At the moment, we’re engaging Aurora in the following ways:

• Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) – Karen Cirulli, a member of Awake, is engaging full-time in community development work as an AmeriCorps volunteer through our partner organizations Christian Reformed World Relief and Communities First Association.  Email her here.  ABCD is an approach that appreciates and mobilizes individual and community talents, skills, and assets (rather than focusing on problems and needs), and is community-driven development rather than development driven by external agencies (for more about ABCD, click here).
• Aurora Communal Garden – With the help of some amazingly gifted friends and neighbors, Awake began a community garden in April 2009 in the hopes of beautifying Aurora, providing food for community meals, and most importantly, bringing people together.  Stop by some time at this neighborhood oasis (8849 Nesbit Ave.)!
• Garden Cookouts – Every Wednesday at 6:15pm during the summer (beginning on June 2!), we host a cookout for the community at the garden. The cookouts are a great opportunity to connect with Awake and the diverse group of neighbors with whom we’re building relationships.  We hope to continue them in the fall in the Aurora Sharehouse.
• The Vacancy Project – Awake is currently in the process of developing ways to equip families and individuals living in motels with the means to escape the cycle of poverty through education and assistance.  Seeded by a $7500 grant from the  Christian Reformed Church Foundation’s “Sea to Sea – The Cycle to End Poverty” fund, we began this program with a few families from Aurora motels in the Spring of 2010.  Contact benkatt@awakechurch.org for more information.
• Worship Gathering – Awake usually gathers for worship at 10am on Sunday mornings. Email us at info@awakechurch.org for more information.

Additionally, members of our community have given birth to the following global initiatives:

• Collective Hope – “A non-profit organization committed to renewing hope, re-establishing dignity, and redeeming love” in an effort to fight poverty in the African country of Malawi.
• The Seedling Project – “The Seedling Project has been birthed in collaboration with the people of Kabale, Uganda, from the desire to grow the dignity and opportunities that are already present in their region. We seek to do this through community-based partnerships that help to expand and improve access to health and education so that each person may further live into their potential.”