Durham Congregations in Action
(DCIA)

In a spirit of reconciliation and with gratitude for the gift of diversity, DCIA seeks to engage and empower people of faith to create a community of justice and peace through our common prayers and acts of compassion; and with prophetic courage to act as advocates for the dignity and well-being of all persons, recognizing that behind every human face is the face of God.

The next DCIA meeting will be 6:00 pm, Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 403 E. Main St. This evening meeting will be a celebration of the YO:Durham Summer Academy Graduation.

YO:Durham Fall 2008 Newsletter web viewable: http://yodurham.org/documents/yodurhamnews3b.htm Printable (double sided, set flip pages up, fold into booklet): http://yodurham.org/documents/yodurhamnews3b.pdf or call DCIA for copies.

DCIA is concentrating on YOUTH with two major projects:

Teen Teams Building Bridges DCIA has initiated Teen Teams Building Bridges for the faith community. They bring together youths of 13 - 17 years of age to build bridges and relationships across boundaries of race, economics, faith and culture. Activities include enhancing communication skills, sharing faith traditions, and working together on a community project. This initiative is open to all youths in any congregation in Durham. Please contact Rev. Pebbles Lindsay-Lucas at mailto:res00blq@verizon.net or 560-8153.

YO:Durham The Year of Opportunity for Durham Teens will redirect high-risk teens from current hazardous pathways and afford them an opportunity to shape their future in positive ways. Based on a successful Boston, MA program, YO:Durham will serve teens who are at risk of criminal involvement and/or academic failure or suspension. Many hundreds of teens in our area are at risk and several community groups have identified helping teens turn their lives around as a pressing and immediate need. This program is an attempt by DCIA to address this growing problem. Details see http://www.yodurham.org.

Be sure that you and your congregation are a part!
If you would like bulletin inserts, they are at http://www.yodurham.org/Documents/bulletin%20insert.pdf
or call the DCIA office at 688-2036 or email Susan Blackmon at mailto:susanblackmon@yodurham.org

Upcoming events and opportunities for service

• Comedy Show to benefit Youth Mentoring in Durham. Terry Tuff, 8pm Friday, July 25, 2008 at the NC Mutual Building. Tickets are $30 available at the Hayti Heritage Center Box Office or http://www.hayti.org. For more information, call 919-313-7899. Flyer at http://dcia.org/docs/comedy_show0708.pdf. A great way to have fun and support YO:Durham and Communities in Schools.
   
• All are invited to attend a special event next week, featuring young Christians actively involved in ministry with the poor, with peacemaking, and a radical vision of discipleship in American society that is inspired with the Spirit of Jesus. Their spiritual energy and uncompromising faith stimulates a powerful re-engagement of personal faith with American society. Their message is not about the November election ballot this year, but about the new social order they hear Jesus calling his followers to embody in our culture. On Tuesday, July 22, 2008, the “Jesus for President” book tour will make a “campaign stop” in the Triangle area, with a program at 7:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 101 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC. Details: http://dcia.org/docs/jesus4president.htm Flyer at: http://dcia.org/docs/jesus4president.pdf
   
• The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham cordially invites you to a luncheon roundtable on Thursday, July 24, 2008, 12PM to 1PM, in the Fellowship Hall of Shepherd's House United Methodist Church, 107 N. Driver Street, corner of East Main Street. (Please enter from back of church.) Lunch is provided and all are welcome. This month our guest speaker will be Mr. Jim Williams of Durham Friends Meeting. Jim, a HIPP and AVP facilitator, will talk with us about the "Help Increase the Peace Project" (HIPP) and "Alternatives to Violence Project" (AVP) Workshops in Creative Conflict Resolution Skills For Youth and Interested Adults that are currently underway in Durham. A question and answer session will follow. For more information go to www.avpusa.org  or www.afsc.org/hipp. We will also hear from: Rev. Melvin Whitley of Durham Acorn regarding a June 25 "Take Back Our Neighborhood" March in the Bulls Eye. AND Minister Tony Wood of Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church regarding the Bulls Eye Prayer Ministry.

  Please join us to prevent and rectify the injustice of violence in Durham.
   

• Building Materials Warehouse Sale: Sat., July 26, 7:30-10:30 a.m. The Habitat Hand-Me-Up Store is having their second building materials warehouse sale Sat., July 26 at 1400 East Geer St. (½ mile east of Cheek Rd. intersection). Support Habitat by purchasing gently used (and some new) merchandise including laminate flooring, windows, doors, sinks, commodes, cabinets, rugs, nails, and so much more!  For more information, visit http://www.habitathandmeups.org/ or call 919-403-8668.
   
• Over 550 people in North Carolina faith communities have signed the recent statement released by the NC Religious Coalition for Justice for Immigrants, with more coming in every day! Hundreds of North Carolinians have added their voices to this growing movement. Across the state, people of faith are taking a public stand to embrace their immigrant sisters and brothers, choosing hospitality over intolerance, justice over oppression, hope over fear. From the largest cities to the smallest towns, almost 200 bishops, clergy, pastors, rabbis and imams have signed the statement. But our work isn't over. We need your help to grow this movement. Please ask 10 of your friends and colleagues to sign on today. It only takes 30 seconds - and if all those people signed on we'd have a coalition of more than 5,000 people! We've included a short sample email below that you can cut-and-paste, if you'd like. We've also included a link to the statement and a "Frequently Asked Questions" about the Coalition. If you have questions or comments, please email cbeers@nccouncilofchurches.org. Thanks again for your support in these difficult times for our state's many immigrants. http://www.nccouncilofchurches.org/Forms/immigration_statement_form.html 

  Dear Friend, I'd like to ask you to sign onto an important statement that is uniting people of faith across the state - it's being distributed by a movement called the NC ReligiousCoalition for Justice for Immigrants. The Coalition is made up of people of all faiths, and our basic message is that our religious traditions call us to "welcome the stranger" and to love our immigrant neighbors instead of forcing them into the shadows. We're not a political group, but we do reject anti-immigrant sentiment in all its ugly forms. And we want our values to be reflected in how our society treats our immigrant sisters and brothers. Please take a stand with me - it only takes 30 seconds to sign on. Thank you.
  http://www.nccouncilofchurches.org/Forms/immigration_statement_form.html
   

• Responding To Climate Change Conference on August 23. Flyer http://dcia.org/DOCS/Responding%20To%20Climate%20Change%20Flyer.pdf and registration form http://dcia.org/DOCS/Responding%20to%20Climage%20Change%20Registration.pdf.
   
• The Durham Prison Resource Round Table (DPRRT), an all inclusive initiative, assists persons and families affected by incarceration(formerly, currently, or at-risk). The DPRRT seeks to strengthen communities by connecting the disconnected by improving housing, education and skills training, health services, employment,family and juvenile justice, and faith-based ministry. The group meets every 1st Tuesday of the month from 11-2 in the Fellowship Hall of Union Baptist Church, 904 N Roxboro St., Durham, NC. All participants are asked to bring a dish to bring to share with the group. Our meeting is divided into 3 sections: 1) networking and potluck lunch, 2) educational session about issues impacting prisoners, returning citizens and their families, and 3) subcommittee work on issues key to effective re-entry.
   
• YO:Durham Internships and Mentors Are Needed!!
  Year of Opportunity for Durham Teens (YO:Durham), one of the newest initiatives of DCIA, has begun their second year of the program. The program includes four components including the Summer Career Academy, Internships, Mentoring, and Service Learning Opportunities. YO:Durham is in need of your help! If you would like to provide an internship or mentor one of our students, please contact Susan Blackmon, Program Director, or Krystal Foxx, Mentor Coordinator at (919) 688-2036 or susanblackmon@yodurham.org and krystal.foxx@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
   
• YO:Durham needs your financial support
  The Summer Academy has just begun. This is the most expensive time of the year for YO:Durham and it does not have a large reserve. If you or your congregation can help, now would be a great time! Call (919) 688-2036 or email susanblackmon@yodurham.org or dcia@dcia.org or mail your contribution to YO:Durham, 504 W. Chapel Hill St., Durham, NC 27701.
   
• Alliance of AIDS Services - Carolina News: July 2008 http://www.aas-c.org/aasc/newsletter_intro.html.
   
• Here is a link to the latest issue of Housing for New Hope News: http://housingfornewhope.org/uploads/media/Housing_for_New_Hope_News_-_June_2008.pdf. In this issue: A Daughter’s Gratitude and a Counselor’s Appreciation: Homeless Prevention and Presbyterian Urban Ministry. Please Join Us for Breakfast. If you have difficulty opening the link, please visit http://www.housingfornewhope.org, and click on “Recent News.”
   
• Greetings from the Center for Reconciliation! The latest Update newsletter is available online at http://www.divinity.duke.edu/reconciliation/pages/aboutus/update.html.
   
• NC Reach is a program of full scholarship and support for foster youth. There are application materials and additional information on the website at http://www.ncreach.org. Applications for 08-09 will be accepted starting July 1. There are still 07-08 funds available that could be used (application deadline June 11) to pay back student loans taken out by eligible students in the 07-08 academic year.
   
