The Board is pleased to announce that Beatrice Murray has joined us as our Community Life Coordinator. In 2017, Beatrice moved from Miami to the High Country to take a position as an Administrative Specialist at Grandfather Mountain State Park, and she brought with her three years of experience (2014-17) as the Director of Religious Exploration at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami. Beatrice joined our Fellowship over the summer, and you may already be aware of her musical contributions to our worship, most recently singing in her beautiful soprano voice during the Music for Centering portion of our August 26 service.
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​As Community Life Coordinator, Beatrice will grow our community by reaching out to new BUUF visitors and attendees, by following up on those joys, transitions, and concerns shared during services, and by participating in long-range planning with the BUUF Board and other staff members. She is eager to hear your ideas: during our Valle Crucis Day Retreat on Saturday, September 22, she will host a workshop on the topic on “Building BUUF Community,” and looks forward to everyone’s input. 

Marti Johnson, RISE Director for the Hospitality House, shared stories illustrating the employment challenges and triumphs faced by the homeless and low-income people participating in Hospitality House's Rise program. RISE stands for: Relationships Intended for Self-Sufficiency and Empowerment. Challenges include having an address in order to find employment; having a conviction that can prevent employment; having a safe place to keep personal items, having identification, and many more obstacle to find stability and security. Learn more about the RISE program.

​Read Martie's notes (PDF) from the presentation. 

WELCOME TRAVIS!
Please join us in welcoming Travis as our new youth leader. Beginning in August, BUUF and  we will host a group for ages 12+. Tamara Franks, minister of High Country UCC, worked throughout last year’s OWL program with Travis and noticed how much the youth responded to him. Full of fun and excitement for living, Travis is ready to take our youth program and infuse it with community engagement, fun group bonding, exploring personal values and creating room to learn and grow. Travis will be leading youth from both congregations on Sunday afternoons and once a month or so working with the youth to plan a social, volunteer or learning based outing. For more information, feel free to email him at traviswayneboswell@gmail.com. Meet Travis at the upcoming Youth Orientation Meeting – on Sunday, August 19th – 12:45pm-2:30pm. Learn more.

​(Credit: text from HCUCC website)

Image from Buffalo Cove