Wednesday, May 7, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.

Join the HUUC Social Justice Team as we continue our exploration of issues surrounding native Americans. Our America: Reclaiming Turtle Island is an hour-long documentary special that will inform viewers about Native sovereignty, the inherent authority of American tribes to govern themselves and honor and preserve their cultures and traditions. Told through the lens and imagery of National Geographic Explorer and photographer Kiliii Yüyan, the special is produced by Nzinga Blake, Race and Culture executive producer at ABC Owned Television Stations, and edited by Tracy Quezada. Our America: Reclaiming Turtle Island will aim to inform and serve those underrepresented in the United States today by amplifying the voices of the Indigenous activists featured in the documentary.

Discussion will follow the film. You are encouraged to attend whether you have attended any of the other films or discussions. We will also discuss next steps for this team.

If you have questions, please contact Tracy Jo.

 

We continue to serve at-risk youth and young adults in partnership with Found Village. We receive rescued food from La Soupe and transform it into nourishing meals. Our next classes are Thursday, April 13th and Thursday, May 4th at 3:00. Please contact Tracy Jo if you would like to assist the youth in the kitchen. Tracy Jo’s email address is:

Our Mission Statement: Heritage Healthy Cooking Classes encourages people from all walks of life to think about where their food comes from. We believe that nutritious food should be available to all people every day. We provide basic culinary skills to empower people to cook healthy, simple foods with less waste. We teach people how to cook thoughtfully with love and care for themselves and the environment, to help them realize the importance of being present while eating and sharing food with others.

3/20/2023

Tuesday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m., and/or Saturday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m. Registration required.

Greater Anderson Promotes Peace (GAPP) and Anderson Churches for Racial Unity (ACRU) continue their exploration of homelessness, displacement and gentrification with The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless on two tours of Over-the-Rhine, led by Dr. Mark Mussman.

(Choose one or both options)

Virtual Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement Tour
Tuesday, April 18, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
Register at https://virtualOTRtour.eventbrite.com

In-person Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement Walking Tour
Saturday, April 29, 10:00 a.m. to noon
(with Melissa Mosby)
Register at https://in-personOTRtour.eventbrite.com

Both tours will cover Cincinnati history, including Native American, colonial, and immigration history, and the influence of racism on housing. Both tours include:

• an introduction to the Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement,
• visiting places and hearing stories about how people have come together to ensure residents can stay in the neighborhood,
• learning about Hostile Design,
• learning about the impact of lost public space, and
• understanding of direct and indirect gentrification seen through real-life examples, including the West End.

Registration is required for each tour. See the links above.

For more information, visit the Tours page of Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. You can also visit the GAPP page on this event.

Email: gapp.peace@gmail.com

3/15/2023.

Do you feel the urge to contribute something to Inter Parish Ministry (IPM), but aren’t quite sure which items would be most useful?

Maybe you don’t have time to get to the store, or it just slips your mind, or you have some items to donate but didn’t get to church that Sunday to drop them off?

Problem solved!

IPM’s website has been updated. Either interparish.org OR the newer URL https://www.ipmfoodpantry.org will get you there.

Once there, you can hover over the “Things We Do” tab and voilà! You will see a drop-down menu with various categories. Among them are 3 programs for which IPM needs contributions:

• Power Pack Program
• Backpack Program
• Fresh Start Kitchen

Each of these has a description of the program and an Amazon wish list tab which will take you to Amazon. On Amazon, there is a list of items needed for that category. Then it’s just a matter of selecting the items you wish to donate, checking out (select IPM Food Pantry’s Gift Registry Address) and the items will automatically be sent to IPM – you don’t have to enter any other delivery info!

It takes only a few moments—you can do it in your pj’s—and IPM will get items needed. It’s a Win-Win!

3/13/2023.

Heritage UU Church will again be a part of a team that works together to care for the homeless in Cincinnati. We are partnering with St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church to provide support to Found House (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)).

The mission of Found House is to provide homeless families with emergency shelter and hospitality through interfaith communities, and to work with families to find and retain stable housing.

Our next opportunity is the week of October 15-22nd, and we need your help.

Each night we will need meals to feed approximately 12-15 people. We also need folks who like to play and entertain children, and we need those who can spend the night with the guests at St. John’s (one male and one female).

