New @ the FBCI

We would like to welcome aboard new FBCI coordinators Kellie Mattingly(serving at the American Red Cross in Lafayette, IN) and Andrew Scott (serving at the American Red Cross in Hamilton County). We look forward to hearing their ideas, and aiding them in expanding the program into different regions of Indiana!

Congratulations Christy Bennett!

Christy Bennett, from Englewood Christian Church, was the first to mail back her Completion Certificate for the Basic Food Safety course!

We are expecting more certificates to come within the next coming weeks. If you have any questions on the Basic Food Safety course please contact us! (Reminder: The course is required for all those working in the Kitchen area).

Thanks!!

FBCI at the 2009 Governor's Conference

Coordinators Kira Foerster and Laura Bradley, along with other fellow VISTAs and AmeriCorps, attended the 2009 Governor's Conference on Service and Volunteering sponsored by the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives. During the conference, the coordinators were given the opportunities to sit-in on many lectures and sessions regarding philanthropy, service, history of volunteering and many more. Miss America (aka Miss Indiana) Katie Stam was one of the guest speakers at the conference.

Englewood Mock Disaster: A+

There was no reason to be afraid at the Halloween mock disaster at Englewood Christian Church. Having a long history of serving the community and hosting guests at their downtown facility, Englewood easily overcame the challenges of the mock disaster with confidence, grace, and hospitality. Thanks to all of the Englewood Christian Church Action Team members and player volunteers, and also to Bert and Ernie Harvey of Plainfield Christian Church for joining us as guest observers. As we continue "mock disaster season" at First Church of the Nazarene and Brandywine Community Church over the next two weekends, we are glad to be off to such a strong start. Thank you, Englewood!

Interfaith Activities

One of our first partners, St. Lukes United Methodist Church on 86th Street has been sponsoring a program called Faith of our Neighbors. The FBCI Coordinators have been able to attend on two occasions. During the service, a leader from another faith is interviewed at the lecturn. A question and answer session with that faith leader is held following the service. This has been an educational and interesting program involving Buddhists, Muslims, Native Americans, Sikhs, and on Sunday, October 18th, they will celebrate Judaism.

The Sacred Places Tour for October has included a Greek Orthodox Church and our newest partner, Al-Fajir Masjid on Cold Spring Road. On Sunday the 18th, they will be learning about Native American Spirituality at the Peace Learning Center and Buddhism at the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Center in Bloomington. Sunday the 24th, the tour will visit to our partner, the Sikh Satsang on Acton Road and the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana on German Church Road. You can get directions and learn more about these faiths at internationalinterfaith.org.

If your church is conducting an activity that supports the interfaith and diversity goals of the Faith-Based Community Initiative, let us know. The FBCI Coordinators will post the relevant information on this blog, and we really like learn about our partners and different faith families!

Expanding Our Borders

The FBCI is expanding! The American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis supports disaster relief in Marion and all the surrounding counties including Henry to the east and Clinton in the northwest. Although a few of our partners are outside of Marion County (for example Plainfield Christian Church in Hendricks County, Traders Point Christian Church in Boone County, Brandywine Community Church in Hancock County, and Shelbyville Community Church in Shelby County), we are looking up, or rather, north, to Clinton, Hamilton, and Madison Counties. If your church has a relationship with another faith-based organization in one of these counties (or really, anywhere), we want to know about it! Currently we are doing Internet research and driving around towns looking for potential partners, but if you have a suggestion, it would save us a lot of leg work.

To qualify as an FBCI partner they have to meet the same requirements your facility met with regards to capacity, geography, involvement, and outreach, but based on your suggestion we will meet with their leadership and work out the details.

"Mock Disaster Season" at the FBCI

Autumn is the season of changing leaves, colder weather- and mock disasters! In the coming weeks, the FBCI will be holding mock disasters at three of its facilities: Englewood Christian Church (October 31st), First Church of the Nazarene (November 7th), and Brandywine Community Church (November 14th). We are excited to be working with our partners at these churches to put training into action as we prepare for the possibility of a real shelter opening in the cold months ahead! If your Action Team leadership is interested in observing a mock disaster, please contact the FBCI coordinators. Thanks to our partners at these three facilities for helping to make our "Mock Disaster Season" happen!

