There is a lot to report to our community – just pulling into the driveway, glancing at the roof, and walking up the steps into the great hall tells a story of our continuing progress with capital improvements. There is a lot to be grateful for. On February 5, between services, we will celebrate the completion of the ROOF PROJECT. But more is coming, and very soon.
Building Addition in 2023 – Timeline Milestones
What needs to happen for us to start building? When will it begin?
- January/February – soliciting contractor bids and pricing
- February – project design info sessions (dates below – please attend.)
- March – reviewing bids and “value engineering” (negotiating the best price for the most value)
- April 16 – presenting the scope and budget to the congregation and voting
- May/June – Break Ground!
The Gateways Task Force has completed the final drawings and documents for the new addition. As you read this, these will be going out for bids. The task force will share details with you, at the following information sessions. This is the final design product!
Building Addition Information Sessions: To review WHY we are building, HOW we will build, and provide an overview of the final design details, with time for your questions and comments.
- Sunday, February 19,12:30 pm – 1:30 pm in person / Zoom hybrid – in the Meeting Room
- Thursday, February 23, 7:00 pm – Zoom only
(One more round of Information sessions will be offered ahead of the April congregational vote, to go over the final costs, budget and terms of the loan the Members will be asked to approve.)
Funding the Project
With over $3.78 million in new funds raised since September 2021, we have the funds to proceed with the project this year. The Board is already applying for a loan to carry us through to project completion in 2024, and through the extended period in 2026 when final pledges are scheduled to come in.
New contributions continue to arrive. Over $50,000 in new pledges were received in the last quarter of 2022, including new and additional gifts from current members, and a generous gift from close friends of a Fellowship member family. The donor family, who are also active Unitarian Universalists were moved by the impact their gift would have in creating our addition. Donations also were received on “Giving Tuesday” and from the Folk Project, which put on a benefit concert that was dedicated to our capital campaign.
As good stewards, the Capital Campaign Team will continue raising funds to complete the construction with little to no long-term debt. Here are some of the things the Capital Campaign Team has underway:
- Alumni and Friends Outreach: reaching out to alumni and friends, including members who have moved away and adults who grew up at the Fellowship.
- Applying for multiple grants; two are in process now.
- Outreach to Partners: The Folk Project is just the first of many Fellowship partners to whom we are also reaching out. We are reviewing what we have accomplished to date and what the addition will mean to them, and developing events and other ways for them to participate in funding the project. In so doing, we continue to build the community we have been dreaming of, centering at our beautiful home.
- On the eve of groundbreaking, we hope to have an Alumni Reunion. Not strictly a fundraiser, just to reestablish ties and bring folks together.
- Down the road –
- We will have a Members & Friends Ribbon-cutting and celebration once the project is complete, in 2024!
- We are also considering a Grand Opening Gala. We would invite Fellowship members, alumni, friends, partners and beyond to key folks in our community, as part of the ongoing fundraising that will continue past groundbreaking. We know this will be a blast, and hope to turn it into an annual event that may serve to fundraise for social justice efforts once the Fellowship’s building dreams are complete.
- Your help is needed for all these endeavors! Come to the Volunteer Fair to find out more.
- Naming Opportunities still exist for substantial gifts – let us know if you can stretch to this level or know someone who might.
How You Can Help
Take a visit! If you have not been visited by the Deeper Roots team – we would like to meet with you. You can reach us at DRWW@MUUF.ORG. You may be a new member, someone who contributed to earlier campaigns but not to the current, final phase, Moving Forward: This gives us a chance to partner with you in fulfilling our dreams.
Volunteer
Please help with our Alumni and Friends’ Outreach by sharing names and contact information of folks you know who have moved away, or no longer attend regularly. And come to the Volunteer Fair on February 12 to find other ways to help.
The Gateways and Deeper Roots teams feel such a sense of pride in all that has been accomplished. It’s been a long time coming, but our beloved community will see this project all the way to completion. Next year, we can move through the Uhrhane-Wilson Gallery, or perhaps across the courtyard, or directly from the new accessible parking lot, to gather in the Al and Minda Chu Family Hall, and break bread that was made in our new kitchen. Finally, there will be a fully accessible, sustainable space in which all of us may dine together.
May it be so!
DRWW
Shari Loe , co-chair
Franklin Heller, co-chair
Helene Ferm, Gateways Liaison
Paul Ferm, Board Liaison
Kathy Solu
Gateways Task Force
Steve Parker, Chair
Helene Ferm
George Hays
David Horst
Sandra Persichetti
Toby Tyler
Candice Donaldson, Stewardship Trustee
John Solu, Finance Liaison
Barbara Stasiak