[sws_picture_frame30 src=”http://bloomfield-garfield.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/community-members-michael-stanton.png” title=”” alt=”Michael Stanton” align=”sws_frame_left” lightbox=”” album=”album” video=””] [/sws_picture_frame30]

Michael Stanton is a man with a calling – to run a community-based, nonprofit ministry that addresses the physical, social, and spiritual needs of low- to moderate-income families in Garfield and East Liberty. A graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Stanton calls his ministry “Open Hand” because he sees it as “a radical declaration of the Gospel,” an effort to provide opportunities to those who haven’t been afforded them by society, “not in a condescending or paternalistic way, but with mutuality. Giving without releasing is charity.” Stanton’s ministry works with low- to moderate-income families who need assistance in becoming first-time homeowners, matching them with appropriate properties that are rehabbed by Open Hand, and helping them get the financial and spiritual support they need, even after they move in. “Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation plays a critical role in this, by helping us place families in stable or stabilizing neighborhoods. We can’t truly empower the families without that.”