United Christian Fellowship

Quick Links

- South Bronx -- Navajo Indian Reservation -- Alternative Spring Break: South Bronx

Seminar in the South Bronx: Understanding Poverty in the United States
For a PDF copy of the 2008 trip information click here

• Understanding Poverty in the United States itself engages 35 participants each Fall, 12 community partners, 11 of which are in the South Bronx, NY, and 5 BGSU faculty and alumni. This program was created because many individuals who come to the UCF are young idealists, people of all backgrounds who want to funnel their beliefs and faith into change in their communities. However, with all young people, that idealism is in danger of vanishing without pragmatic learning. Understanding Poverty in the United States aims to transform students' beliefs about poverty into action by networking them with the churches and nonprofits that have cultivated proven
  methods of fighting poverty in the South Bronx.
•  
• Program Goals:
• 1. Provide an academic investigation of racism, poverty, and nonprofit organizing through weekly meetings,
  2. Engage students by living and volunteering in the South Bronx for 5 days, fully immersing them in a new cultural environment,
  3. Network participants with our 11 Bronx partners to disseminate their best practices and cultivate our participants ability to work in the nonprofit sector,
  4. Assist students in proposing community service projects that impact their community through providing staff and volunteer run community action workshops,
  

If you are interested in participating in the South Bronx Trip:

1. Express your interest in the South Bronx Trip by contacting Bill Thompson at wthomp@bgsu.edu in the Spring
2. He will send you more information about the South Bronx Trip; decide from that information if you are serious about pursuing the trip.
3. Set up an interview with Bill Thompson.
4. After the interview, he will let you know if you have been accepted and register you for SOWK 470 – Explore Poverty Urban US.
5. Look for emails from Bill to learn when and where meetings for the trip will be.

Navajo Immersion Trip: Engaging Navajo Culture
For a PDF copy of the 2008 information click here.

The Navajo Immersion Trip challenges students' to spend 2 weeks on the Navajo Indian Reservation to study a culture that is very different from our own

Our nation has a rich native heritage, one that can offer a unique perspective on what an individual's role in a society entails. With collective understanding of the individual, the Navajo culture can teach others the value of civic engagement and grassroots organizing in our communities across the nation. In addition, Exploring Navajo Culture helps to preserve Navajo culture by engaging our nation's youth in their rich and
sacred history and involving participants in direct service projects. Imagine a group of 30 rural college-aged individuals coming together around a campfire at night under the stars of the Navajo sky, sharing their
experiences with the Navajo and learning about, from Navajo elders themselves, the very root of our nation's foundation. This Immersion Trip is transformative and one that leads, ultimately, to the spreading and preservation of these sacred beginnings that are in danger of becoming extinct.

Program Goals:
1) Develop intercultural awareness and ability through studying and sharing Navajo culture, practices, and lifestyle,

2) Cultivate critical comparison, criticism, and activism skills by exploring grassroots organizations on the Navajo Reservation to learn how communities are built and organized,

3) Encourage creative problem-solving, personal presentation and communication skills by promoting the individual interaction among participants and the Navajo society to learn how to apply community building and organizing skills to differing communities,

4) Serve the Navajo community through a variety of physical community service projects.

This is a three-month program, beginning in March and ending in May 2009, with the first two months involving biweekly meetings to discuss readings and to view one film depicting Navajo culture. In May, participants drive from Bowling Green, OH to the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico. For student participants, this program can be offered for credit as an independent study through Bowling Green State University.

If you are interested in participating in the Navajo Trip:

1. Express your interest in the Navajo Trip in the fall by contacting either:
- Bill Thompson at wthomp@bgsu.edu
- Gordon Ricketts at gordonr@bgsu.edu
2. They will send you more information about the Navajo Immersion trip; decide from that information if you are serious about pursuing the trip.
3. Set up an interview with Bill Thompson or Gordon Ricketts.
4. After the interview, they will let you know if you have been accepted and register you for the class – Exploring Navajo Culture.
5. Look for emails from Bill or Gordon to learn when and where meetings for the trip will be.

Alternitive Spring Break: Advaced Organizing in the Bronx
This Spring, the UCF is taking students and FREEDOM back to the South Bronx to study advanced organizing techniques. The mission and goals of this trip are the same as Understanding Poverty in the United States above, except this time students will have an entire week in the Bronx. In addition, students will be able to select personalized 'tracks' where they volunteer and cooperate with a partner nonprofit in the Bronx more closely.

If you are interested in participating in the Spring South Bronx Trip:

1. Express your interest in the South Bronx Trip by contacting Bill Thompson at wthomp@bgsu.edu in the Spring
2. He will send you more information about the South Bronx Trip; decide from that information if you are serious about pursuing the trip.
3. Set up an interview with Bill Thompson.
4. After the interview, he will let you know if you have been accepted and register you for SOWK 470 – Explore Poverty Urban US.
5. Look for emails from Bill to learn when and where meetings for the trip will be.