Kirk Centre Builds Community in Edmonton
Kirk Centre in Edmonton, Alberta looks like a church. However, it hasn’t been one since 2019. At that time, the Kirk United Church community of faith decided to disband, knowing that the building would stay active as a community hub. Today, Executive Director Sally-Anne Woolnough works hard to keep the non-profit Kirk Centre a multi-faith, multi-community place that offers rental and meeting space to community groups and organizations. As the Alberta government relaxes restrictions around COVID, she hopes that hosting events like community concerts will also soon be a possibility.
Community hubs like Kirk Centre are an asset to towns and cities because they provide a place for people to gather, to build relationships and create partnerships, to learn from each other’s expertise, and to support social enterprise and other activities to build community. Community groups and organizations need space in which to conduct their activities, and space can be very expensive; at the Kirk Centre, it’s subsidized. Six different religious organizations currently use the Kirk Centre for worship, and a variety of other groups also use the building to provide support, services, and activities for people of all ages. All groups are welcome, providing their base values align with those of Kirk Centre.
Getting people to see the building as anything but a church can be difficult, but that hurdle fits into Sally-Anne’s mission for Kirk Centre for the coming year: get people into the building and show them what it can offer, build awareness of its potential, and develop the necessary partnerships, programming, and community involvement to get operations back to pre-COVID levels.
So actually, it is a community of faith after all!
Can you help? Visit the Kirk Centre website to find out more. And watch Zoë Chaytors’ conversation with Sally-Anne Woolnough!
[Image credit one: Kirk Centre]
[Image credit two: Google Maps]
|
|
Hopeful Economics UnConference, March 3 and 4Time is running out to get your ticket for the online event of the season!
The Hopeful Economics UnConference is an opportunity for changemakers interested in talking with like-minded people about why so many people’s basic needs go unmet in a world with so much abundance, and what can be done about it. At the beginning of each session, you’ll hear a Fishbowl Discussion to get you thinking and generate ideas. But you’ll take it from there - the participants set the discussion topics during an UnConference. Be a part of the movement!
Come sit in community and explore possibility with us! For more information or to register visit the Hopeful Economics website.[Image credit: Hopeful Economics] |
|
Federal Government Grants United Church of Canada Money to Unlock the Potential of Faith and Social Innovation  The United Church of Canada is already a thought and action leader in how to use faith and social innovation to create a more just and loving world. We can increase our potential to do good exponentially now that we’ve received a Federal grant of over $130,000 to explore this subject!
The Canadian Government has authorized the funding of a project that will highlight The United Church of Canada’s unique suitability to work in collaboration with social innovators and the social finance system to improve our communities, countries, and the world. The project will involve talking with Canadian social groups, and planning, drafting, and making accessible to the social innovation sector new research and documentation (in English and French) that will spur new ideas, methodologies, educational events, and ways of collaborating for change.
We have the capacity, experience, and know-how to meet the expected results of using this grant money: - 50 stories, case studies, and toolkits in both English and French
- Two research studies and reports that are accessible and ready for distribution
- 16 innovation clusters that meet on a bi-monthly basis
- 500 communities of faith re-orienting their assets and resources to the social funding and social innovation eco-system
- 5,000 Social Purpose Organizations connected with the larger ecosystem
- Two events - Hopeful Economics Unconference and Engage
- 10,000 Canadians with a new language around and understanding of social innovation and social finance
- Curiosity cohorts
- ESDC final report
We are excited about this grant and how what we do with it will further let Canada know that faith organizations are an important part of the social innovation sector, with much to offer from partnering with them. We will keep you posted as our activities start and opportunities to get involved arise!
[Image credit: Hanna Busing on Unsplash.com] |
|
Embracing the Spirit is a learning network and innovation fund. It offers funding and support for innovation ideas hatched out of faith communities and communities in ministry. Some of the stories and best practices that are happening throughout The United Church of Canada are shared in this newsletter. If you have an idea that you want to launch, reach out and tell us about it! Proposal deadlines are quarterly, and due on the 15th of the month: January, April, July and October. Find out more. |
|
| Sign up for the Embracing the Spirit newsletter! |
|
|
| Donate to The United Church of Canada and help fund life changing work around the world! |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment