The newest Racial Ethnic Empowerment (REEC) grants, totaling $20,000, are contributing to the support of a children’s choir in Akron, a UCC mentoring program for youth at risk, and staff for an inner city outreach ministry in Cincinnati.

On October 13, 2006, the Ohio Conference Board of Directors approved these grant recommendations from the Racial Ethnic Empowerment Committee.

The three-year-old choir for children in grades K–8 began in the First Grace summer camp program. It was extended to the school year and is part of First Grace’s after-school tutoring program, the Homework Club.

The current goal is to expand and diversify the choir beyond its entirely African American membership by appealing to the diverse community in which First Grace is located. The $6,000 grant will fund recruitment strategies and contribute to the salaries of the choir’s director, pianist and drummer.

The purpose of this project is to train members of UCC congregations who will be key developers of mentoring programs for youth who are engaged with the criminal justice system, either by their own or their parents’ incarceration.

This is the second stage of a project in progress. This stage will begin training UCC church-based leaders, revamp the draft curriculum and website resources, and train a second group of leadership for youth mentoring. The $6,000 grant will fund two "Train the Trainer" conferences.

This grant will create the position of Outreach Ministries Associate to ensure more effective operation of the ministries of Washington UCC in the Camp Washington community.

It is anticipated that the Associate will be a seminary student seeking field experience in mission or someone with interest or experience in social work, education or urban ministry.

The Associate’s responsibilities will include working to diversify the church’s volunteer base to reflect the surrounding community and planning the summer work camp program. The $8,000 grant will partially fund the salary of the Outreach Ministries Associate.

Funding for the grants comes from the portion of the Neighbors in Need offering retained by the Ohio Conference and designated for the Racial/Ethnic Empowerment Committee. Initial grant requests are limited to $5,000 or less.