How Will Your Care and Counseling Services Make an Impact in 2016?

May 3, 2016 | UA News

Article by Urban Alliance staff

Charis is an Urban Alliance initiative that helps people become emotionally healthy and resilient by collaboratively increasing the impact of local care and counseling services such as support groups, Stephen Ministries, pastoral care provision and professional counseling services. 

Through Charis, organizations receive support such as grant funding, technical assistance, volunteers, training and supplies as they implement strategies to holistically help people.

Each year, organizations in the Urban Alliance network are asked to complete an agreement to confirm their partici-pation in this initiative and an engagement form to indicate how they would like to improve or expand their services. 

The yearly Charis impact meeting is your organization’s opportunity to start or continue participating in Charis!

Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016 
Time: 9:00-11:00am (a continental breakfast will be served)
Location: Urban Alliance, 62 Village Street, East Hartford, CT 06108

Click here to register

Come celebrate how organizations that participated in Charis in 2015 made an impact in the community and learn how your organization can make an impact in 2016 by:

  • Strengthening your care or counseling services
  • Offering a new ongoing care or counseling service
  • Offering a class or workshop to increase emotional health and resilience
  • Sharing care and counseling resources with people who are seeking emotional support

Questions? Contact Jessica Sanderson, Ph.D, LMFT, Urban Alliance’s Senior Director of Research & Strategy, at 860.986.7461 or jessica.sanderson@urbanalliance.com

The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. โ€œThatโ€™s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, โ€œ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. โ€œWe all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,โ€ said Termine, โ€œWe could do better than this.โ€ That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, โ€œIf you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. Weโ€™re a small church โ€ฆ we canโ€™t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.โ€

Pastor Frank Termineโ€™s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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