May 2016 Connecting Report

Co-Co Connecting Report

 We have been incredibly busy these last few months, connecting with: the wider community, other organizations, the media and with each other!

• In February, we organized and hosted a public presentation by: Stand Against Stigma, called: “How to Strengthen Your Faith Community’s Healing Power Through the Lens of Mental Health”.

• In March we got a preliminary estimate from Wood Stone Construction for a complete demolition and remodel of the bathrooms. The estimate was for: $44,325.00

• We also applied for a Mc Connell Fund grant through Shasta Regional Community Fund but were told we would not qualify because we are a church. Will keep looking for other granting opportunities.

• Invited Record Searchlight staff Michelle Rogers and Jenny Espinosa to watch the play “Waiting For Godot”, at Pilgrim. Our hope is to inform the media of the different kinds of things we do at Pilgrim. This play was the first time Michelle had ever visited Pilgrim.

• In April, a group of Pilgrim volunteers, cooked, coordinated, organized volunteers and served dinner at the Partners Helping Families “Spring For Kids” dinner and dessert auction which raised money to aid expectant and parenting teens.

• Tyler has begun research for what it would take to get a “point of interest” sign up on Eureka Way to increase the visibility of our building and encourage the community and outside visitors to stop in and see it.

• Also In April, a group of volunteers organized and presented a community outreach benefit concert: A Tribute to John Denver, by John Hoover and the Mighty Quinns. The concerts raised $1,041.00 for: People of Progress, Planned Parenthood, Redding Resource Center, NVCSS Teen Services, Hope Van Outreach, Partners Helping Families, Girls Inc., Faith Works, One Safe Place and Southeast Asian Christian Ministries.

In addition to the busy past few months, we’ve also been planning for some future ways to connect. One of the obvious ways for us to connect with the community it to be present at community functions (festivals, walks, etc) and to keep and maintain a Pilgrim “booth” for these events, so that any volunteer, at any time, can borrow it.

We have begun to put together materials for a Pilgrim “booth”, so that any church members wanting to share Pilgrim with the community, will have access to the materials to participate in community events/festivals, etc. To begin, church members donated: a beaver costume (Chewy), a storage container to keep the items in and some materials to create Chewy masks with children, as well as a vertical sign holder. I would like to suggest $300 a year added to the budget to maintain these materials and add new items.

• On April 22^nd, a group of Pilgrim volunteers will introduce “Chewy” to the community at the Earth Day Festival at Win-River Casino. They created a poster board with photos of the actual Chewy and his habitat at Pilgrim.
• On April 23^rd, Chewy will be introduced to more people at the City of Redding’s Earth Day/Watershed Festival. He will sing “I’m Proud To Be A Beaver” and help kids create their owner beaver masks (all while sharing about beaver dams and why they are important) and volunteers will pass out information about Pilgrim and letters to senators about global warming and protecting the environment.

Going back through the previous two years of connecting co-co reports, I found reports about the visioning session the church did and some extremely valuable information, which seemed to get buried as the months went on. To quickly summarize (ref July 2014 Connecting Co-Co report) church members were surveyed about what they believed the priorities of the church should be in Redding:

• Homelessness and being in support of a homeless center in Redding,
• A tutoring center,
• A candidate’s forum,
• Young family focus (community building activities for families, hosting kid friendly events, progressive vacation bible school in 2015)

It would be a good idea to re-visit these visions and see how we could move forward with some action to make some more of them reality.

Lastly, with so many new visitors and members it is important that everyone make an extra effort to introduce yourself to someone you don’t know and to wear a nametag. This will help newcomers feel welcome and encourage others to do the same.

Connecting Co-Coordinators

Jessica French and Tyler Shuster