2016 Dream Tank Participants

We give thanks for the three Dream Tank presenters at Tuesday’s Stated Meeting. Presenting their five slides in five minutes, our Presbytery voted to award $3,000 to the FUSE Suburban-Urban Collaborative and $1,000 to both the Beacon Buddies an Gold-Fish Hobby Shop initiatives. Information and presentations of these initiatives available here:

FUSE Partnership with Wallingford & Swarthmore Presbyterian Churches
FUSE (Fellowship of Urban and Suburban Engagement) seeks to join urban and suburban residents using activities and initiatives that diminish the “other-ness” within and between neighborhoods. This “other-ness” often feeds animosity and violence that perpetuates racism, cultural division and discrimination. Activities are designed to nurture diverse relationships and create safe spaces where residents can get to know each other on a deeper level. Through relationship-building and honest discussion, we believe we can change the perception of “stranger” to “neighbor.” Our initiative can successfully and sustainably bring people of different backgrounds together to build mutual bonds that get us all working together towards a better future.
Click here to view their Presentation

Contact: scoopersearight@gmail.com, Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, attn: Rev. Sarah Cooper-Searight, 727 Harvard Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081

pastorfrancois@wallingfordpres.org, Wallingford Presbyterian Church, attn: Rev. Francois Lacroix, 110 East Brookhaven Road, Wallingford, PA 19086

Beacon Buddies of Beacon Church
The Beacon Buddies initiative will take Beacon’s existing volunteer infrastructure and relationships into our local elementary school, allowing us to support a struggling urban school, maintain our relationships with students, cement Beacon’s mission in the neighborhood, and offer a meaningful community to young adults seeking ways to give back in the context of a loving and welcoming community. Volunteers will go into individual classrooms, offering writing stations, supplemental writing games, a continuum of student care, and support for the teachers who serve students everyday. As a result, learning will be more relational, creative, individual, and neighborhood based, as students learn from adults they already know and trust from Beacon and the surrounding neighborhood. This initiative takes us outside the church to care for the students where they need support most.
Click here to view their presentation.

Contact: rblake910@gmail.com, Beacon Church, attn: Rev. Rebecca Blake, 2364 East Cumberland Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125

Gold-Fish Hobby Shop of 1st Presbyterian Church of Kensington
The older adult population in greater Kensington is not finding a home in these new initiatives. The “Gold-Fish Hobby Shop” (GFHS) will be the destination where all of greater Kensington and its neighboring areas will come to purchase homemade crafts of all sorts made by these older adults. GFHS taps into the growing arts scene in the neighborhood while simultaneously providing opportunities for older adults to feel included and an important part of its growth.

Click here to view their Presentation.

Contact: shyska@gmail.com, First Presbyterian Church of Kensington, attn: Rev. Shawn Hyska, 418 East Girard Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19125