The Wellness Ministries of the UCC Newsletter | May 2019, Volume 4, Issue 4
(formerly The Faith Community Nurse Health Ministry Newsletter)
“The butterfly counts not the months but moments, and has time enough”. Rabindranath Tagore.
Spring flowers are blooming, and young emerging plants rise upward to welcome the growth and sustenance summer will bring. This is a season of marking celebrations within the cycle of life: Mother’s Day, commencements, graduations, Father’s Day, marriages, new ventures, joys and sorrows.
Read MoreFrom Church of the Red Rocks UCC:
Update on our project to address homelessness.
Vision – Provide temporary housing for homeless children and their families.
Name – Hope House of Sedona
Grant – CDBG through HUD for $300K; working on formal application to HUD, due at the end of May; will receive grant funds at end of year
Hope House of Sedona will eventually become a 501(c)(3), similar to Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition.
Thank you for your generosity. An anonymous donor gave $20K, with the idea of it being used as matching funds. Per HUD rules, all the money to be used property acquisition and construction must be committed by May 31st when the application is due.
Read MoreThe bipartisan Equality Act would provide federal nondiscrimination protection across key areas of daily life, including employment, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally-funded programs and jury service. It is a much-needed fix for the current uneven patchwork of state nondiscrimination protections.
Read MoreThe Rincon Migrant Shelter will be hosting informational training sessions on:
Tuesday, May 14th & Saturday, May 18th
Read MoreThe co-leaders of the trainings, Monica Velasco and AmyBeth Willis, share more about the trainings in this Facebook video.
Register here
Read MoreOn May 6th, Dr. Scott Warren will go to trial for charges related to his humanitarian work on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Join us at 8:30 AM on Monday, May 6th for a press conference outside the Deconcini Federal Courthouse (405 W Congress). The trial will begin at 10 AM and we ask supporters to join us in the courtroom as well as help us hold down a presence outside the building. The trial is expected to last either through end of the day on May 7th or possibly into May 8th.
Read MoreJPANet (Justice and Peace Action Network) asked UCC advocates to help us unpack the complex justice issues that we’re working on. This month Rebekah Choate, Associate for Global Advocacy and Education, looks at Sri Lanka after its civil war and the Easter bombings.
Read MoreApril 30, 2019 | 7:00 PM
Gateway Community College Auditorium, Building CH, 108 N 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034 map
Parking adjacent to the building. METRO Lite Rail goes right to the campus.
Panelists include three immigration attorneys from The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, a civil rights activist, a child trauma expert, a refugee aid director, and four Arizona state legislators, each with first-hand knowledge and experience.
Read MoreRev. Pamela Shepherd wants to invite you into something deeply important:
A Crucial Conversation about Taos' Water Future
6pm Wednesday May 1, Bataan Hall, Civic Plaza Drive
[right near Taos UCC]
Read MoreFrom the Rincon Migrant Shelter:
Do you know a student who will be home this summer and looking for something to do? We've got a fabulous new Internship opportunity available! This 10-week summer internship will provide high school (ages 16+) and college students with 16-20 hours a week of hands-on experience, supervision and training on immigration and migrant issues. This is an unpaid internship, but the experience will be priceless!
Email Sarah if interested.
Read MoreOur community is in continued need of support to help migrant families. It's important for activists and volunteers to know their rights to ensure the safety and comfort of the people we serve. Join the ACLU of Arizona and First Church UCC for a night of Know Your Rights trainings, art-making activities, and discussion about the plight of migrant families and asylum-seekers in Phoenix.
Read MoreOur migrant shelter has been bustling, offering a welcome and necessary respite for asylum seeking families. Volunteers are preparing three nutritious meals a day in the kitchen, children are laughing and running on the playground, parents are able to assure their loved ones far away that they are safe and find the support they need to continue on their journeys.
In the midst of a humanitarian crisis and divisive political rhetoric, we are grateful to be a sanctuary. Thank you for all you've done to make this possible!
Read MoreFrom Interfaith Power and Light:
On April 22nd at 12 noon your time we will join our voices together for a National Prayer for our Climate. Join us from wherever you are – your home, your place of worship, your office, your school, or outside under the sun.
Go here to sign up.
The Prayer will be emailed to you and you can download the Prayer on the Faith Climate Action Week website.
Read MoreRay and Martha Phillips, of First Congregational UCC Albuquerque, will be traveling this week to South Africa, where Ray’s grandparents, Ray and Dora Phillips, are being given the silver award of the Order of the Baobab by the President of South Africa. The Order is the highest honor given to a civilian SA citizen. Ray and Dora were US citizens.
Read MoreEach year on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day and are reminded of the sacredness of creation. As people of faith and conscience, we are called to care for this world that is the Lord’s.
Last year, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next 12 years could have irreversible catastrophic effects on our world. Now more than ever before, we have a moral duty to uphold our call to care for creation.
Read MoreSouthwest Conference was well-represented at Phoenix Pride!
Read MoreFrom Church of the Red Rocks:
This is an update on our Hope House project, temporary housing for families with children and, when space is available, homeless elderly women. We are working hard recruiting volunteers to help with our various task groups.
Read MoreReport from Phil Shea, SWC Disaster Coordinator, 11 April 2019
It was my privilege last week to represent the SWC in Puerto Rico at the annual meeting of Conference Disaster Coordinators and the UCC Disaster Ministries staff. Meeting in Puerto Rico was an opportunity to experience the beauty of the country and its people while also learning about the work the UCC and its local partners are doing to rebuild a country ravaged by back to back hurricanes. The UCC continues to send money and work teams to this country. $1.5 already invested and another $1 million anticipated over the next 1-2 years.
Read MoreThe Wellness Ministries of the UCC Newsletter | April 2019, Volume 4, Issue 3
(formerly The Faith Community Nurse Health Ministry Newsletter)
Read More
