Soul Bridge of Thurston County - Recently Updated Pages

Strengthening Families

nate.porter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:02:50 CDT

Strengthening Families is a nationally recognized parenting education program for 10-14 year old youth and their parents that focuses on helping both individuals and families develop core skills for successfully being part of a family. A Spanish language version, Familias Fuertes, is beginning soon at Unity Church in Olympia. See the flyer below for more information.

Soul Bridge: Join the Movement - Be the Bridge

nate.porter — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:31:54 CDT

!!!Free Community Resources Training October 17 (click for info)!!!

Combined Fund Drive is on! If you work for the State of Washington, make sure to find your favorite charity and give!

(If you need ideas, look under Community Serving Organizations for some of our favorites)

This is a test of a dynamic new idea to connect faith communities to each other and to top opportunities in serving social justice in the Thurston County, Washington state area. By seeding pages with data already collected for the Faith Communities Forum and in the coalition's work so far, we will provide some initial content that can be edited and updated by members of each organization. But the more people contribute, the better this will work.

Ideally, this will grow to include basic information and a summary of outreach activities with links to related organizations for each faith community, as well as information on how individuals and groups can help meet needs identified by serving organizations. This site will acheive its goal when it becomes a clearinghouse where faithful people, those dedicated to serving others, religious seekers, churches, nonprofits, and government organizations in Thurston county will all turn to find and share information and discussion about how best to serve the neediest of Thurston County and the world.

To get started, use the navigation bar on the left or the links here to find the kind of organization you'd like more information about:

There is also a page with Local Service News about advocacy and justice efforts in Thurston County that is regularly updated.

Once you've looked around or if you want to jump right in, take a look at the How to Use page for tips on getting involved and getting the most out of this site.

Community Resources Training

nate.porter — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:31:17 CDT

Phil Owen, Bread & Roses and Family Support Center Outreach Coordinator, is going to present a Community Resources Training

Saturday, October 17th,

8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

at OUUC (Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation)

2200 East End Street NW Olympia

This has been offered as a follow-up to requests at the Faith Communities Forum for more information on the resources already available for those in need and for those seeking to serve those in need in Thurston county. If you or anyone of your friends or colleagues would like to engage in an introduction to services available in our community, please join us. Simple snacks and good wake-up coffee will be served.
If you plan on attending, please call 951-0326. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Local Service News

nate.porter — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:42:46 CDT

New: Realtime Current Local Headlines and Tweets!

We also post below selected news articles and press releases related to local community needs and social services. Feel free to add your own; articles listed here will stay up much longer than on the "News" feed page. List the title and a link (use the link button in the toolbar to easily connect) plus the source. Feel free to summarize the articles or specifically list and tag organizations mentioned or involved:

State Workers Shoot for $6 mil. (The Olympian) - The Combined Fund Drive helps state workers to give back to the community in a major way

Slow Food Potluck (The Olympian) - Local group highlights healthful eating in schools

His Name was James" (The Olympian) - Memorial for a beloved homeless resident of Yelm

Little Red Schoolhouse Annual Event (The Olympian) - The Little Red Schoolhouse gives away clothes and school supplies in annual back to school event

Angel Community Walk for Homeless Backpacks Program (The Olympian) - Lacey Fastsigns sponsors a walk to help provide food to homeless kids on weekends

Boys & Girls Club Seeks to fill after-school gap (The Olympian)

Salvation Army Closes Family Wing (The Olympian)

YMCA Other Bank celebrates Christmas in July (The Olympian)

Boys & Girls Clubs steps in to Save After-School Program (The Olympian)

School money woes trickle down - What happens when schools lose large amounts of state funding? Not only schools, but YSOs that are part of their mission (and funding) are hit hard too (The Olympian)

2009 Thurston Community Assesment - The United Way of Thurston County
This assesment is one of the best sources of data about the current state of community needs and challenges in Thurston County. It is also used by the United Way to help allocate some of their grant funds. Read it if you can in any way find the time!

Faith Communities Forum

nate.porter — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:36:45 CDT

The Faith Communities Forum took place Saturday September 12 and was a great success. Members of 19 different Thurston County faith communities were part of the conversation and topics of discussion included intergroup collaboration, faith community mobilization, children and youth issues, hunger, housing and homelessness, and more. Watch for videos and reports to be posted soon!

Thanks go to United Way of Thurston County, Out of the Woods Shelter, and Soul Bridge Coalition for sponsoring this event.

United Way of Thurston County

nate.porter — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:48:15 CDT

NEWS: Day of Caring is September 25! Contact United Way of Thurston County directly to find out more.

Our Mission

To strengthen our community by connecting people and resources to meet identified human needs.

Our Vision

Through creativity, leadership, collaboration, philanthropy and service, we employ innovative strategies to meet community needs.

