Cathedral Outreach in the Community
Palomar is Oklahoma City's Family Justice Center located at 1140 N Hudson Ave in Oklahoma City. Just a few blocks North and West of Saint Paul's cathedral. Palomar offers free services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, elder abuse, and child abuse. People visiting Palomar have the option to sit and visit one on one with a Client Navigator who acts as a guide, connecting you to the help you need from various community agencies. Children Navigators and playrooms are available to children of all ages while an individual receives services at Palomar. Palomar has created the Animal Advocacy Program in conjunction with the Oklahoma Humane Society to help families fleeing domestic violence and have pets.
Initial discussions about a Family Justice Center began in 2012. Palomar's grand opening occurred in February of 2017 with 15 onsite partners. It has been in operation for three years, now has 35 partners, and has served over 10,000 clients. One of Palomar’s partners is the YWCA, which St Paul’s also supports. In December of 2019 Maps 4 package passes which allocates funds to build a new Palomar facility.
In the spring of 2020 Janie Morris contacted Saint Paul's outreach committee with a Palomar request. Saint Paul's outreach committee members Deacon Marilyn, Deacon Gerald, Dick Opalka, Keith Stelting, Rick Hill, and Vestry liaison Jay Wilkinson agreed to help. With the support of Saint Paul's and its members we were able to put together 20 feminine hygiene kits and 20 cleaning kits for the clients of Palomar. In July Janie Morris was informed, from the director of client services at Palomar, that they had given away the last of the “amazing hygiene kits and asked if we could help again. The Cathedral was able to respond and we put together an additional 40 feminine hygiene kits and supplied plus 20 bottles of laundry detergent which Paloma also expressed in need for.In the month of September we put together and delivered emergency food kits for Palomar. Despite the challenges of COVID, St. Paul's is still meeting the needs of our community partners and putting outreach dollars to work for the benefit of God's
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