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Straight Gate International Church, founded by Bishop Andrew Merritt & Pastor Viveca Merritt in 1978, was so blessed to be given the opportunity to enter this neighborhood 35 years ago. It has been quite a journey! And although there have been challenges, we've never been more excited about the future of this neighborhood than we are right now. That’s because of you and your resilient spirit that permeates throughout this neighborhood.

What it looked like in 1988…

A few pictures of Straight Gate’s multi-million dollar renovation of the vacant Adlai Stevenson building.

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A Focus on Education

Bishop Andrew Merritt founded Hope Academy in 1998, a charter school that is still in operation after 25 years, serving thousands of young people in the community.

 
 
 
 
 
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In 2011, Bishop Merritt’s son, David Merritt, helped start Give Merit, a youth development organization that provides $8,000 in college scholarships to students that complete its 4-year high school program, FATE. The FATE Program currently operates out of Straight Gate and is supporting 200 students this Fall.

Since May of 2020, Straight Gate has partnered with Forgotten Harvest to distribute over 3 million lbs of food to those in need.

Our goal as a ministry is to meet the needs of the people. Straight Gate, Renaissance of Hope (Straight Gate’s Community Development Corporation arm), and Give Merit initiated a six-month planning process in 2022 to define how Straight Gate can best serve residents through community spaces, housing, and programming.

However, the planning process is incomplete without your input!