Volunteers at UUCB have participated in a wide range of projects since our congregation affiliated with CCISCO. Within our church community, we continue with our conversations aimed at engaging more and more UUCB members with CCISCO. For example, we have been meeting with Merrin Clough, our Director of Family Ministry, and our RE committee, to explore ways in which families with children might become involved in CCISCO activities.

Members of our UUCB team often show up on Friday nights for “Ceasefire” walks in Richmond. Each Friday we start from a different church and we walk through the neighborhood spreading our message that we want for the residents to be “alive and free.” One Friday in April, our walk took us through a section where a 16-year old boy had recently been shot and killed. The neighborhood residents were nervous and anxious to talk with us. Afterwards, we met at the local church to debrief and to pray together. Many of us were in tears. This felt like a redemptive act for the community and for us, as we articulated a life-affirming message in the face of tragedy.

Other members of our CCISCO team have been engaged in planning for the proposed location of a University of California campus in Richmond. This project can be of great benefit to the people of Richmond, and we are working to obtain legally binding commitments that a share of the benefits will go to low-income and working people of Richmond and the surrounding communities. We sought and obtained commitments from the chancellor of UC Berkeley and the director of LBNL that the University will impose mandatory local-hire requirements on contractors, ensure access to the campus for locally owned businesses, and bring its educational programs into the local schools to ensure an educated work-force for the campus.

Our hope as a team is that engagement outside our walls through these and other CCISCO projects can bring renewed vitality to our beloved UUCB community.