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Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Blog

  • Faithful Readiness: Engaging the Whole Community in Emergency Management

    Posted by David Myers on September 30, 2011 at 12:03 PM EDT

    What does it mean to be faithfully ready? What does it mean to engage the whole community in emergency management and hometown security?

    We posed these questions to more than 300 faith, government, first responders, community and youth-serving organizations who gathered over a three-day period to learn and share strategies to prepare individuals, families and communities for all hazards.

    As a part of National Preparedness Month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center hosted its Faithful Readiness Conference in partnership with FEMA Region IX, US Customs and Border Protection, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS Intelligence & Analysis, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, AZ State Division of Emergency Management, Pima County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, the America Red Cross and a host of faith-based and community leaders in Tucson.

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  • A Model of Integrated Care for Veterans with Community Clergy

    Posted by E. Terri Lavelle and Jason Nieuwsma on September 29, 2011 at 3:26 PM EDT

    As a registered nurse and ordained clergy, I know the significant impact building spiritual care into a health care model will have in meeting the needs of Veterans and Service members in a holistic way.  Engaging local faith leaders as learners and teachers in this development, we ensure Veterans get the best care at VA facilities and in the communities where they and their families reside.

    So, it was a great privilege to participate in the VA Mental Health and Chaplaincy Forum on September 1-2, 2011, The forum was led by Dr. Keith Meador, a psychiatrist and practical theologian, and Dr. Jason Nieuwsma, a psychologist who serve as Director and Associate Director of VA’s Mental Health and Chaplaincy program, respectively.  The forum consisted of experts from a myriad of professions:  chaplaincy, mental health, primary care, government, uniformed services, academia, and community organizations.  Attendees examined the relationships between spirituality and health and brainstormed about how chaplains, clergy, and other spiritual care providers might be optimally integrated into a public health model that better addresses the complex health needs of Veterans, Service members, and their families.

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  • White House Hosts Call on the Benefits of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

    Posted by Joshua DuBois on September 29, 2011 at 9:58 AM EDT

    Did you know you can help bring an average $1,145 in refunds per a return by hosting a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance event in your local community?  The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships recently held a conference call about the important benefits this program can have for local individuals through a conference call we co-hosted with the Stakeholder Partnerships Education and Communications Office within the Internal Revenue Service.

    Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites offer free tax help to low- to moderate-income (generally, $49,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Certified volunteers sponsored by various organizations receive training to help prepare basic tax returns in communities across the country. Nationwide, more than 3 million taxpayers received free tax help from a variety of partners working with the IRS last year.  Within the group, faith-based partners completed and filed over 205,000 volunteer returns last year. While it is great that faith-based organizations are already participating in the partnership with IRS, a 20% increase in returns prepared by faith-based partners could yield approximately $47 million in refunds for their clients. 

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  • Improving Health Care through Faith-Based and Community Partnerships

    Posted by Mara Vanderslice Kelly on September 28, 2011 at 4:00 PM EDT

    Faith-Health Meeting

    Attendees look on as Nancy-Ann DeParle, assistant to the president and White House deputy chief of staff for policy welcomes the health care leaders to the White House. Also pictured at the head table are (L-R) Mara Vanderslice Kelly, acting director, HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the president and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships September 20, 2011. (by HHS, Chris Smith)

    From our first trip to Memphis, Tennessee to see a faith-health partnership in action to other visits across the nation, bringing together health care leaders who are proven innovators in pursuing creative and successful public health partnerships has been a goal for our Center this year.

    Along with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships we welcomed a group of 16 hospital CEOs and senior leadership from health care systems across the country to the White House to discuss improving health outcomes through faith-based and community partnerships.  The one-day event gave attendees an opportunity to seek and share best practices on partnerships and programs that work for the good of the community.

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  • 9/11 Anniversary Inspires Campuses to Launch Challenge with ‘A Day of Construction’

    Posted by John Kelly on September 28, 2011 at 10:41 AM EDT

    SUNY-Cortland

    SUNY-Cortland students and staff work with Cortland community members to lift an end gable off the ground.

    Amidst the vigils, prayer services, and moments of silence commemorating 9/11, many Americans honored the fallen by serving their communities. In conjunction with the National Day of Service on September 11th, a number of colleges and universities nationwide chose to launch their year-long plans for the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

    President Obama issued the Campus Challenge in spring 2011 out of his conviction that hands helping together build strong bonds between people of different backgrounds. Students and staff at colleges, universities, and theological schools answered the call this summer by designing their plans to better the community this year. Rather than focusing on doctrinal differences, these students of different faiths planned to work together in service, a comfortable setting for positive conversations about their identity, beliefs, and traditions.

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  • JCC Grows (Gardens)!

    Posted by Julie Curti on September 15, 2011 at 2:35 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the LetsMove.gov blog.

    When the word community is in your middle name, it’s only natural to start gardens producing healthy, nutritious foods.  The Jewish Community Centers (JCC) Association has taken on the First Lady’s Let’s Move Faith and Communities challenge of growing community gardens. They have started JCC Grows, a healthy food and hunger-relief initiative involving the creation and/or expansion of community gardens at JCCs and JCC camps. Most of the produce grown is donated to emergency food providers to help those in need. JCC Grows also promotes fresh food collection drives and connects JCCs to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers markets.

    JCC Garden 1

    The A-B-C Garden at the Jewish Community Alliance of Jacksonville, FL helps support an early childhood curriculum.

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