Around a year ago I was asked if I planned on attending the Christian Community Development Association conference in Cincinnati, OH. My friend asked with such confidence that it was clear to me that they thought I had either been or should know everything there is to know about the conference. PIcking up on that I think I played it cool by rolling with it with a comment like "I'm not sure what I'll be doing but will keep it in mind." Then quickly searched up ccda.org and discovered this association that for 35 years has been helping Christians transform communities I was sold. 

Tonight we are two days into the conference I have not been disappointed. I have visited every booth, bought three books and talked to the authors, sat through fix worships and five plenary sessions full of creative speakers and agencies that want to partner and learn and network together.

One of the highlights from today was hearing from Every Neighborhood presented by Gabrielle Piceno (Administrator), Andrew Feil (Executive Director), and Jason Spencer (Board Member / Pastor).

They have been helping churches in Fresno, CA find ways to serve. With the goal of having each church reach 1% of the population around them. To help make a stronger impact in the area they used data driven tools to dividing up schools and neighborhoods appropriately.

One set of hard questions that Gabrielle asked was "Do you know the state of your neighborhood and data supporting the stories people tell about their neighborhood and how that can inform a strategy for good work?"

I was challenged to create a radius map for the work I do at CHE to help share the story of our community. This information will help compliment decision making around distributing resources and placement of new programing.

For reference I have have included the handout they gave to me.

I hope that you consider joining next year CCDA conference early Oct 2024 in Portland, OR. I'm already going to start seeking donors to sponsors 20 students to attend. Would you consider helping?

Bus round trip WW to PDX = $775
Hotel 3 nights for 10 rooms x $100 = $3,000
Food = $1,800
Conference Fee = $2,100

Total Needed = $7,676

Checks can be sent with a memo: CHE / CCDA 2024
 
Walla Walla University
C/O CHE 
204 S. College Ave
College Place, WA 99324