More thana fundraising organization, we are partners in change, working with a broad range of individuals and organizations to identify and find solutions to our community's most critical issues. We focus our resources on education, income and health to get at the underlying causes of problems. We work to advance the common good, to improve the lives of those who need help most.

How to get involved: Visit us on the web to learn more about our community initiatives and opportunities to serve. Interested organizations can also visit our funding page for information on partnerships with United Way of Thurston County.

Saint Mark Lutheran Church

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:45:33 CDT

Saint Mark Lutheran Church is located across from Mountain View Elementary on College Street, the main North-South road through Lacey. The church is a core member of Soul Bridge and a regular supporter of other ministries throughout the county including:

Thurston County Food Bank
Sacred Heart Community Outreach
And much much more!

For more information about the ministries of St. Mark, please visit our website at http://www.stmarklacey.org

Community Youth Services

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:43:49 CDT

Our Mission:
Our mission is to support youth and families in achieving their needs for health, safety, security and community. We envision every child growing up in a supportive home and community and achieving their full potential for personal growth.

What we do:
We are active in a variety of youth services including foster care, family services, street outreach, life skills, and suicide prevention.

Ways To Get Involved: Community Youth Services’ programs rely on partnerships with individuals, local organizations, businesses, and other agencies to be sure that every young person has the opportunity to live a full, meaningful life and contribute to the well being of our community. There are many ways that YOU CAN HELP! How can I help?

Donate gently used clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, furniture, or household items
Identify local funding sources or make your own cash contribution
Become a foster family
Join a Community Accountability Board
Mentor a youth who is having a family crisis
Plan or help plan a fundraising event
Hire an entry-level worker
Let us know what talents, skills, or interests you have that can help make a youth's life better!

Who should I contact? Call Susan Alexander, Director of Fund Development, at (360) 943-0780, ext. 116, or J. Michelle Swope, Human Resource/Volunteer Manager, at (360) 943-0780, ext. 148. Soul Bridge Coalition also partners with CYS to encourage faith communities and people of faith to become involved in foster care services. You can also see our website for information on our organization and other ways to empower and serve youth.

Community Serving Organizations

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:29:15 CDT

This page will be the homepage for links to profiles of community serving organizations. Over time, the activities of different organizations will be featured, but each organization that chooses to participate will be linked here. Any nonprofit organization (whether or not they are registered with the IRS) that serves members of the Thurston County Community is encouraged to add a page if they are not already here.

Get started by clicking one of the links in the toolbar to the left or below:

Camp Quixote/Panza (tent city)
TOGETHER!
Soul Bridge Coalition
United Way of Thurston County
Community Youth Services

Add your organization here! See How to Use for more info.

Faith Communities

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:26:43 CDT

This page will be the homepage for links to profiles of individual faith communities. Over time, the activities of different communities will be featured, but each community that chooses to participate will be linked here.

Lacey
Faith Lutheran Church
Lacey Presbyterian Church
Saint Benedict Episcopal Church
Saint Mark Lutheran Church

Olympia
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
United Churches of Olympia

Elsewhere
Be the first community to contribute!

United Churches of Olympia

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:24:52 CDT

Organizational Mission:

How we're involved in outreach and social justice ministry:

Why you should get involved:

How to get involved:

Any additional information (calendars, pictures, videos, links, etc)

Saint Benedict Episcopal Church

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:23:18 CDT

Lacey Presbyterian Church

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:20:03 CDT

Faith Lutheran Church

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:18:53 CDT

How to Use

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:01:08 CDT

OK, so this looks great, but how do I get in on the action, you ask? Well, we're glad you did. Here's some basic steps (click on the highlighted links to get more info on that step):

Looking Around

Watch the intro video on the home page. It will explain the basics of why this site is here and why we think it's important.
Link to pages you are interested in and poke around. The links across the top are to different areas of the site; the ones on the left are to pages created by users. When you are on a category page (for example, Faith Communities, you will see any child pages (i.e. pages that are part of a larger group of pages) under the parent page's link.
Check out both the news pages and bookmark one or both. The News page gives you automatic up-to-date feeds of some of the top local news. Local Service News is a user-created page with links to articles specifically related to the service community of Thurston County.

Getting started and adding information

Register as a member of the site. While you should be able edit pages anonymously, this site is more than a repository of information. Please register: if the goal is to bridge people together for the common good, it doesn't make much sense to hide who you are. And nothing will be shared without your permission.
Update your profile page. Help us to know a little about yourself; maybe add a picture. Nothing is required, but the more we know about each other, the better we can work together. Tell us what you're passionate about.
Find out if the Faith Communities and Community Serving Organizations you are involved in already have pages here. If they do, take a look and use the "EasyEdit" button on the top left of the page to add information, photos, and links that might be useful. Remember that the focus here is on forming connections in outreach, so this shouldn't look like an exact copy of your church or nonprofit's website.
If your organization doesn't already have a page, create one by clicking "Add a New Page" at the bottom of the top left sidebar. If you don't see that or get a message saying you don't have permission, message nate.porter to ask to become a Moderator. This step is a necessary protection against SPAM.
Tag yourself to your organization's pages by clicking "edit keyword tags" at the bottom. This helps people find others who share similar goals or interests.
If you see anything that is unclear or could be improved (but you can't right then), use the boxes at the bottom of the page to comment or click "More tools" - "Add a To-Do" to create a reminder at the top of the page for anyone to see and resolve.