If you are interested in volunteering, and would like more information, please contact Rae Jane Araujo. Call her at 513-638-5746, or email:

2/23/2023.

Once again this year, Heritage UU Church collected cash donations which were used to buy toys for the Inter Parish Ministry (IPM) Holiday Stores.

Merry Leone, Manager of Volunteer Operations at IPM Food Pantry, shared her thanks to everyone who involved in this effort. She provided a video that was made about the holiday event.

If you have questions about IPM, talk with Bob Drake.

12/22/2022.

Just a reminder that Joann Meyer still has a “shoe box” under the coat rack in the rear hall to collect shoes. Most donations go to a national organziation called Soles 4 Souls. They take all and any shoes in any condition, and send them to those in need all around the globe. Check them out at www.soles4souls.org.

But sometimes, Joann finds pairs that can be put to immediate use and sends them to Inter Parish Ministry (IPM) and sometimes to Maslow’s Army. So instead of throwing unwanted or old shoes away, please bring them to church (keeping them out of a landfill) and put them in the blue box. We can make a difference!

November 2022.

A recent NPR story regarding predominately white churches using music by Black composers, especially Negro Spirituals composed by enslaved Africans, addressed ways that churches have begun to take offerings to support education programs in predominately black communities and schools. The goal is to pay a kind of royalty or reparation to the descendants of enslaved people for the use of their ancestor’s music.

Inspired by this, the Heritage Social Justice Collaborative discussed how our existing outreach offerings could be a tool for us to pay for the use of the traditional spirituals and other royalty-free traditional music by black composers sung by our choir and contained in our hymnal. It was decided that we would dedicate quarterly outreach offerings to music education programs that serve predominately Black communities. We began this process with the offering on March 27, 2022, going to The Music Resource Center of Cincinnati. This local afterschool center in Walnut Hills offers classes that span learning to play an instrument to composing and recording music. You can listen to some of their original recordings on the New Music tab of their website.

Our next music education offering will be the end of June. Possible recipients could be a youth orchestra in a predominantly African American neighborhood or a music scholarship fund for Black students. If you have recipients you would like to recommend, please contact the Outreach Coordinator.

3/28/2022.

For years, Heritage UU Church supported the Inter Parish Ministry choice food pantries with donations of food and household supplies. The pandemic put a halt to these physical donations, though we continued to support IPM with our outreach offerings. Now IPM is accepting food and supply donations again.

To add a little fun, you might want to donate food especially for meal kits, as IPM describes below:

Did you know? IPM is once again accepting food donations! Right now we are working to supply our new program, IPM Plates! We LOVE to provide families with a complete, nutritious meal in a bag containing all of the ingredients, ready to prepare with simple instructions. Please help us create Taco Tuesday and/or Barbecue Night by donating the following: taco shells, taco seasoning packets, canned chicken, barbecue sauce, and hamburger buns! Thank you for your support of IPM and our neighbors in need. We are so grateful when you join us in feeding families and nourishing souls.

You can also donate other food and supplies. You can always look online to find a list of IPM’s current needs.

Donations can be delivered to either the Newtown or Amelia locations:

IPM Newtown Location
3509 Debolt Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45244
Monday: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

IPM Amelia Location
1075 W Ohio Pike (on K of C Drive)
Cincinnati, OH 45245
Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

If you have any questions about the Heritage Church involvement with IPM, please talk with Bob Drake, Kay Inskeep, Regina Pugh, or Mike Roberts.

6/18/2021.

Did you know that Heritage Church has an account with Kiva.org? Kiva is an organization that uses crowdfunding to make loans to remove barriers to financial access around the world. They currently work in 77 countries and provide loans that support a variety of needs including small businesses, education, home improvement, healthcare, the arts, and agriculture.

Utilizing an outreach offering in May of 2017, Heritage opened a Kiva account with $604 and made four loans. Loan recipients were chosen with the help of Heritage youth. As those loans were paid back, new ones were made. Since 2017 Heritage Church has made 23 loans to 16 countries totaling $1575.

Loans must be at least $25 and we will soon have enough money in our account to make a new loan. If you have a young person in your home who would like to help choose the next recipient, please contact the Outreach Coordinator.