News and Views

Yolanda Perry, or “Madam Perry” as her students called her, is a retired French teacher and lay minister at Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis. During her time in the school system, she was always concerned when students showed up in the middle of winter, but not dressed like it.

She serves as president of the United Women in Faith group at Asbury, which hosts an annual drive to provide schoolchildren with proper winter coats. She took the helm of UWiF in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head, pushing other UWiF chapters to halt operations, she felt something.

“I saw students who would be inappropriately dressed for the winter, or students who had come to the community from other locations, warmer climates, and they wouldn't have the appropriate clothing to wear,” Perry said. “That was always something that was inside of me.”

“There was something inside of me that said ‘At this time more than at any other time, we need to do and be what we say we are,’” she added.

The winter of 2020 set in, and she knew children would need coats. So United Women in Faith got to work.

With about 100 coats, which were stored by size in Perry’s living room, UWiF set up a drive-through coat giveaway at Mills-Parole Elementary. People drove to the school, and kids would hop out of the car to get sized for a coat, with masks on, of course.

The following year, the effort grew. United Women in Faith gave out nearly 120 coats, but Perry knew that the need for winter coats extended far beyond the driveway of Mills-Parole.

A natural grant writer

Perry had never written a grant before, but as an educator used to teaching students to follow instructions, she decided to use some of what she had taught over the years.

Through her persistence and spurred on by her fellow UWiF members, the coat drive won a $10,000 federal grant. With that money, the effort expanded to a second location at Monarch Elementary, and nearly 300 coats were distributed.

In 2023, they did not receive the grant, yet remained determined to continue the coat drive.

“What are we going to do?” Perry asked the UWiF. “Are we going to let the schools down? Are we going to say ‘we had it one year, but we aren’t doing it again?’”

Coats and money, though, came in droves. Members of Asbury, community members, and strangers heard about the coat drive and graciously donated to the UWiF effort.

Fast-forward to 2025, and 350 coats were distributed to children at multiple schools in Annapolis. An original coat team of four has turned into an operation of 15. United Women in Faith is still harnessing the resources of their faith community and the greater Annapolis community to get coats in the hands of kids who need them, even when they least expect it.

Sheila Clinton, the recording secretary for UWiF, is one of the 15 people who make the coat drive happen. Clinton had been a member of Asbury for 40 years, but never joined United Women in Faith until she learned about the work the group does to support teen mothers. She also helps sort coats for the coat drive. For her, these actions are vital to supporting the church’s work in the community beyond simply offering a monthly tithe.

“I love the whole process of it, because we’re stacking coats and sizing them, putting them in bags,” Clinton said. “Then we put them in bigger bags, and we’re toting 10-12 bags off to a school. It’s doing real work, more than just contributing money toward an issue.”

While at a luncheon on the day we interviewed her for this story, Perry received a $100 check from someone who asked if she was still getting coats for kids.

“It just blossoms,” Perry said. “People see that we’re doing this work, and they respond, wanting to support us.”

The coat drive is also a matter of relationship-building between the UWiF and local schools. That includes connecting with school counselors, trusting that the group will bring coats, and coordinating with parents to determine whether their child needs a coat.

Perry’s term at the head of Asbury’s UWiF ends this year, but she will continue her work as the coat coordinator.

Laboring for the harvest 

Rev. Michael Parker, Senior Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis, grew up with a ministry that emphasized that a person can’t be ministered to spiritually until their physical needs are met.

At Asbury, he is reminded of when Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Efforts like the coat drive exemplify a congregation committed to the needs of people outside the four walls of the church.

“It shows we are not just invested in ourselves, but we’re invested in the community that permits us to come into it and worship our God on Sunday,” Parker said. “The thumbprint that Asbury continues to have on the community in different factions of the community is absolutely amazing.”

In Parker’s case, he had heard of the work Asbury did before he even joined the congregation. A close cousin of his serves as the principal of Monarch Elementary, one of the schools served by the coat drive, and had told Parker stories of a generous congregation committed to providing his students with coats.

Now, he leads the congregation that provides the coats.

“Only God could forge this the way that God did,” Parker reflected.