Social Responsibility Fund Helps Dreams Come Alive

Congregations have dreams about making the world a better place. When, as sometimes happens, those dreams exceed the congregational budget, another way has to be found to make them happen. One of those ways is the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility.

This year the fund is helping such dreams come to life in 24 congregations. Programs that it supports range from raising awareness of poverty to supporting a coffeehouse for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens.

The fund approves about 70 percent of the applications, says Hillary Goodridge, program director of the UU Funding Program, of which the Fund for UU Social Responsibility is a part.

The fund said yes two years ago when the Rev. Marcia Fenker Curtis had a vision of helping homeless people in North Carolina. With $9,000 from the fund, the Rev. Curtis, a community minister, organized three groups of people from Eno River UU Fellowship in Durham (734 members) who volunteer in homeless shelters. Two groups conduct classes in getting and keeping jobs, finding apartments, and stress management. The third group reads to and plays with homeless children. Hundreds of homeless people have taken courses and come to play sessions.

"People appreciate our presence," says Curtis. "The comment we get most often is 'Please keep coming back.' One man said, 'Please don't never give up on us.' This program would not have been possible without the UU Funding Program."

All Souls UU Church, Kansas City, MO (326), has served as a conduit for three UUFP grants totalling $19,000 in support of the Congregational Partners program which helps congregations of different faiths and races build relationships.

"Our partnership [with an African Methodist Episcopal church] has greatly increased awareness in the All Souls congregation of racial justice issues and the social isolation in which the white and black communities often seem to co-exist," says Kathleen Butterfield, chair of the All Souls Racial Justice Committee and co-chair of the partnership committee. "We have made progress in reaching out to one another." There are 17 Kansas City partnerships involving 36 congregations.

The UU Funding Program encourages grant proposals that include meaningful congregational interaction with the community. "Doing social justice work authenticates our faith," says Goodridge.

When a church consultant encouraged First Universalist Church, Woonsocket, RI, to open itself to its low-income, multiracial community as a matter of survival, the congregation began the Center for the Arts and Spirituality, providing programming in health, arts, music, and spirituality. The church provided $20,000 from its endowment plus three years of salary for a part-time director. The UU Fund for Social Responsibility provided $17,500.

Hundreds of local residents come into the church weekly for yoga, stress-reduction, healthy cooking, and child-rearing classes; and art and music workshops. There's also an art gallery and space for hip-hop, folk, and rock music concerts. Some visitors have joined the church. Down to 15 members when it started the center, the church now has 50.

RESOURCES

Contact the UU Fund for Social Responsibility at UUFP@aol.com or (617) 247-6600.