The effort to develop affordable housing on the SSUMC campus ramped up throughout the summer as the Building Beloved Community Committee (BBCC) engaged the congregation and nearby community in a variety of ways.
Our development partners joined us at a July 20th session to preview possible building design arrangements and to get input from meeting attendees. We hosted a couple of informal building walk-throughs to survey the campus’ current condition and look ahead to planned and potential changes. And, in late August, we hosted a session on the financial and legal aspects of an affordable housing project. You can review the formal meetings on our YouTube playlist.
The BBCC is grateful for the robust participation in these meetings by members of the congregation, neighbors from Woodside, North Woodside, and Woodside Park, and from SSUMC partners like Shepherd’s Table and A Wider Circle.
Our work now moves to a new, more focused phase. The BBCC met on Sunday, September 15 to select from Wiencek + Associates’ updated designs for the affordable housing development. A presentation of that design concept to the entire SSUMC congregation and community will take place on Sunday, September 29 at 11:30am.
There will be additional opportunities for congregation and community engagement following that meeting. The BBCC’s goal is to have an affordable housing design plan presented for approval by the congregation by early December.
Please plan to take part in these important upcoming sessions; your engagement is crucial to the success of “Building a Beloved Community”. Questions? Email us at belovedcommunity@silverspringumcp.org.