EDGEy Conversation–Cawston United Church  A team at Cawston United Church has worked hard to make an old United Church building into the thriving community venture that it is. They told Zoë Chaytors all about it in her recent EDGEy Conversation with them.
The Treasure Chest Thrift store, as it operates now in Keremeos, British Columbia, is the product of over a decade of work done by different groups and denominations in partnership with each other at different times. Exclusively a Cawston United Church ministry since 2020, The Treasure Chest:- Is totally run by a group of 22 committed volunteers.
- Brings in, monthly, an average of 900 customers and $2800 income.
- Donates its net proceeds to nine community organizations, including the local Museum and Friends of the Library Societies, the local soup kitchen and food bank, two school lunch programs, and the Lower Similkameen Indian Band’s youth program.
The team that developed The Treasure Chest thought hard about the best way to do it for a small community that doesn’t many shopping options. They looked at thrift stores in other communities to discern what worked best, and modeled protocols and volunteer training on those findings. They made accessibility a concern, using an Embracing the Spirit grant to build a wheelchair ramp. They took care to design an environment that not only supports and gets support from local businesses, but lets the town know that The United Church of Canada strives to be (and is) a valid presence in the community.
Their effort has not been in vain. Feedback consistently shows that people enjoy the clean, well-organized shopping experience at The Treasure Chest and appreciate being able to find a good deal while supporting their community. And the volunteers enjoy what they do at The Thrift shop. “Sharing and giving back to people is a faith issue,” Cawston Pastor Sherri Fowler said.
The Treasure Chest has applied for more assistance from Embracing the Spirit this year. They hope to get money to do some upgrading on the store to better improve the safety of volunteers and visitors, and to increase their storage space to the point where they could start storing and selling furniture. Whatever Cawston United Church decides to do with The Treasure Chest Thrift Store, expect it to be both forward-thinking and community-minded–just like Cawston United Church itself!Watch Zoë Chaytors’ full EDGEy Conversation with Cawston United Church.
[Image credit:Canva]
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Grant Opportunities  Communities of faith should periodically visit the United Church Foundation webpage to stay updated on grant opportunities within The United Church of Canada and explore other opportunities to fund their work. Today we’re profiling an external grant that might be of particular interest to communities of faith.
Recognizing the challenges that Ontario faces as it rebuilds after COVID-19, the Ontario Trillium Foundation is making money available through the Resilient Communities Fund to help community-based organizations implement immediate, medium and longer term recovery projects.
Grants from the Resilient Community Fund can be used to fund projects that are between 6 and 24 months in length in duration and that help organizations:- Rebuild capacity
- Enhance resiliency
- Meet community need
Applying organizations can ask for an amount from $10, 000 to $200,000 with a maximum of $100,000 per year.
The application becomes available November 9, and is due December 7, 2022. Learn more about the Resilient Communities Fund.[Image credit: Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash] |
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Reflections from the EDGE – Lifelong Learning with Sarah Levis  I have a confession: I collect courses.
I’m not doing anything that’s leading toward another degree or diploma, though I haven’t ruled out work toward either of those in the future. But I discovered a while ago that experienced and knowledgeable people, sometimes working through colleges and universities and universities, sometimes through distribution websites, sometimes on their own steam, teach course for a relatively low (sometimes no!) fee about all sorts of things that interest me:- Writing and editing
- Website design and coding
- Graphic design
- Entrepreneurship and business
- Religion and philosophy
- Social justice (effective advocacy, disability justice, racial justice, power and privilege)
- Project management (the latest one I’m taking!)
I love about learning new things, I live alone, and even if I’m just watching television, I like to be doing something— so I’ve always got a course on the go in my spare time.
We talk a lot in this newsletter about the educational opportunities that EDGE offers. One of the reasons I like working at EDGE is there’s a commitment to providing high-quality learning opportunities to anyone who would like to have them, including the staff. I have taken Chris Rotolo’s Theory of Change course three times, and each time I come away with a deeper understanding of the material than I did before and a deep respect for the people I’ve met and the work they want to do in their communities of faith. I love being the tech person for Leading Adaptively with Clara King because I get to listen in on the course— I take away something different each time. I’m hoping to have the time to sit in on some of the Curiosity Cohorts in the new year, because they’re so popular and I’m— well, curious!
I’m also grateful to be the EDGE team member tasked with making our learning materials available on the CHURCHx learning platform, because I’m learning so much from that process— not just about CHURCHx and online learning, but about the Signpost Series that the EDGE team so carefully put together before I started here, and how useful it is for communities of faith looking to move in a new direction. I’d encourage everyone to look at EDGE’s page on CHURCHx, knowing that if cost is a barrier to taking our courses, you just have to contact us— we think that everyone should have access to this information, so scholarships are available.
I’m proud to be a lifelong learner! How about you?
Sarah Levis
EDGE Team[Image credit: Courtesy of Sarah Levis] |
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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. |
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