• On September 26, 2008, the Women’s Leadership Council will present its 2008 “Celebrate Women!” Awards to outstanding women leaders in the Triangle. The event will be held at Embassy Suites in Cary at 12 Noon. And, we will again be recognizing the accomplishments of three Young Teen Girls.
  To nominate: http://dcia.org/docs/WLCluncheonNominationForm08.pdf
   
• Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham's "Bulls Eye Prayer" for the peace and healing in our neighborhoods suffering from gunshots, violent injuries and deaths. You are invited to join in public prayer every two weeks to affirm God's presence and purpose of peace in Durham. Please meet us every other Saturday from 5:00PM-5:45PM. Details and locations at http://dcia.org/docs/BullsEyePrayer.htm
   
• Durham Together for Resilient Youth (TRY) has launched a Community Awareness Initiative funded by the Durham Center ( http://www.durhamcenter.org ), the local agency that manages publicly-funded mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse services in Durham County . They would like to send you a powerful introduction to the latest thinking on substance misuse and addiction. This short presentation can help dispel some of the misconceptions about this disease that can keep people from getting the help and support they need. To receive a copy, please e-mail Wanda Boone at DurhamNCTRY@aol.com, call 919-491-7811or visit the web site: http://www.DurhamTRY.org
   
•  Think You Know the Facts Behind Child Poverty? Take a quiz from the Children's Defense Fund.
  CDF's Cradle to Prison Pipeline^® Campaign is a national call to action to stop the funneling of tens of thousands of youth down life paths that often lead to arrest, conviction, incarceration and even death. Poverty is the largest driving force behind the Pipeline crisis, exacerbated by race. Still, many of us are unaware of the facts behind child poverty in America. Did you know that a baby is born into poverty in America every 35 seconds? Did you know that almost 13 million — one out of every six — children in America live in poverty?
  Test your knowledge about child poverty in America by taking our quiz!
   
• CIS Communities in Schools Durham Newsletter featuring: Hurricanes support research-based summer reading program and Bank of America supports Durham READS http://dcia.org/docs/CISofDurham.htm
   
• Help Habitat Build Inventory

  The Habitat Hand-Me-Up Store in Durham’s Shannon Plaza sells furniture, appliances and household items that are in good condition. The store proceeds support building Habitat homes in Durham and Orange Counties. To schedule a time for free pick up of furniture and appliances call 403-8668 or visit www.habitathandmeups.org for store information.

  Habitat of Durham and Orange counties are now accepting donations of good building materials for a ReStore coming soon! These items could come from new construction, remodeling, demolition or your storage. To make a donation or for more information, contact Roxanne at rhall@durhamhabitat.org or 682-0516, ext. 113.
   

• Durham's Partnership for Children is accepting applications for the Pre-K programs for 4 year olds in More at Four, Head Start and Durham Public Schools for the 08-09 school year. Please share with your congregation, and contact Marsha Basloe for more information at 403-6960, ext. 234, or marsha@dpfc.net. Flyers in English and Spanish: http://dcia.org\docs\PreK2008FlyerEnglish.pdf and http://dcia.org\docs\PreK2008FlyerSpanish.pdf
   
• Check out Habitat Happenings http://dcia.org/docs/HabitatHappenings.htm
   
• The 2008 CROP Walk was March 16, 2008 (Palm Sunday).  http://durhamcropwalk.org. Now is the time to fulfill your pledges. Walkers, turn your envelops in to your recruiters. Recruiters make your deposits and send in your deposit slips. Congratulations on a successful walk!  Next walk March 22, 2009.
   
• Do you shop at Kroger? Did you know you can help feed the hungry just by leaving your receipt at the door? For the past 30 years, Kroger has has donated over $200,000 in Kroger gift cards to help feed the hungry of Durham. All you have to do is drop your receipt at one of the 6 Durham Kroger stores as you exit. Kroger donates one-tenth of 1% of all receipts to the Durham Department of Social Services, which in turn distributes it to folks at Genesis Home and Urban Ministries shelter. Approximately $1500-$2500 is donated every 3 months. Wow!

  No need to worry about identity theft as the boxes are locked and the receipt only contains the last 4 digits of your credit/debit card number. The receipts are picked up by members of Pilgrim United Church of Christ, tabulated and then totals are sent to Kroger's regional offices.

  Please help spread the word!
   

• Check out the news at Meals on wheels: http://www.mowdurham.org/
   

• The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham requests your faithful partnership.
   

• We at Communities In Schools (CIS) of Durham are interested in partnering with your church or faith community to help Durham’s youth succeed in school and prepare for adult life
   

• Gleaning opportunities almost always available.  For more information, Society of St. Andrew web site: http://www.endhunger.org/north_carolina.htm


 

• ONE The campaign to make poverty history
   

• Triangle Jobs with Justice has a listserve.  If you are interested, send email to trianglejwj@riseup.net


 

• The Durham Public Schools are seeking parent input.
   

• Scholarship availability for African-American students.

Items of interest from DCIA meetings and focus groups:

• Read Spencer Bradford's address and learn about his vision for DCIA http://dcia.org/DOCS/Triple Threats and Divine Response.htm

• Result of the Focus Groups - DCIA will concentrate on Youth

• About the Reconciliation & Re-entry (R&R) Ministry.

• Discussion of Justice during a DCIA meeting.

• DCIA and Public Education.

Durham Congregations in Action
504 W. Chapel Hill Street
Durham, N.C. 27701-3102
(919) 688-2036
DCIA@dcia.org

Last updated 2/25/2006 questions and suggestions to webmaster@dcia.org