The 2010 DCIA Seed Money awards were distributed in December to eight projects that the selection committee determined were offering additional approaches to growing needs in our community.

• Habitat for Humanity's recent start-up of "Brush With Kindness" to repair up to 20 homes of low-income households that are elderly or disabled, and keep their homes habitable.

• Housing for New Hope for their new "Real Change Not Spare Change" street outreach to connect the homeless living outdoors with services and shelter.

• Genesis Home's recent "Circles of Support" project to support families who have moved from shelter into their own housing by matching them with support teams of area congregations, and so keep them out of homelessness.

• Durham's Partnership for Children will be offering Lunch & Learn meetings with educators and leaders of local congregations to equip them for raising the reading and development levels of children in their congregations and neighborhoods.

• Durham TRY's "Living in Future Tense" will work with 20 teen mothers from low-income families in need of parenting education and connection with area services.

• Changing a Generation Outreach Ministry supplying emergency clothing and supplies for elementary children.

• St. John Presbyterian Church's new Community Garden project, the second community garden start-up by a congregation that has been subsidized by DCIA. Low-income household access to and involvement with locally grown food as a source of nutrition will be a growing area of attention for Durham's health and economy.

• World Relief of Durham received Seed Money to extend its work with refugee families in Durham. As global immigration continues to impact Durham, the work of organizations like World Relief and Church World Service/ CROP with refugees will face increasing demands and offer new opportunities for Durham.

CURRENTLY SPONSORED MINISTRIES

YO-DURHAM

YO-Durham (Year of Opportunity for Durham Teens) offers high-school students  at risk for lives of poverty opportunities for a summer academy about life-choices and work-readiness, a year-long paid internship with a local business, and relationships with volunteer mentors and staff to support them in building successful lives at work, school, and home.  YO-Durham is a member program of the Durham Achieving Results with Youth and Children (DARYC) collaborative.



DURHAM ECONOMIC RESOURCE CENTER (DERC)

DERC offers a deep-discount warehouse where Durham’s residents in poverty can purchase goods for basic needs at a fraction of retail, and where the unemployed can develop job skills for sustainable employment.  Launched in 2008 by Ending Poverty Durham with DCIA.



Durham Alternatives to Violence Project/Help Increase the Peace

AVP/HIP is a local affiliate of an international volunteer program offering experiential workshops in conflict resolution,  communication, transformative responses to violence and injustice, and personal self-awareness, with particular service focus on incarcerated adults (AVP) and on teenagers (HIP).

CROP WALK

Since 1975, DCIA has sponsored this local walkathon for world hunger and disaster relief through Church World Service, which uses 75% of the funds raised for crisis assistance and development work around the globe.  DCIA distributes 25% of the funds raised to various local hunger relief programs, currently amounting to almost $50,000 per year. This year's recipients: Changing a Generation Outreach Ministries, Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Genesis Home, Housing for New Hope, Interfaith Hositality Network, Meals on Wheels, Mt. Calvary UCC Food Pantry, Society of St, Andrew, Threshold, and Urban Ministries of Durham.

COMMUNITY AGENCIES RESOURCING

In addition to CROP funds, DCIA allocates funds from its general budget and government programs for local organizations addressing poverty, hunger, and homelessness.  It focuses Seed Money mini-grants to new initiatives offering promising remedies to unmet needs in ways that people of faith can engage with their attention and resources.  Local organizations recently supported include, among others:
Alliance of AIDS Services, Antioch Builds Community, Asbury Temple UMC Food Pantry, Changing a Generation Ministries, Christian Assembly Food Pantry, Durham Crisis Response Center, Food Bank CENC, Genesis Home, Habitat For Humanity, Housing For New Hope, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Meals On Wheels, Mt. Calvary UCC Pantry, On Fire For God Mission, Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, Salvation Army, Society of St. Andrew, Threshold, and Urban Ministries of Durham.

INTERFAITH RELATIONSHIPS AND EVENTS

DCIA has sponsored partnership relationships between congregations of different races and traditions to build mutual understanding, respect and care among God’s children.  DCIA also sponsors interfaith events and meetings, such as scripture studies, topical dialogues, and social meals, to deepen participants’ experience of their own faiths and that of others.