Mayor Ballard honors FBCI Partner with Visit

FBCI coordinator, Laura Bradley joined our partner Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis (Acton Rd) in welcoming Indianapolis Mayor Ballard and family on Sunday, October 4. The mayor arrived at the temple and was honored with a traditional Sikh turban and sword, and Mrs. Ballard received the gift of a book. Mayor Ballard made a brief but powerful statement on the importance of acceptance of diversity, education, and mutual respect between people before leaving to attend the Colts game.

The Sikh Satsang are the newest partner in the FBCI program, and we thank them for inviting us to this exciting event.

Ready, Set, GO! Mock Disaster Season!

Skill Sessions, Trainings, Mock Disasters: Oh My!! Tis' the Season for all these before the holidays!! Are you ready for one of these events? If so contact the FBCI Coordinators, and we will set one up! Before you know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be around the corner and things will start to get hectic!!

August: A Month of Outreach

This month the coordinators have been working hard developing relationships and reaching out to a number of diverse organizations in the commmunity. Many thanks to Englewood Christian Church, Mt. Pleasant Christian Church, Grace Missionary Church, Horizon Christian Fellowship, Esperanza, and Al-Fajr Masjid for their hospitality this month!

Kira and Justin spent last weekend busy with festivals hosted by our partner sites. Englewood's Latino Volleyball Tournament and Mt. Pleasant's Chin Festival both provided great opportunities for the FBCI program to make contact with these important communities within the FBCI family! We thank both churches for inviting us to join them for these exciting events! The FBCI also thanks Esperanza en Jesucristo; located in Greenwood, this faith-based organization has aided the FBCI in finding the best strategies to reach out to communities in Johnson and southern Marion counties!

The FBCI coordinators thank our friend Omar Alakhatad (pictured), Imam of Al-Fajr Masjid for hosting Kira and Justin this week at his facility! This Islamic center has been a cornerstone of Islam in Indianapolis since 1971, serving the community through education and public service. Despite a busy Ramadan schedule, Omar was kind enough to give us a tour of the building as we take our first steps towards partnership with this exciting organization!

Making Connections

The Red Cross is excited to announce the start of a new friendship with the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis! Justin and Laura visited the Gurdwara Sahib yesterday for services and lunch, and were able to introduce the Faith-Based Community Initiative to this important Indianapolis Sikh family of faith. The FBCI coordinators look forward to a future of cooperation with the Sikh Satsang as we work together to forward both of our goals of service to the community in the Indianapolis area. We thank KP Singh for his kind guidance in our visit to this fine facility!

Meet and Greet

Laura and I have been hard at work familiarizing ourselves with the many facilities in the FBCI program. We are hoping to come and visit a different church each Sunday. We understand it is summer and that Sunday attendance can flux and wane. As Fall approaches, we will begin to plan our Sunday visits. Look forward to seeing everyone!

New FBCI Newsletter

One of our goals for July is to produce the first edition of the FBCI newsletter. It will be a seasonal newsletter that will introduce our partners to one another and work as a supplement to the blog. The newsletter will be mailed (a hard copy) to all of our partners, and hopefully there will be a place to post it in your facility. Currently, we are planning on including a description of the FBCI program, a brief introduction of each of our partners, announcements of upcomming Red Cross events, and announcements of any of our partners' activities. If there is anything you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please e-mail either Kira (kfoerster@redcross-indy.org) or me, Laura (lbradley@redcross-indy.org). Ideally, the newsletter will help us to all support one another and create a stronger FBCI community.

Going visiting!

In the coming weeks Kira and I will be visiting all the FBCI partner organizations in order to get an idea of where we are with the program. Justin and Jillian and all our predecessors have developed a great program with a lot of potential. We have already met Englewood Christian Church, Mount Pleasant Christian Church, Shelbyville Community Church, and Horizon Christian Fellowship this week. It has been great to finally get to see the training manuals translated into the reality of the program, to hear the plans the Action Teams have developed, and to meet some of you wonderful people. We have toured each of the partners' facilities and asked a lot of questions. We are very interested in what you have to say about the FBCI program, after all, it is only as good as we all make it. If we haven't been to see you yet, don't worry, we are on our way. In the mean time, if you have any questions for us we can be reached at the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis office.

New FBCI Coordinators!

