Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering that supports works of justice and compassion in the United States and abroad. Two-thirds of the NIN receipts support program initiatives and direct grants offered through the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries. More directly, NIN makes available grants up to $3,000 twice a year.
CUCC will collect its NIN offering on October 6. NIN really does make a difference, and not simply for people far away. The NIN website tells this story out of Asheville.
Just Economics (JE) is a small non-profit, advocacy organization whose mission is to educate, advocate, and organize for a just and sustainable local economy in Ashville, NC. JE works on issues of economic justice primarily centered on root causes of poverty including wage disparity. In 2010, Just Economics received a Neighbors in Need grant for their Economic Justice program entitled Voices. Voices is an eight-week leadership training program designed to help low-income people find their Voice and advocate for themselves and others. Bea is one of the people this program helped: 13
"Bea moved to Asheville with a very young son to escape a dangerous domestic violence situation. She was unable to live near her family for safety reasons. When Bea first moved to town, she lived on the streets with her child. Bea often felt very alone and vulnerable; sometimes they stayed at the Salvation Army, other times they slept in a doorway or under a bridge."
"Eventually Bea moved into a public housing development. She was unable to receive certain services because North Carolina policy requires a single mother to file for child support in order to be eligible. Bea refused fearing that the man who repeatedly beat and threatened to kill her and her child in the past, would find them."
"Bea felt trapped in a system that often seems hopeless. She joined a Voices class in 2010, where she learned about community organizing and the slow road toward creating systematic change. But she felt like if she was not part of working for change, she did not have a right to complain about what was wrong. Soon, Bea found herself addressing Asheville City Council members in a meeting where they were discussing living wages for City contractors. She spoke eloquently during the public comment period about extending the living wage requirement to workers on City contracts. That night, City Council approved the measure! Bea continues to find her voice. Her leadership skills have blossomed. She has assisted with the Full Plates project which dramatizes America’s wealth disparities."
- From newsletter article by Jo Perry
CUCC will collect its NIN offering on October 6. NIN really does make a difference, and not simply for people far away. The NIN website tells this story out of Asheville.
Just Economics (JE) is a small non-profit, advocacy organization whose mission is to educate, advocate, and organize for a just and sustainable local economy in Ashville, NC. JE works on issues of economic justice primarily centered on root causes of poverty including wage disparity. In 2010, Just Economics received a Neighbors in Need grant for their Economic Justice program entitled Voices. Voices is an eight-week leadership training program designed to help low-income people find their Voice and advocate for themselves and others. Bea is one of the people this program helped: 13
"Bea moved to Asheville with a very young son to escape a dangerous domestic violence situation. She was unable to live near her family for safety reasons. When Bea first moved to town, she lived on the streets with her child. Bea often felt very alone and vulnerable; sometimes they stayed at the Salvation Army, other times they slept in a doorway or under a bridge."
"Eventually Bea moved into a public housing development. She was unable to receive certain services because North Carolina policy requires a single mother to file for child support in order to be eligible. Bea refused fearing that the man who repeatedly beat and threatened to kill her and her child in the past, would find them."
"Bea felt trapped in a system that often seems hopeless. She joined a Voices class in 2010, where she learned about community organizing and the slow road toward creating systematic change. But she felt like if she was not part of working for change, she did not have a right to complain about what was wrong. Soon, Bea found herself addressing Asheville City Council members in a meeting where they were discussing living wages for City contractors. She spoke eloquently during the public comment period about extending the living wage requirement to workers on City contracts. That night, City Council approved the measure! Bea continues to find her voice. Her leadership skills have blossomed. She has assisted with the Full Plates project which dramatizes America’s wealth disparities."
- From newsletter article by Jo Perry