We love Durham.

We partner with our neighbors in a number of annual events for the good of the city.

Community fridges are also known as “solidarity fridges” and “honesty fridges” that operate on the honor system and as part of a mutual aid network.

Our local partner, Durham Community Fridges (DCF) is a mutual aid project founded in 2022 that supports equal access to fresh food, helping individuals and communities address food insecurity while bringing people together. DCF works alongside our neighbors to build and strenghen community, disrupt unjust good systems, and redirect the flow of food from landfills to people.

Volunteers from DCF check the fridge daily to make sure it is clean and stocked with fresh food. Acceptable donations include fresh produce, beverages, grab-and-go items, bread, eggs, canned goods, pet food, to-go ware and personal care items. To sign up to volunteer, please please submit this interest form. To learn more, follow the project on DCF’s Instagram account, @durhamcommunityfridges and read Indy Week’s article, “At This Community Fridge, the Door Is Open for Everyone.”

Partnering with the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham

The call to befriend those in prison comes from Jesus: “I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. …[J]ust as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25: 36, 40). We sidle up along someone who is coming out of prison because every person has worth and dignity, and because every person deserves a sense of belonging, a sense of connection, a sense of community.

What does such a friendship look like? How do you build trust? How do you navigate dynamics of privilege, power, race, class and gender?

A group at St. Joe’s is prayerfully exploring such questions.

Over the past few months, we have formed our first “Community Support Team,” also knows as a “Faith Team,” in conjunction with the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham (“RCND”). RCND reentry coordinator Drew Doll describes the purpose of a faith team this way: When someone comes home from prison or jail, the people in their life have an agenda and tell them what to do – everyone from a probation officer to a substance abuse counselor to a housing coach. Most relationships are transactional, but not here: “No one is telling you what to do. No one is critiquing the choices you have made. Our job is not to fix them.”

The process begins with training animated by the two principles that govern RCND’s work: infinite belonging and boundless compassion. Faith teams learn about the 650-725 or so people who return to Durham every year from prison, the multi-agency web of services that supports the criminal justice involved, and how to develop mutual relationships through storytelling, fellowship and boundary-setting rather than providing financial support. Our team has worked to get to know one another and then discerned which partner to befriend first based on scant details about each person’s age, family, employment and incarceration history.

With help from God (and Drew), we discerned we wanted to get to know Carlton.

So, every other week, the St. Joe’s team plans to meet with Carlton and Drew for games, food and conversation. Drew will accompany us and facilitate all of our meetings for at least the first few months. He gently guides us to share what is happening in each of our lives in the hopes that within 6 to 9 months, “No one has sinned so greatly they are outside the grace of God,” Drew says. Our ministry on this faith team is to embody that. We have committed to being in this covenantal relationship for 18 months.

As we continue to befriend Carlton, we covet your prayers. Prayers for curiosity about one another’s stories, compassion for one another’s suffering, courage for interrogating oppression and societal norms and patience for participating in the slow work of God

With hope,

~ Jenny Brown, Isaac Lund, Lauren Norton, Brooke Olmstead and Kelly Ryan

Durham Episcopal Resettlement Coalition

In 2021, Durham Episcopal Resettlement Coalition was formed in partnership with World Relief Durham, who were providing temporary housing for refugee families and connecting  them with long-term services and other local volunteers. DERC and WRD determined the best approach would be to focus DERC’s efforts on being the welcome team for refugee families’ initial arrival at RDU and first day in a new country. DERC’s welcome team of eleven is the only refugee welcome team in the Triangle. It includes members from St. Luke’s, St. Titus’, St. Joseph’s, and St. Stephen’s. Two to four DERC members go to the airport to welcome the family and drive them to their new home.

Meanwhile other DERC volunteers purchase culturally appropriate groceries, prepare a welcome meal for the family and provide donated toys, clothing, and other items as needed. WRD sends interpreters along with the welcome team. The DERC team also orients the family to the features of the apartment and passes along any important information the family’s WRD caseworker needs to know. WRD’s initial resettlement team provides core services for the family during the federally-mandated initial resettlement period (up to 90 days), and other WRD teams provide support with employment, health and wellness, and education. DERC has welcomed families from Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Central African Republic and Colombia, as well as Afghanistan. Aside from the struggles families faced in displacement, international travel to the Triangle can be a further hurdle as airlines have occasionally lost families’ luggage in transit.

Financial support from DERC’s member churches (which is held at St. Luke’s) makes the groceries and other welcome purchases possible. It also indirectly frees up WRD resources for long-term program offerings. Continued and expanded support, both financial and in-kind donations, would enhance that larger mission. Gift-in-kind donations and volunteer hours show our funders that the Durham community is committed to the long- term success of refugee families.

For more information about volunteering with DERC or providing in-kind or financial gifts, contact Margy Pikaart -  margaret.pikaart(at)icloud.com or Ed Pikaart - Edpikaart(at)gmail.com

Johnson Service Corps is a 10.5 month Episcopal Service Corps program. Each year JSC brings together young adults, ages 21 to 28, for an immersive experience of justice ministry and spiritual practice in Durham, NC. JSC Fellows live together in beloved community, serve nonprofits in the Triangle, and whole-heartedly engage spiritual and personal growth. JSC is a vibrant, intensive young adult ministry program, supported by the Episcopal Diocese of NC and local Episcopal congregations.