Love, Hope and Community - This appeared to be the theme of the day during the Love “D” Eastside Community Resource Fair. The fair was held on November 19, 2011 at the UAW Local 7 located on Conner at Vernor. The Riverfront East Congregational Initiative (RECI) sponsored this event which highlighted resources and support offered to residents in the community by the seventeen congregations of RECI and various other community organizations.
The Congregations of RECI work together to strengthen the viability of the near eastside riverfront neighborhoods by providing resources and promoting the assets and businesses in our community through the “Luv D Eastside” campaign.
The Community Resource fair allowed the opportunity to:
- Meet the RECI Eastside congregations and learn about resources provided by each congregation. A Resource guide was developed for distribution and is available.
- Develop relationships with congregations, businesses and community agencies
- Support members of our community facing economic hardship
- Learn about resources and assets in our community
- Support businesses in our local area and strengthen the economy in OUR community!
Organizations that participated in this event included Walgreens Pharmacy, UAW Local 7, We Want Green Too, The Sunday Dinner Company Restaurant, Project LIVE, (support for housing/foreclosure) On the Rise Bakery, Gleaners, U Snap Back Program, Kidney Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Detroit Area Agency on Aging and Franklin Wright Settlements.
The event was well attended and featured two businesses, The Sunday Dinner Company and On the Rise Bakery. They have been newly endorsed by RECI as “Community Assets” to promote and support. They meet specific criteria and are recognized for their dedication to our community as they provide valued services which build our economy and strengthen our neighborhoods.
Riverfront East People’s Festival exhibits
bounty of neighborhood assets
The Liaisons of the Riverfront East Congregational Initiative (RECI) hosted a successful June 11th “People’s Festival” community event with fifteen other groups working in the community. The goal of the event was to bring together residents in the Detroit Neighborhood Fund area (I 94 to the River and Woodward to McClelland) of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to celebrate and share the love, assets and resources in the community. Over 400 people, families and children joined the event which included food, games, a raffle, teen activities, storytelling and music. An information tent hosted many groups working in and providing resources to the community as well as workshops on topics such as community mediation and community gardening. A choir made up of members of many of the congregations performed for the event and have been invited to additional events to perform together.
In January 2011 ten congregations committed seventeen Liaisons to the RECI project representing diverse religions including Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Jewish, Church Of God In Christ (COGIC) and Baptist.
- Christ Church Detroit
- Church of the Messiah
- Genesis Lutheran Church
- Iroquois Christ Lutheran Church
- Isaac Agree DT Synagogue
- Jefferson Ave. Presbyterian Church
- Judah Temple Church of God in Christ
- New Calvary Baptist Church
- Sacred Heart Church
- St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church
The goal of RECI is to:
- Effectively work across congregational and neighborhood boundaries.
- Collaboratively develop and/or support efforts to address community concerns.
- Work to combat social inequities related to religious, racial, gender, age, class, geographic and other differences.
The Liaisons have established a strong commitment to working collaboratively to build a sustainable, inclusive community around their churches and temple. Having established these strong relationships and a deeper understanding of the assets and strength of their community the Initiative is ready to begin the next phase by recruiting 10 additional Congregations and 20 new liaisons to extend the work of the group. For more information or to request an application for your congregation to participate contact Deb Williamson.