Casas Adobes Congregational Church

The MISSIONS COMMITTEE is looking for dedicated individuals who enjoy working with a friendly group of members to promote all missions of Casas Adobes Congregational UCC.  We meet the second Sunday of the month after second service.  We not only allocate funds to various charities locally, nationally and internationally but also promote a Habitat for Humanity build day, collect school supplies for a local elementary school and facilitate our biggest yearly project – Angel Tree gifts for prisoners’ children.  We break for two months in the summer and host coffee fellowship in August.

BorderLinks is a bi-national, non-profit leader in experiential education that strives to raise awareness and inspire action around global political economics through various programs.  These programs focus on cross-border relationship building opportunities, issues of immigration, community formation and development and social justice in the borderlands between Mexico, the U.S., and beyond.  Casas Adobes supports the pre-school daycare program where over 200 pre-school children need childcare and education.  We also support the lunch program which has a twenty year history of serving a free, hot lunch to school-age children.  Schools in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico operate on half day schedules with two shifts of children being served along with their pre-school siblings.  Casas sponsors a field trip to Nogales, Sonora, every other year.  This mission is local, regional, national and international in scope.

Good Samaritan Fund is used at the discretion of the minister to help members of the congregation.  Non-members are referred to Northwest Interfaith for help.

Habitat for Humanity At Habitat for Humanity Tucson, they know that a safe and decent home can change everything for a family.  Children feel free to bring friends home to play.  Instead of worrying about housing, families begin to consider college education for their children, employment training for themselves, and have time to volunteer in their neighborhood organizations.  Habitat families become taxpaying neighbors who value their homes and their neighborhoods..  Through the hard work of volunteer construction crews and zero-interest mortgage loans, low-income families can acquire a safe, decent home.  The families’ mortgage payments are returned to a revolving fund, allowing more homes to be built.  Casas Adobes is sponsoring our Second Annual Build Day in March.

Interfaith Community Services has been in existence for over 20 years providing a model of diverse faith communities working together to serve seniors, the disabled and families in financial need.  Their services include: transportation, emergency financial assistance, mobile meals, a food bank, gifts of love, health advocacy, business help, caregiver relief, friendly phoning, friendly visiting, grocery shopping, handy helpers, intergenerational pen pals, and reassurance calls.  ICS’s services cover metropolitan Tucson and Pima County.  Not only does Casas Adobes give generously to ICS but also many members are very active in their fund raising activities including our illustrious Casas Adobes golf team!

New Beginnings for Women and Children is a non-profit , nonsectarian organization, founded in Tucson in 1987 to help homeless women and their children become economically self-sufficient.  To help clients become permanently independent the Shelter offers emergency housing for up to 90 days.  They assist mothers in finding employment within their first two weeks, and help the family with its other needs.  The families can stay in Transitional Housing for up to two years, as they learn the skills and find the resources that lead to self-sufficiency.  Aftercare is offered to families for a year after they leave their housing.  The Children’s Program, with activities for all ages, from babies to teens, helps kids learn how to make healthy, positive choices that can open doors to success in their own lives.

Primavera Foundation is a nonprofit social service agency that makes its services available to people regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, political beliefs, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, or age.  The Emergency Men’s Shelter is a 105 bed facility for men providing three meals a day, laundry, clothing, and referrals.  Participants can enter the Primavera Works Program and may qualify for an extended stay at the shelter up to 90 days.  A Relief and Referral outreach center for homeless individuals provides a mailing address, mail and message pick-up, telephone, bathroom and distribution of donated toiletries, blankets and emergency food boxes.  Casa Paloma is focused on unaccompanied homeless women providing showers, food, clothing, hygiene supplies and referrals to other services.  The Blue Door Voucher Store provides clean clothing and shoes donated by community members to homeless and very low-income persons at no cost.  Transitional and Affordable Housing is offered at various locations throughout Tucson to disabled veterans, to homeless women, to sober men and women who are working at least 25 hours per week, and to qualified families with children.  Primavera also assists first-time, low-income homebuyers with establishing sound credit and the complex processes of purchasing a home.  Primavera Works connects motivated homeless workers with employers in the community. Additional support includes free lunches, bus passes, and job readiness classes.  PREP, Prisoner Re-Entry Partnership, reintegrates nonviolent ex-prisoners into the community by providing employment, training, housing, and advocacy.  The New Chance Program helps homeless people released from correctional facilities to attain self-sufficiency by offering counseling, case management, like skills, employability training, and housing.

TIHAN, Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, provides HIV education and awareness to more than 2,700 people.  They offer support to 270 people living with HIV/AIDS.  They involve 484 volunteers and donors in our community who invest in TIHAN as a means of building a healthier and more compassionate community.  They provide a voice for people living with HIV/AIDS working to end the stigma of HIV within religious communities.  TIHAN builds bridges of hope and support.