FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNCIL 2025 CHANGE FOR THE FUTURE RECIPIENTS
The Change for the Future program takes designated funds collected from our Sunday Offerings and distributes them to four different nonprofit groups each year, each awardee for three months during the year. The following organizations received the most votes at our Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, January 26, 2025.
Transgender Resource Center of NM supports transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming communities through direct services, education and advocacy. Its main activities are Cultural Fluency Trainings throughout the community and supporting a drop-in center for unhoused people from these communities. The money from CFF would support activities at the drop-in center, which serves all kinds of transgender and non-binary folks, but historically serves primarily trans folks who are unsheltered. TRC provides showers, laundry facilities, a permanent mailing address, storage for their belongings, computer access and food. If funded, the focus will be the food program and hygiene products distributed and used in the drop-in center.
2nd Quarter: June-August 2025
Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice The grant will be used to pay for the Center for Peace and Justice contracted hours for the Center’s newsletter and website editor to collect and distribute information about community events, food distributions, donations needed for the unhoused, organizing, and other social justice events and actions. The Center had “one of the most complete social justice calendars in the city pre-pandemic.” Their goal is to revitalize this civic function.
3rd Quarter: September-November 2025
Family Promise of Albuquerque provides shelter for families at risk of or recently having experienced homelessness. As a partnership of congregations and civic groups, FPA provides services to families (62 families in 2024) living in these shelters. On average, they secure housing within 90 days and receive supportive services from 18 months to as long as needed. FPA has four dryers available, but they cannot be installed in the apartments the tenants occupy because there is no room in the apartments and no venting; thus this option would create a fire hazard. The solution is to convert the garage or a storage shed adjoining the new building into a dryer room, by installing venting along the outside wall of the garage or storage shed. Installing the vents is the focus of the funding sought here. The benefits are significant: families will not need to do laundry at a laundromat, more than one family can do laundry at the same time, and they – especially those with small children – can do laundry more than once a week.
4th Quarter: December 2025-February 2026
Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity For home-owners who are below 40% of Area Median Income (AMI), this program uses volunteers who work with the owners to improve exterior features including: Wooden fence repair, repair of soffits and trim, window glass replacement, exterior painting, minor weatherization, ramps and handrails, door bells and lights, gutter repair or replacement. The purpose of this work is to support existing low-income homeowners to remain in their homes. This funding request is not for a specific project; it is to help fund ongoing repair work as listed above (about 5% of ongoing work)
