and founded Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries in 1995 to serve as home for their many social ministries.
Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries seeks to encourage the social, educational, spiritual and economic growth of the Hell's Kitchen community, offering non-sectarian, multifaceted educational opportunities and direct services to community residents through partnerships among Metro Baptist Church, area residents, missions organizations and community service providers.
Lesley-Ann partners closely with Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries, offering support and leadership for their programs and investing in the lives of Veterans who have experienced homelessness, survivors of domestic violence and students seeking greater educational opportunities.
RMM’s many development efforts include:
Food Justice Ministry: utilizing a rooftop farm and food pantry to serve more than 700 people each month
After-school Programming: provides an encouraging work environment for local students and invests in their unique gifts
Urban Immersion Program: partnering congregations learn about marginalized communities and discover what God is doing in Midtown Manhattan. As local churches seek to discover and fulfill their God-given mission, Lesley-Ann will work to further develop the urban immersion program and provide avenues for holistic missions.
Living Well Life Skills Empowerment Program: In the past decade, homelessness in New York City has reached a level not seen since the Great Depression and Metro Rauschenbusch Ministries is responding to that call. Through the Living Well Life Skills Empowerment Program, Lesley-Ann works directly with RMM to offer a community of support among women facing homelessness because of domestic violence, which often isolates them from the resources and support necessary to emerge from abusive environments.
Homecoming Life Skills Empowerment Program: focuses on veterans experiencing homelessness. These committed support communities meet twice weekly for 14 weeks, journeying together in solidarity and seeking to reduce trauma levels.
Learn more about Metro Baptist Church and Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries at www.mbnyc.org. Connect with Lesley-Ann at lhixtommey@cbf.net.