Although most Unitarian Universalist congregations work within their communities to provide support and resources locally to those in need, one project is bringing together these efforts with the goals of simultaneously deepening our understanding of homelessness while working to end it. Through this collaboration of UU churches' social justice work, a greater presence will bring awareness to this tragedy which affects people in all walks of life and perhaps together we can make a true difference in our communities. The collaborative social justice project developed by a group of Chicago area Directors of Religious Education and called "No More Turning Away," is an effort to have churches throughout the district work together throughout the year to help the homeless in their communities. A website is available to all churches that wish to collaborate on this project, with resources, age-appropriate lesson plans and movie discussion questions.

"Cardboard City" combines fundraising, publicity, and awareness raising for youth and adults in our congregations. It has received lots of local publicity. In spring and/or fall, youth and adults from all participating churches sleep outside in cardboard boxes and tents on their church property. The "Sleepers" for this experiential event collect pledges for their night out and the money collected goes to each church's homeless organization of choice.

A central resource repository for the project has now been created on the web. Multi-age lesson plans, activities and resources have already been gathered and placed together for use by Unitarian Universalist congregations. Users have the ability to add new resources and ideas to the collection, so there will always be new and up-to-date information online. To learn more about the project and what it takes to join, check out the No More Turning Away website, or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , DRE at DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church.