CARE Project
Community Action and Relief Experience Project
Originating in the Pacific Northwest, the C.A.R.E. (Community Action Relief Experience) Project is a pilot project from the North Pacific Union Conference Community Services department coordinated out of the Center for Humanitarian Engagement (CHE) at Walla Walla University (WWU).
CARE Project has the vision to increase the involvement of young people in community service through a comprehensive, assessment-based engagement plan, supported by a team of CARE Advocates and resident expert partners.
The application period is currently open for two to three Church-based Adventist Community Services ministries in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana) seeking to increase impact on the ministry and community through a CARE Project.
After interest applications are reviewed, three programs will be selected to participate in a feasibility study with the end goal of providing a readiness review of the community. This process would involve a weekend visit from a CARE Project team, involving focus groups with church members and community leaders to ensure the community’s readiness for change. Each community can expect growth in individual and corporate engagement through involvement and implementation of a strategic plan created from a period of discovery and assessment.
If you are interested in being considered as a CARE Project location please fill out the interest form here.
Ways to get Involved
In this step, you can share with us what service projects are already happening in your community and what your church is interested in developing further!
Click Here for the Interest Form. After you submit this you will hear from the CHE office allowing for additional questions to be answered.
(STILL IN DEVELOPMENT) In this application process you will be reviewing what a partnership with WWU will look like. You will be asked to provide some additional details regarding the existing leadership, budget and existing community partners. A commitment to the partnership would involve obtaining signatures from your ACS conference director, local pastor and conference president. Together these specifics will help us as we decide which projects are ready to be approve for our last step.
Get your congregation excited for service! This is an opportunity for us to learn more about the current progress of the service projects in your community and to gather feedback from local community. A small team of students and mentors would come on site to facilitate a ACS vision conversation, provide inspiring service testimonies for worship time, fellowship with the congregational through potluck round table conversations, coordinate community focus groups. From this a feasibility study would be created by the CHE team to give the church an outside perspective and recommend possible areas to focus efforts on.
This information will also help in recruiting the right students to participate.
A huge thank you to ACS and Versacare Foundation, our financial sponsors, who have made this happen. For more information about Adventist Community Services and Versacare Foundation, please visit: communityservices.org and versacare.org
Frequently Asked Questions
C.A.R.E. (Community Action Relief Experience) Project is a pilot project from the North Pacific Union Conference Adventist Community Services department coordinated out of the Center for Humanitarian Engagement (CHE) at Walla Walla University (WWU).
CARE Project has the vision to increase the involvement of young people in community service through a comprehensive, assessment-based engagement plan, supported by a team of CARE Advocates and resident expert partners. The application period is currently open for Church-based Adventist Community Services ministries in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana) seeking to increase impact on the ministry and community through a CARE Project.
This depends on many factors but is being developed as a 1 to 2 year pilot program. Our desire is it each church will be enabled to continue collective support from community partners and church members alike to create a sustainable model.
In 2018 the Center for Humanitarian Engagement was formed, by Walla Walla University, with a mission to have students engage with Christ and their communities through service. C.H.E. had done this successfully and continues to do so, and as a result, has partnered with Adventist Community Services and Union leadership to help create a pilot program that could be replicated around the world. To inspire and educate on the topic of service, the C.H.E. has developed C.A.R.E.; Community Action and Relief Experience. These C.A.R.E. projects are mobile versions of what the C.H.E. does and are centered more around the training and leadership components.
There are a few ways that projects are funded…