Inreach/Outreach News – September, 2017

“For it is in giving that we receive.” Francis of Assisi
In late July and early August our congregation donated generously to five local and national causes.
We collected $623 to support the mission of The Innocence Project, a national program that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing, and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
The UUCV Inreach/Outreach Fund received $553 to make available monies that will assist folks in our own local and church community who are in need of help.
Congregants donated $528 to SMART Recovery (Self-Management and Recovery Training) which allows the group to meet weekly for a full year with a facilitator volunteer. Participants work on recovering from all types of addictive behaviors – drinking, taking drugs, overworking or any other habitual action that is harmful to one’s health or life balance.
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) received $402 to help pay for an intern to assist with their summer programs. NCSE supports teachers, engages scientists, and organizes local communities to ensure that evolution and climate change are taught without compromise.
Your donation of $599 to CAREGIVERS will help add a staff volunteer coordinator to ensure the wellbeing of the 495 seniors they serve. This organization is a model program of neighbors helping neighbors based on the one-on-one match between a homebound senior and a neighborly volunteer.
September Inreach/Outreach
Sept. 3: Family Promise of West Ventura County houses newly homeless families with children at a different host congregation each week. During the day the families stay at a centrally located day center where they work with a case worker to save money, repair credit issues, receive social services and gain stability. Funds would help buy supplies needed to give families beds and bedding to use at houses of worship where they will sleep. Bedding will travel with the families to each host congregation.
Sept. 10: Planned Parenthood of the California Central Coast Funds will assist patients who are low-income, uninsured, under-insured, unable to qualify for state or federal healthcare  programs or are enduring a hardship requiring them to sacrifice health care.
Sept. 17: B read of Life “Feeding Oxnard’s Hungry” provides 80-100 hot, three-course dinners to anyone who comes through the door each Sunday evening all year at this Oxnard site. More than 20 churches and organizations provide food and volunteers. Funding would help maintain this program.
Sept. 24: NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) Ventura County provides emotional support, education and resources for families affected by mental illness, and in addition strongly advocates at the local, state and national levels for a maximization of services for persons who are afflicted. Funds would help continue to offer without cost their classes and presentations throughout Ventura County.
Thanks for your donations, Anne Escobedo