Planetary Chaplain Award
Mair Honan, co-founder of Grace Street Ministries in Portland, ME, has received the 2010 Planetary Chaplain Award from The Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME), a non-profit interfaith seminary. Since 2006, Pastor Mair has walked the streets of Portland and regularly visited the city’s homeless shelters in order to offer consistent and compassionate ministry to those who most people wish to ignore. Her focus is to decrease boundaries between the homeless and the more fortunate, and to build on common experience and kinship. Honan’s mission is not to duplicate the social services that exist, but to offer spiritual support through presence, prayer and advocacy. This may mean providing a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card to a man who feels safe watching CNN in Dunkin’ Donuts, finding someone a used bicycle to make getting around easier, taking a group to the beach, or keeping a car filled with clothes and the necessities of survival. Pastor Honan will receive a $500 contribution towards Grace Street Ministries with her award. For more information about the ministry visit http://www.gracestreetministry.blogspot.com. For more information about ChIME visit http://www.chimeofmaine.org.
