Advocacy Ministry

The Advocacy Committee seeks to help First Presbyterian learn about the challenges facing our neighbors in Charlotte and to inform the congregation about opportunities for addressing those challenges, both individually and as a church.

Learn More About Advocacy

Homelessness + Housing

Housing stability is a crucial part of upward mobility. What are the challenges in Charlotte, and how can we address them?

Equity + Education

Quality education provides opportunities to move out of poverty. What are the barriers to equitable access and how can we help remove them?

Anti-racism

Anti-racism is active endorsement of policies and ideas, by individuals and institutions, that lead to racial equity.  What steps must we take as a church and as individuals to become anti-racist?

Plowshares Book Group

Through discussions of challenging books, we hope to learn more about people in our community and the issues they face. Next book: “Decolonizing Wealth” by Edgar Villanueva

Purchase the Book

Resources

We want to understand challenges, amplify voices, explore opportunities, and take action within our community. Below is a list of resources to help you learn and grow.

Category

Type of Resource

Reset

Article

Mona Lisa’s checklist: A homeless woman’s quest to ‘just get a job’ in Charlotte

Homelessness

The decade since the Great Recession has filled pockets of many people who live here in the fastest growing city in the southeast, but it’s also widened the gap between those people who have and those who don’t.

Read the article

Article

CharMeck State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report

Homelessness

A collection of reports that utilizes local data to provide informative and actionable research to engage a variety of stakeholders including elected officials, policymakers, funders, service providers, people with lived experience, media outlets, and the general community.

View the Report

Video

Why Are American Public Schools Still So Segregated?

Education

A look at the history of school segregation, gains, and setbacks from the 60s until now.

Watch the video

Article

Statement on the Death of George Floyd

Racism

The statement was made by Union Presbyterian Seminary President Brian K. Blount on the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests over police mistreatment of African Americans.

Read the statement
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News

Updates and information directly from the Advocacy Committee.  

A Culture of Care

Nov. 2020 marked the 20 year anniversary of our partnership with Westerly Hills Academy. To honor this milestone, we established a food pantry at the school. The project was recently featured in the CMS Foundation yearbook.

Read Story

Partners & Volunteer Opportunities

Roof Above

Homelessness + Housing

Make and fill soup cups and assemble lunch bags to be picked up by visitors at their College Street campus.

Get Involved

Tutor a Child

Equity + Education

The following programs partner with the school, providing curriculum, training and coordinators to support volunteers: Heart Math Tutoring, Read Charlotte, Augustine Literacy Project.

Get Involved

Food Pantry Support

Equity + Education

Provide for the pantry at Westerly Hills Academy on a monthly basis or serve on the team that delivers food to the school.

Donate or Get Involved

Join an Advocacy Subcommittee

Join an Advocacy Committee subcommittee: Homelessness and Housing, Anti-Racism, Equity in Education, Plowshares Book Group, or Communications

Join a Subcommittee

Build with Habitat

Homelessness + Housing

Help families build and improve places to call home with mortgages that are affordable. First Presbyterian partners with Habitat for Humanity Charlotte to build a home each fall.

Get Involved

21-Day Racial Equity Challenge

Anti-Racism

Each day you’ll receive an e-mail with links to sites where you will learn about facets of racial equity.  Many at First Presbyterian have completed this challenge. 

Take the Challenge

Have Questions?

We’d love to answer them for you.

Please reach out to the Advocacy Committee through the button below.

How Can We Help?