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SouthWest Unitarian Universalist Church
Berea, Ohio
(440) 816-1686

Support and Outreach
 

Help us help others

 

As Unitarian Universalists, we agree to affirm and promote our seven principles and purposes, including:

  • The inherent worth and dignity of every person.

  • Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

  • A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

  • Peace, liberty and justice for all.
At Southwest Unitarian Universalist Church, we strive to honor these principles within and beyond the walls of our church. Our Sunday services are rich with music, opportunities for Religious Education (RE), and the spirit of kinship. In recognizing the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, we support many local and national programs with our morning offering, household supply collections, and other acts of volunteerism. Those we have recently supported demonstrate the scope of  our principles and purposes.  With your help, our outreach efforts will have an even stronger impact on these outstanding organizations. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for information on how you can make a donation.
 
Serving those in need
  • Homeless StandDown - a weekend of respite from the winter's cold for up to 1500 homeless people in downtown Cleveland.  Interfaith cooperation provides free hot meals, warm winter coats, and new boots and gloves, and social agencies provide screenings and intake services.
     
  • InterAct Cleveland  – an interfaith organization working for social justice through service, dialogue, and advocacy.  Projects include an east-side hunger center, the Homeless StandDown, and workshops on school funding, housing shortages, gun violence, and health care.
     
  • Project SCAN -- a food pantry based in Berea, Ohio, serving low-income families in the southwest suburbs.
     
  • Transitional Housing, Inc. – a Cleveland residential facility providing shelter and support services to help direct formerly homeless women toward self-sufficiency and independence.
    SWUU members, Alyssa Jaggers and Susan Paxson
    transform a room at Transitional Housing, Inc. in June 2004.  Each year, SWUU provides the financial support, supplies and labor to create a warm and welcoming room for a new THI resident.
     
  • Unitarian Universalist Service Committee -- a social justice group which with grassroots organizations around the world to empower women; to support the struggles of oppressed racial, ethnic and indigenous groups; and to defend the rights of children.
     
  • Urban Hope Unitarian Universalist Community – a storefront church in downtown Cleveland. Urban Hope works closely with an inner-city elementary school to provide books, art supplies, computers and gardening experience, and with the West Side Catholic (drop-in) Center and Shelter. Their “Urban Immersions” program introduces suburbanites to the realities of inner city living.
     
  • YWCA Domestic Violence Program – SWUU provides emergency toiletry kits and bus tickets for women attending support groups and domestic violence classes.

Promoting a Diverse Society

  • The Center – a Cleveland organization supporting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, including a drop-in center for teens and support groups for seniors.
     
  • Racial Harmony Group --   an interfaith group meeting at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Shaker Heights offering multicultural workshops to promote interracial understanding.
     

Protecting Our Natural Resources

  • Eco-City Cleveland – an environmental and educational group whose motto is “Designing Cities in Balance with Nature”. Their projects include biking networks, lakefront and mass transit design, and promotion of green building design.
     
  • Parma Animal Shelter – an extended stay shelter in Parma, Ohio, providing food and healthcare for homeless animals awaiting adoption.

Enhancing Our UU Community

  • Our community is blessed with talented musicians and teachers whose gifts make our services all the richer. Our music program incorporates performances from church members of all ages, and RE is available to preschoolers through adults.
If you would like to support SWUU as we strive to live our values in our church, community and world, please consider a confidential, tax-deductible donation via Pay Pal. You may request that your gift go toward any one the numerous organizations receiving our support or one our programs (music or RE, for example).  We will not share your personal information with other organizations, nor will we use it to further solicit your support. Because of generous gifts, we are able to support deserving organizations and sustain a community for those seeking free expression and spiritual exploration.
 

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