Getting Involved

Social Action Opportunities

Lowell Transitional Living Center Program

Inactive at this time

Bedford Council on Aging (C.O.A.)

Opportunities to shop for house bound elders, visit elders in their homes, deliver lunches, drive elders to medical appointments, tutor computer skills, help with insurance concerns, and more.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI of Central Massachusetts)

NAMI is a nonprofit, self-help, support and advocacy organization for consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses and persistent mental illnesses. Volunteers provide education and support, combat stigma, support increased funding for research, and advocate for adequate health insurance, housing, rehabilitation , and jobs for peoples with mental illnesses and their families.

Contact: Nancy Willett

Environmental Justice Committee

This group is focusing attention on projects related to environmental and climate change issues and encourages volunteer participation.  https://www.uubedford.org/social-action/green-sanctuary/

  • Sponsoring long term efforts to limit the use of cars;
  • Developing religious education activities for youth and adults
  • Developing resources to support change
  • Creating worship opportunities and fostering spiritual connection to the Earth and
  • Supporting efforts to live sustainably.

Contact: Corinne Doud

UU Mass Action Network

Their mission is “to organize and mobilize UUs in Massachusetts to confront oppression”. Their website, http://www.uumassaction.org lists many opportunities to live our shared values through regional teams and issue teams, and monthly action hours. All of the work is grounded in racial justice and UU Mass Action is in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Current campaigns are:

  • Indigenous Rights
  • Climate and Environmental Justice
  • Decarceration and End Solitary Confinement
  • Immigrant Justice
  • Economic Justice

Contact: Cecile Mercado

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

UUSC is a cutting-edge human rights organization with four program priorities:

  • economic justice, including issues of globalization and living wages;
  • civil liberties;
  • environmental justice, especially the right to water; and the
  • human rights consequences of natural and man-made disasters, such as the Asian tsunami, the Gulf Coast hurricanes and wars, such as that in Darfur.

UUSC offers opportunities for personal engagement in all these issues, as well as work camps that give first-hand experiences in the US and world-wide. First Parishioners of all ages have participated in UUSC initiatives in fair-trade coffee and chocolate, as well as the rebuilding of New Orleans. Because UUSC’s headquarters are in Central Square, Cambridge, we have unique access.

UU Urban Ministry

This group fosters an ongoing relationship between First Parish and the UU Urban Ministry in Roxbury, which provides education, service, and advocacy for underprivileged populations in Boston. The team encourages active participation by parishioners in a variety of UUUM programs. Volunteer opportunities are available in both ongoing programs and one time events, including

  • Rice Sticks and Tea (a culturally sensitive food pantry for immigrant and refugee Asian families);
  • Renewal House (a shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic violence);
  • Roxbury Youth Programs (tutoring, leadership, and recreational activities for youth from elementary school through high school);
  • Stand High Stand United (a weekend enrichment program for youth ages 7-15); and
  • United Souls (a support group for men facing incarceration, currently incarcerated, or recently released.)

Delegates: Bob Schmalz and Cecile Mercado

To update or add your name and organization, please leave a note in the
Social Responsibility Council mailbox or email us at : SRC@uubedford.org