Community
Upcoming Events
Intersectional Justice Team
Description: Our Intersectional Justice Team helps to focus the congregation’s efforts to promote social justice in our community. The team offers volunteer opportunities, conducts educational events, advocates for change and raises money for organizations working in this area. Team members serve three-year terms, with new co-chairs selected each year. In early 2023, the Intersectional Justice Team began a review of the existing structure of the team. The goals for this process are to clarify roles and accountability relationships, identify what’s working, and what may need to be tweaked or adjusted, and communicate these findings and any resulting changes to the congregation. This work is currently in process. Stay tuned to Currents and this website for more information as we have it. Staff: Rev. Lisa Bovee-Kemper
Current Partner Groups:
Erika’s Closet: Erika’s Closet is a grassroots organization that assists individuals transitioning out of incarceration and/or homelessness with essentials for the workforce and daily living. Services include new/gently used clothing, one-on-one job coaching, and other items needed to transition back into the community. The UUCC is currently hosting a Back-to-School Supply Drive on behalf of Erika’s Closet. For more opportunities for engagement or to donate, visit the Erika’s Closet website.
Compassion Closet (THE COALITION FOR CULTURAL COMPASSION): The Compassion Closet is a completely free service that provides clothing, shoes, hygiene items, diapers, and small household goods to community members in need throughout the Charlotte region. Why: Through our volunteer-led Compassion Closet program, we strive to combat systems of oppression through the redistribution of resources and by promoting awareness and understanding of systemically rooted inequities. We understand that, even beyond economic hardship, there are many obstacles that prevent access to daily essentials, such as lack of reliable transportation, language barriers, and varying degrees of technological literacy. We do our best to address these barriers by offering free delivery, utilizing forms in both Spanish and English and providing assistance with making requests. Click here for a list of items currently needed. For more information and to donate, go to the Compassion Closet website.
GreenFaith: GreenFaith is a worldwide coalition where people of faith and conscience collaborate and work for climate and environmental justice. GreenFaith seeks the transformation of our larger community by pushing for laws that promote renewable energy and pressing businesses to operate sustainably. Periodically, GreenFaith organizes local, national, and world-wide events where people of faith can press our elected officials and business leaders to address our climate crisis. The GreenFaith organizer in North Carolina is Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise, a UUCC member. Under the guidance of GreenFaith, the UUCC has formed its own GreenFaith Circle which meets monthly on the first Thursday from 7 – 8:30 p.m. in the Bernstein Room and via Zoom.
Watch this space and Currents for future engagement opportunities.