Christina Musson

Christina Musson works for Metro Ministries – a Christian, non-profit organisation in New York, helping inner city children and their families.

We serve more than 42,000 children each week with Sunday School, child sponsorship, special programmes (feeding, school supplies, counselling, summer camps and job opportunities) and personal home visits. I was allocated my own neighbourhood with up to 300 children I visit every week.

It’s a tough environment plagued with drugs, prostitution, gang violence and gun crime. The people are stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty and are branded hopeless – but they aren’t hopeless; they just don’t have any hope.

Many of the children are born to drug-and-alcohol-addicted mothers and imprisoned or absent fathers. Most of the children have family members in prison or on drugs, know somebody who was murdered, and have nobody in their family who went to college. They have no positive role models.

Our goal is to reach these hurting children and convince them that they can be more than the streets destine them to become. We offer a message of salvation and love that encourages them to stay in school and away from the destructive or criminal behaviour they are exposed to every day.

When I visit them, I am able to mentor and build relationships with the children and their families while identifying and meeting their needs or connecting them with community resources.