Connecting Congregations to Community Needs

Oct 28, 2024

When the Rev. Sal Sapienza moved to Fairfield County last year to become pastor of the United Church of Rowayton, he was happy to be welcomed by his new community.

One of the warmest welcomes came from another relative newcomer to the region, Ryan Deal, the Community Foundation’s director of community philanthropy. Deal had moved to Fairfield County in 2022 from North Carolina and was excited to offer himself, and the Community Foundation, as a resource to the new pastor.

“We struck up a really nice conversation,” Rev. Sapienza recalled. “He told me about the Foundation and his work there and I was so grateful to have an opportunity to learn about our community, understand the demographics and understand the needs.”

Rev. Sapienza was so inspired that he invited Deal to meet with the congregation to share insights from the latest edition of the Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index (CWI) — the Foundation’s signature report on wellbeing, quality of life, and economic opportunity in our region.

That meeting, which drew 30 parishioners from the United Church of Rowayton and other nearby religious congregations, is part of a new effort by the Foundation to build partnerships with faith communities.

“Faith communities of all denominations have a shared belief in supporting their neighbors and caring for their larger community — values that are also central to our work at the Community Foundation,” Deal said. “We see this as an opportunity to serve as a thought partner for faith groups and explore how we might work together to create a stronger, more vibrant Fairfield County.”

‘Who is our neighbor?’
At the United Church of Rowayton, a first step in working together was the meeting with parishioners — an event at which Deal and Dr. Tanya Hills, the Foundation’s director of learning, evaluation & research, led an interactive deep dive into the CWI’s latest findings and led a discussion about how to address some of Fairfield County’s disparities.

Rev. Sapienza said the session was an eye-opener for many who attended and that it connects closely with his larger message for his congregation.

“In my sermons each week, I talk about who is our neighbor,” Sapienza said. “I really wanted to have the congregation get to an understanding of the needs that are really around us and how really to address those needs.”

Coming together around Black maternal health
For the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport, the Community Foundation has become a key partner for the congregation’s Reproductive Justice Committee — a volunteer group that was interested in learning more about FCCF’s Black Maternal Health Initiative and its efforts to provide funding to train doulas who can help support Black people in their communities as they prepare for birth.

Doulas are non-medical, trained professionals who support pregnant clients as they prepare for and navigate pregnancy — and through labor, postpartum, and beyond. They are advocates for patients, their partners, and their babies.

Leslie Cenci, the committee’s chair, said the Community Foundation worked with her congregation to organize an information session on Black maternal health and the role of community-based doulas — a session that drew about 30 participants from her congregation and other faith organizations in the region.

“We really wanted to make this something that went beyond our congregation, so we reached out to Episcopal churches, Jewish temples, and other Unitarian Universalist congregations to invite them to participate,” Cenci said.

The congregation and participants from other faith communities have since raised roughly $6,000 to support the Black Maternal Health Initiative’s effort to recruit community members to receive doula training at no cost. FCCF is working to underwrite the costs of training 20 new doulas — so the money raised through the congregation has helped move the Foundation closer to its goal.

‘We are not alone’
Cenci said the fundraising is just the beginning of what she hopes will be an effort that continues and extends to other faith communities in the region.

“When we talk about reproductive justice, that’s a topic that isn’t something other congregations might touch,” Cenci said. “But the Black Maternal Health Initiative, it’s not controversial. It’s something everyone can support.”

The same is true for the Community Foundation’s efforts to work with faith communities to create a Fairfield County where every person can truly thrive.

“It can sometimes seem overwhelming to make a difference when there are so many needs,” Rev. Sapienza said. “But it’s encouraging to know that we are not alone. Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is here to assist us and partner with us — and that makes it seem much more possible to make a difference.”