Sacred Places Fall 2009 | Page 9

EXEMPLARY SOCIAL SERVICES HOSTED BY SACRED PLACES Kinder Academy at Bustleton United Methodist Church by Ann DeForest The Bustleton neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia looks at first glance like a tidy suburban enclave of modest brick homes and well-kept yards. With its white spire and wide-columned portico, Bustleton United Methodist Church reinforces that first impression. But this neighborhood of working-class families, home to a growing number of immigrants newly arrived from India, Russia, and Eastern Europe, has been hard hit by the current economic crisis. And the Bustleton United Methodist Church child care center, run by Kinder Academy, Inc., sees the economic impact in the children it cares for and educates. “We serve the working poor,” says Leslie Spina, d