Faith Communities & Neighborhood Involvement
Churches, mosques, temples, and other faith communities are part of the social life of our neighborhoods.
Many have served generations of residents through worship, education, food programs, social services, community gatherings, and neighborhood organizing.
The Kendall-Whittier Residents Association wants to build stronger relationships with faith communities and explore ways we can work together for the benefit of the whole neighborhood.
Ways We Can Work Together
Supporting Neighborhood Schools
Help students, families, teachers, and school employees.
Organize school supply drives and volunteer projects.
Support families affected by school closings and consolidations.
Help with safe routes to school, walking groups, and crossing guards.
Mutual Aid & Neighbor-to-Neighbor Support
Connect residents with food pantries and other existing services.
Organize help for older residents and people with disabilities.
Coordinate assistance during emergencies or extreme weather.
Share volunteers, supplies, transportation, and meeting spaces.
Community Gatherings & Relationships
Host neighborhood meals, discussions, and social gatherings.
Provide accessible places for residents to meet.
Help welcome new neighbors.
Create opportunities for residents of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs to get to know one another.
Neighborhood Improvement Projects
Organize litter cleanups and beautification projects.
Help care for public spaces, sidewalks, and pedestrian routes.
Support neighborhood gardens and environmental projects.
Work together on safety and quality-of-life concerns.
Community History & Cultural Connections
Document the history of neighborhood congregations and religious institutions.
Collect photographs, records, and personal memories.
Recognize the contributions of different religious and cultural communities.
Preserve stories about the role faith communities have played in neighborhood development and social change.
Working Together While Respecting Our Differences
Residents do not need to belong to a religious organization or share particular religious beliefs to participate.
We welcome religious and nonreligious organizations alike.
Partnerships should respect everyone's independence, beliefs, and right to participate. Community assistance should be available without requiring religious participation.
Faith organizations can bring valuable experience, resources, and relationships to neighborhood projects. But no single organization can speak for all the residents of Kendall-Whittier.
Our goal is cooperation, not control.
Help Us Connect
We invite neighborhood faith communities, their members, and residents interested in working together to share information about existing activities, available resources, community needs, and possible projects.
We would especially like to identify opportunities to support work already underway rather than create competing programs.