Congregations 4 Children in the Western NC Conference of The UMC, Western NC CAN (Child Advocacy Network), and NC Child is hosting a virtual event, “Faith into Action: Advocating for Children in NC,” on May 6 from 1 – 2 pm.
The event will include:
The Public School Forum of North Carolina has provided the 2020 North Carolina Education Primer as a fact-based introduction to educational policy in NC. It serves as a primary resource for elected and appointed officials as they tackle education policy issues in the General Assembly, in their local communities, or in their schools. The Primer is also intended to be a resource for all stakeholders interested in learning about public education in North Carolina.
Education policy involves a wide range of interconnected issues such as school finance and facilities, accountability and assessment, technology, teachers and so much more. In order to make well-informed and evidence-based decisions, policymakers and voters face the challenge of understanding many complex educational issues
Public School Forum of North Carolina
United Methodist Advocates for Public Schools hopes that this document will be a valuable resource to all United Methodist individuals and congregations in their ongoing efforts to support and advocate for our public schools.
On February 16th, NC Child and the NC Institute of Medicine released the 2021 Child Health Report Card. Among key findings that relate directly to our NCCUMC Congregations for Children (C4C) initiative are the facts that 44% of NC children live in poor or low-income households and 67% of NC schools have turned to distance learning. Quoting from the Executive Summary:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has touched the lives of all North Carolina families. As many families try to find their footing, the pandemic is putting a harsh spotlight on the deeply embedded barriers that create massive racial and economic inequities in health and well-being…. Before COVID-19, nearly half of children in North Carolina lived in a family that was struggling with poverty. Now, many more families are having a hard time meeting their children’s basic needs. COVID-19 is also changing the way children receive education across the state. While most schools have turned to full-time or part-time distance learning (67.3%), access to the internet and computers remains a challenge for many families, particularly for low-income households and rural communities….Approximately 1 in 4 families with children struggle to pay rent, while a fifth of homeowners with children are behind on mortgage payments. Twenty percent of households with children report not having enough to eat over the past week.”
Our faith calls us to respond to this reality. One avenue of ministry is our Congregations for Children (C4C) initiative that partners local churches with nearby public elementary schools to support low-income children and their families in a variety of tangible ways. For more information on how your church can establish a new C4C partnership or expand an existing one, visit our website or contact David Rockefeller at drockefeller@nccumc.org.
You are invited to the unveiling of the merger of NCCUMC’s two laity-led and clergy-supported ministries focused on supporting our public schools – Congregations for Children (C4C) and United Methodist Advocates for Public Schools (UMAPS). To emphasize their natural relationship with each other, they are now housed together within the updated C4C website. In addition to the three historic areas of focus for C4C (promoting K-3 literacy, providing basic needs for low-income school children, and encouraging church volunteers to serve as caring adult mentors) we have incorporated UMAPS as the fourth focus area – advocating for public education. UMAPS has its own unique web page to begin to educate congregations about public school issues and then mobilize them to advocate for public education in the public square.
Check out our new website today!
On December 1, 2020 an excellent Zoom webinar was presented by Knollwood Baptist Church in Charlotte as part of their ongoing “Faith in the City” series. “All Children are Our Children: The Community’s Role in Education” focused on the partnership among the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Public School System, Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, and the nonprofit organization “Imprint Cares” to create remote learning centers throughout the county to enhance educational opportunities for low income children.
The centers are located in parts of the county where they are accessible to low income children and their families and they are staffed by active and retired teachers and other qualified and trained adult volunteers who serve as tutors. Churches in our NC Conference are encouraged to consider ways to use this model to expand our church-school-community partnerships in support of our public school children. Indeed, “All Children are Our Children!”
Watch the Recording
Passcode: 5sMM@2Fn
Shared with permission.