Meet Laura Bradley and Kira Davad Foerster!!
New AmeriCorp*VISTA FBCI Coordinators for the American Red Cross Emergency Services


In case you haven't heard, the FBCI office is in transition. Jillian has moved on, but Justin is still here and doing a wonderful job of filling us (Kira and Laura) in on the project so far. For the past week we have been settling in to our desks, getting oriented on the ways of the American Red Cross, and trying to learn everyone's names!! Justin is taking us out this week to meet various FBCI participants and to see the reality of the project. Kira and I are very excited about working with all of you on the FBCI project. We have a lot of new ideas and will be figuring out some old ones. Looking forward to meeting all of you and making this project even stronger!

New Friends at Second Baptist!

This month, one of our first FBCI partners has joined us in a renewal of friendship! Second Baptist Church, a founding member of the FBCI program, has reaffirmed its commitment to the FBCI program, and trained a new generation of Action Team members. Second Baptist has been serving the Indianapolis community for over 150 years, and we are proud to have their support for disaster response! The FBCI coordinators thank Dianne Archey and Robert Forrest for helping make the second training class a reality, and also give a special thanks to Pastor David Greene; the support and guidance Pastor Greene has lent the FBCI program and the Red Cross in general cannot be overstated. The FBCI looks forward to moving ahead with our new friends on the Second Baptist Action Team!

The FBCI family welcomes our newest member: Brandywine Community Church.

The FBCI is pleased to announce our newest partner site, Brandywine Community Church! 33 members of the Brandywine CC family joined us for training on the May 16th, forming our first Hancock County Action Team. Brandywine also hosted 4 members of the Traders Point congregation at this training (thank you!). Located in the city of Greenfield, Brandywine CC has a rich heritage of serving the community, including a food pantry and programs assisting the homeless and those in need. We are proud to have Brandywine as an FBCI partner!

Newest Partner: Mount Pleasant Christian Church

The FBCI would like to send out a huge WELCOME to Mount Pleasant Christian Church in Greenwood. MPCC trained at the end of April with 18 members on their Action Team. We have been in contact with MPCC for several months, and we are very excited to have them as a part of the FBCI. They are our first partner in Johnson Co. and will be a great addition to the family. Thanks MPCC!

The FBCI Family: Working Together

This past Saturday (May 9), we had our 3rd Mock Disaster Exercise (let's call it the MDE). Afterwards, Chris M. talked to us a little bit and shared something that really warmed my heart.
May 2 had been the MDE at Traders Points and Chris M. and Dick R. from 2nd Pres. had dropped to see what exactly their church had gotten themselves into. Traders Point did a really good job, and I think Chris and Dick were able to take a lot back home with them. Well, to return the favor, Greg K. from Traders Point came and observed 2nd Pres' MDE and was able to see how their team had organized and what Traders Point could do to better prepare their team.

Chris M. told us that she and Greg had been able to talk and share about their experiences and their teams. They even realized that if 2nd Pres' team ever needed help (during an emergency), that Traders Point's team could come out and vice versa!

This is exactly the dream that I have for our FBCI program: our partners coming together and working not only with the Red Cross, but with each other. It really warmed my heart to see 2 of our partners learn from each other and talk with each other and share ideas. Now, they not only have access to the ideas and ingenuity of their Action Team, but also that of a whole other Action Team!

FBCI partners: I encourage you to realize you are not alone! There is a whole network of organizations that have gone through training and are organizing their teams and have great ideas! Perhaps, like Traders Point and 2nd Pres., you'll find that other FBCI partners are willing to be there for you in a time of need and have a wealth of resources (their Action Team or otherwise) to share.

Welcome Englewood Christian Church!

This month we would like to welcome Englewood Christian Church to the FBCI! Despite the threat of severe weather, 25 members came out on January 10 to train as ECC's Action Team. We really enjoyed meeting all of them and getting to know ECC and are very excited that they are partnering with the FBCI.

Englewood Christian Church is located in Indianapolis' Near-eastside, just two miles from downtown. It has remained in the same neighborhood since its founding in 1895. We were drawn to ECC because of their commitment to their neighborhood and their strong sense of community. These are truly inspiring qualities that will be a great asset in a time of diaster.

We would also like to issue ECC a huge thank-you!!! They were very gracious hosts and provided us with bagels, coffee, and juice! It made the morning go by much quicker!

Learn all about ECC on their website: http://www.englewoodcc.com/