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Community Outreach Ministry

"I enjoy working with the Community Outreach Ministry because we focus on making immediate impact and change at a local level.  My children are involved in making their own community better by serving meals at the Wright Center and walking for change at the CROP Walk.  It is an impact that helps our community grow and our family thrive.  I believe it is one of the most important ministries at CUCC." - Laurel 

The Community Outreach Ministry (COM) introduces the congregation to opportunities to serve in local, state and national communities, as well as the wider United Church of Christ. In these many ways CUCC, through its Community Outreach Ministry, is living up to the scripture according to James 2:17-18 with its good works, so that its faith may live.


Some of COM's ongoing and past projects include:

  • Providing monthly meals to the Helen Wright Center for Women (3rd Sundays).
  • Bringing food bags for the Urban Ministries Food Pantry (1st Sundays).
  • Packing fresh produce for the Interfaith Food Shuttle.
  • Providing welcome baskets for homeless families transitioning to permanent housing.
  • Working to address physical and fiscal needs for Method Day Care Center.
  • Helping manage Rich Park Housing for low income residents.
  • Organizing CROP Walk for CUCC members.
  • Holding alternative fairs for Christmas gifting.
  • Donating one-time special funds for church members or local community residents.
  • Organizing and collecting major UCC offerings.

Urban Ministries Food Pantry

A shopping cart in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall holds "basic food bags" of groceries destined for the food pantry at Urban Ministries. To those basic bags, Urban Ministries adds assorted meats, fresh veggies, canned foods, and other staples – enough to feed a household for a week. Each basic food bag contains:
  • 1 lb. rice
  • 1 lb. grits
  • 1 lb. dried beans 
  • 2 cans of beans (navy, pinto, kidney, etc. but NO GREEN BEANS)
  • 1 jar peanut butter
  • 2 cans tomatoes
  • 1 can carrots
  • 2 qts. dried milk
  • 2 cans or jars of applesauce
  • 2 boxes of mac & cheese

Bonus Items and Laundry Baskets

Interact, the Women's Center, and PLM Families Together are asking for contributions of non-food necessities. When you shop for Urban Ministries food bags, please consider picking up a "bonus" non-food item too. COM is providing a box next to the food bag dropoff area in the Vaughn Wing for bonus items:
  • Toothpaste
  • Toothbrush
  • Liquid hand soap
  • Bar of DOVE soap
  • Dishwashing liquid soap
  • Sponges
  • Paper towels
COM has also put a laundry basket in the Vaughn Wing for household items for the clients of PLM Families Together. In addition to the "bonus items" listed above, please consider contributing any of the following to the laundry basket:
  • Laundry baskets
  • Laundry detergent
  • Trash cans
  • Brooms
  • Towels
  • Toilet Paper
  • Shampoo

Helen Wright Center for Women

Join us every third Sunday (except March and October) as members from CUCC prepare and serve a meal to 40 women who are moving from homelessness to a brighter, safer future. No cleanup is required. This is a great job for a family with school-aged children! The Wright Center is a ministry of Urban Ministries of which CUCC was a co-founder. This small, intimate shelter is a great place for families to volunteer and for children to learn that helping other people is fun. Many CUCC children have grown up cooking and serving a meal annually.

Method Child Development Center

MCDC was founded by congregations committed to providing quality childcare to all children, regardless of race or income. Designed to allow children from all backgrounds to learn and play together, MCDC continues to provide outstanding childcare. Community UCC was a founding congregation.

RICH Park Housing

Raleigh InterChurch Housing was born in 1968 with the dream of creating low cost housing where anyone could live without regard to race. Five congregations - three black and two white - joined together to utilize a federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program to build 100 apartment units on Method Road.

In 2008, RICH Park Housing celebrated 40 years of ministry. With the end of the HUD program, RICH Park continues to provide low cost housing in a mixed income development. The consortium of five congregations has rededicated themselves to providing oversight through a professional property management company. An on-site manager organizes a variety of programs for residents. Some of the slots for RICH Board of Directors are designated to come from Community UCC.

RICH Park Housing Congregations are Community United Church of Christ, Cosmopolitan Baptist Church, Davie Street Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church (Wilmington Street), Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh.

Meals on Wheels 

Every 2nd Wednesday, three teams – a driver and a deliverer – bring hot meals to homebound elderly and persons with disabilities in an effort to improve health, reduce isolation, and prevent inappropriate institutionalization. At 11:00 the teams go to the food distribution center at 1001 Blair Drive to pick up insulated containers of meals. They drive to about 7 homes, delivering the food to the residents. The runs are finished at about noon when the teams return the insulated containers to the distribution center.




External Ministries Supported by COM

Community Outreach Ministry supports the following organizations through its yearly budget: