Rev. Daniel Pinell

The lives of immigrant children in Marion County, Florida, will be enriched and impacted thanks to the efforts of Ocala’s Grace Episcopal Church, which recently received $10,000 in grants from The Episcopal Church and the David and Lisa Midgett Foundation. The monies, awarded for churches addressing racial disparity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, will go toward expanding computer labs to assist educational efforts.

The church, together with the Ocala Farm Ministry, will build the lab in a minority neighborhood outside Ocala.

The Rev. Daniel Pinell, associate rector at Grace Episcopal Church, was instrumental in forming the partnership with the Ocala Farm Ministry and securing the grants.

Grace’s rector, The Rev. Jonathan French, brought Pinell to Grace, Ocala, in January 2019 as part of its residency program and charged him with reaching the Latino community in the area.

“The migrant community lives at the outskirts of our area, very far away from us, so we have almost no relationships with them,” Pinell says. “But we have expressed interest in doing outreach. I came on board to help with that.” As he sought inroads to the community, he found one through a church member, Lise Kent, who connected him with the Ocala Farm Ministry.

“I worked with migrant communities in California,” Pinell says. “Lise connected me to that ministry and to Chaplain Bob Miller and his wife. Slowly, as I got to know them, they told me one of the things they needed money for was a computer lab, a pipe dream at that time. They only had one computer that was donated to them. They were trying to do tutoring with it, and it was not enough.”

After learning of the Becoming Beloved Community Rapid Response Grant from the Episcopal Church, available to address racial disparities due to COVID-19, the church applied and did not qualify. Pinell was thus surprised when he received notice that the grant was being awarded after all.

“They sent an email saying we didn’t get the grant,” he says. “But then they responded that ‘We changed some of the requirements, so you will get the $7,000.’”

Pinell believes the ministry will use the money to purchase five to ten more computers and desks, a much-needed boost for children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns. Research suggests that children suffered during the transition to distance learning, and the gaps for high-poverty and minority communities deepened. To that end, a secondary grant of $3,000 from the David and Lisa Midgett Foundation will assist in purchasing curriculum.

“Some of these children are going to school and don’t know how to read or write, and they’re embarrassed to admit it, so they’re staying behind,” Pinell says.

Miller adds that “most of the children we serve were born here. The children of farm immigrants will be part of our future, and it is important that we invest in their future spiritually and educationally.” He emphasized that the ministry is always looking for volunteers to help the children.

In addition to the generous grants, Pinell credits community members and volunteers for making a difference as well, including local attorney David Davila and his wife, who provided high-speed internet for the lab.

Pinell adds, “Grace Episcopal is very excited to partner with the Ocala Farm Ministry, which already has deep roots in this community, to improve or create relationships with other communities that are not close to us.”