When you have followed at least steps 1 and 2 above and are ready to get interactive, try the next step:

Interacting with the Community

Here is where we move the site from information source to change and collaboration agent! There are a variety of ways to do this. We suggest you try them all and see what you like.

Discussions - These are similar to forums you may have participated in on other websites. Browse through the "threads" of discussion already going on and add to any of them or create a new one if you're interested in finding something out or connecting around certain issues. Discussions are best for addressing specific challenges or seeking input from a broad range of people.
Top 20 Lists - For example, Top 20 Thurston County Needs - Here you can see what others view as important and add your own input by editing the page. You can also expand on issues other people have mentioned. Top 20 Lists are best for discovering what's most important to participants in the big picture.
Members - Browse through all members of the site or go directly to the profiles of those who are listed on organization pages you are interested in or connected to. You can view their information including what pages they have contributed to, send messages, and add compliments for them. Member pages are best for finding people with similar interests and passions.
News - You can comment on any article that appears on the News page (linked from the top bar). Feel free to speak your mind, but be sure to respect others on the site. We will moderate comments only if it becomes a problem.

Soul Bridge Coalition

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:44:36 CDT

Soul Bridge is a coalition of faith communities, community serving organizations, and Thurston county residents whose mission is to support low-income families and at-risk children and youth. We strive to do this in three ways:

1) Connect people of faith to best practice service opportunities in the community. Our current initiative, the Each Student Successful Initiative, makes it easier to become involved as individuals or as communities in mentoring youth, providing intergenerational parenting classes, and becoming foster parents.

2) Promote collaboration between faith communities, nonprofits, and passionate individuals around key issues. The fall Faith Communities Forum cosponsored by Soul Bridge promises to be a powerful example of this. We also are working with an initiative that started at Saint Benedict Episcopal Church in Lacey to create a North Thurston community services center, a one-stop source to help people at their point of need.

3) Build capacity and vision in faith communities around social justice. All major faiths call adherents to serve others. We believe we can help mobilize this calling and energy by walking with faith communities and giving them tools to help discover passions together, moving from a volunteer-sending model to an ownership model of ministry for justice and change.

This video shows some early members of Soul Bridge explaining why they are involved in this effort.

If you are interested in being a part of something bigger or if any of these pique your interest, contact Soul Bridge for more information and check the Soul Bridge Calendar for upcoming events and meetings.

Members: Nate.Porter, kraettig

Soul Bridge Calendar

nate.porter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:43:38 CDT

The calendar below shows events and meetings hosted or publicized by Soul Bridge. If you would like your event added to the calendar email Soul Bridge with as much information as you have. You can also add any event or the whole calendar to your own if you use Google Calendar. Consult Google's help for more info.

Each Student Successful Initiative

nate.porter — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:07:08 CDT

This initiative is the first major initiative of Soul Bridge, and its purpose is to connect people of faith (and sometimes whole communities) with best practice youth serving opportunities.

We have met with great success in our mentoring partnership with North Thurston School District (and Big Brothers Big Sisters outside the NTSD service area) and Strengthening Families Classes. We are working on developing the third part of the initiative, foster parenting through Community Youth Services, more fully.

Contact Soul Bridge at soulbridge@soulbridgethurston.org if you are interested in becoming involved in the initiative as an individual or congregation.

We will add more information over time, but these videos (which use Soul Bridge's previous name, the Faith-Based Youth Development Coalition) will give you a feel for the powerful work that is being done:

Note: we can only embed one YouTube video on a page at this time. To see the others, type "Each Student Successful" into the search box when the first video is done playing. We are working to resolve this issue.

TOGETHER!

nate.porter — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:00:15 CDT

Mobilizing our community since 1989 to promote positive youth development and prevent problem behaviors through community coalitions and the provision of direct services.
Vision: All young people in Thurston County communities are supported, healthy, safe and valued. Mission: Prevent youth violence and substance abuse through awareness, advocacy and action to support youth and families.

TOGETHER! is a key part of youth development in Thurston County and has supported many other organizations engaged in youth development activities over time, as well as providing direct service such as Strengthening Families parenting education classes. Visit them on the web at thurstontogether.org. In the video below, Karen Johnson of the CAPACITY program at TOGETHER! discusses her passion for her work.

About Us

nate.porter — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:14:56 CDT

This page is open to all who care about serving the people of Thurston County and everywhere.

For more information on its creators, see the Soul Bridge Coalition page or contact soulbridge@soulbridgethurston.org.