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City Mosaic partnerships fight poverty

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As the saying goes, you can always go at it alone, but having a partner makes things easier.

In Indianapolis, the faith community has decided to be part of the collaboration culture, and City Mosaic is one such entity that is using connectivity to transformĀ and empowerĀ people andĀ communitiesĀ in poverty.

The Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper recently interviewed Stacia Murphy, communications director and administrative assistant for City Mosaic, to learn more about their mission and how other churches can partner with the collaboration.

Indianapolis Recorder: Tell me about City Mosaicā€™s origins.

Murphy: the original vision was led by Pastor Steve Poe of Northview Church in Carmel, Ind. Heā€™s always known that people in povertyā€™s needs are great and there are systemic issues that take all of us to overcome. He thought, ā€˜what if churches came together and did it together? We could make a dent in these issues.ā€™ From there he got with Greg Strand, who was once on staff at Grace Church and together they made a commitment to change Indianapolis from the inside out.

How many churches are currently on board?

Formally we have nine churches that have signed a covenant to be a part of City Mosaic. There are four suburban churches and five urban churches. However we have a lot of midtown churches that serve as our ally churches.

When churches gather to tackle poverty, what takes place?

Recently weā€™ve been focusing on building our strategy and initiatives. What that entailed was getting pastors together to discuss the issues that affect congregations and what City Mosaic needs to focus on. Out of that came our five initiatives: education; affordable housing; job creation; family transformation; and church revitalization. Those ideas came from those on the front lines, in the neighborhoods doing the work in impoverished communities.

We also facilitate relationships and make sure both parties understand one another to get the ball rolling. Our churches work together on initiatives. Our goal isnā€™t to reinvent the wheel, but to look at whose already doing the work and how can we help them.

So for example, we are partnering with the City of Indianapolis and the Department of Public Safety to bring people together to address the abandoned housing issue so churches can put people inside those houses.

Why is the church a good vehicle to address issues like job creation and education?

This started in the church and it was the church that said ā€˜we believe weā€™ve been called to follow in Jesusā€™ footstepsā€™ which is taking care of orphans, taking care of the impoverished, taking care of the hungry ā€“ thatā€™s what we are supposed to do. City Mosiac asks ā€˜how can we do more of this and also do it better?ā€™ We believe there are a lot of programs that donā€™t have a faith-based component that donā€™t see as great of results as we do. We donā€™t go out and try to convert people or beat people over the head about Jesus. We just try to help people who need help from the Christian perspective.

What are some future goals for City Mosaic?

Some short and long-term goals are getting more churches on board; expanding each initiative; and coming up with additional initiatives.

Right now, we are working on addressing housing in some of the areas the Department of Public Safety has identified as troubled areas. We have churches in these areas, and are working to make a difference.

We also have plans to address housing and family issues among those coming out of the prison system.

We also serve as mentors in six failing Indianapolis Public Schools.

How can a church get involved with City Mosaic?

Just go online to citymosaic.org to sign up!

For more information, email info@citymosaic.org or visit citymosaic.org.

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