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Partners in Health & Wholeness

An initiative of the NC Council of Churches

PHW Collaborative Pledge

Welcome to the PHW Collaborative.  As our name states, we partner with faith communities as they seek to live more healthy, whole, abundant lives. We see the PHW Collaborative Pledge as a commitment to continuing a journey of putting faith into action. The congregations that have participated have done and are doing amazing work. We also facilitate connections and relationships between our congregations to share wisdom, provide support, and build a community around health and wholeness. We offer individual mini-grants and community mini-grants to congregations who have submitted a Collaborative Pledge and are doing much-needed work.* We aim to recognize depth and sustainability in the good work that congregations of all sizes are doing not only to promote health but to live it out in their communities. Will you join us? 

Step 1: Keep reading below to learn more about our Collaborative Pledge. Then scroll to the bottom to click the button titled “Click Here to Submit a Collaborative Pledge”. (Please read all the information) The Collaborative Pledge is important for us to shape our program to better fit the needs of faith communities across the state and to include you in our Collaborative network communications. 

Step 1.5: Send the Clergy Commitment form to your faith leader or clergy person to fill out and submit. This commitment form is important for us and your congregation to know that your faith leader will support your health and wholeness efforts.

Step 2: Once you have submitted the PHW Collaborative Pledge, you will hear back from us within 3 weeks. In the response email, we will send you a link to the individual mini-grant application if you are eligible. To see the mini-grant cycles for 2021 see the graphic above. 

To read more about our mini-grant options click below:

PHW Mini-Grants

Partners in Health and Wholeness Collaborative Criteria

For faith communities interested in submitting a Partners in Health and Wholeness Collaborative Pledge, we require the following commitments to health and wholeness:

  1. Maintaining tobacco-free buildings on worship grounds.
  2. Serving healthy food and drink options at congregational activities, events, and meetings.
  3. Asking your clergy person or Faith Leader to complete the Clergy Commitment.
  4. Sharing the message of health as a faith issue.
  5. Integrating at least one church-based activity based on one of the six focus areas of the PHW program: tobacco cessation and prevention, healthy eating, increased physical activity, mental health advocacy and education, healthy aging, or the overdose crisis/substance use.
  6. And finally, the most important step is to submit a PHW Collaborative Pledge once a year.

The Partners in Health and Wholeness program is supported by The Duke Endowment. This program supports worshipping communities and congregations across the state of North Carolina.

*We define a worshipping community as a congregation that holds regular religious services in an established place of worship and also has a health ministry or would like to start a health ministry dedicated to the well-being of its members and its surrounding community. If you have any eligibility question, please email our Program Coordinator, Michelle S. Peedin, at PHWinfo@ncchurches.org.

Due to our grant guidelines, we are unable to support non-profit agencies.

For more information and a list of our FAQ’s CLICK HERE.

PHW Collaborative Pledge Submission Process

Attention:

  • You are not able to save and come back to the PHW Collaborative Pledge form.
  • We recommend you print the form to prepare your responses BEFORE entering them.
  • We also highly recommend you save your answers on a separate document as you fill out the form so that you do not lose your responses if the form closes for any reason.
  • A copy of your pledge submission will be sent to you and your faith leader.
  • ONCE YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED THE FORM, PLEASE CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE RECEIVED A CONFIRMATION EMAIL.
  • In addition to the PHW Collaborative Pledge, please remember to send your Faith Leader the Clergy Commitment link found here.

If you would like assistance saving your answers or printing the form, please contact our Program Coordinator, Michelle S. Peedin, at PHWinfo@ncchurches.org or contact one of our PHW team members. Thank you so much for your cooperation!

PHW Collaborative Pledge Details and Directions

Once you have submitted the PHW Collaborative Pledge, your congregation will be eligible to apply for an individual mini-grant or a community mini-grant in the February-March cycle, June-July cycle, or October-November cycle. PHW Collaborative Pledges must be received at least 3 weeks before applying for a PHW Mini-Grant. Please note that PHW Collaborative Pledges require a yearly renewal. The Collaborative Pledge will be open from January 15 – November 30.

*Click here to read more about our mini-grant options.

When filling out the form, please type every name out fully with no abbreviations including congregation names, health lead names, and faith leader names.

Example: St. Maria’s United Methodist Church
NOT: St Marias UMC

This will ensure your Pledge gets added properly to your account. As we continue to expand our network, we hope you will continue to include as much detail as possible in the PHW forms. We ask Health Leads to always answer the 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

A copy of your pledge submission will be sent to you and your faith leader. ONCE YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED THE FORM, PLEASE CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE RECEIVED A CONFIRMATION EMAIL.

Thank you for your interest in submitting a Health and Wholeness Collaborative Pledge. If you have any questions please contact a member of our PHW team:

  • Michelle S. Peedin, PHW Program Coordinator, focusing on providing Collaborative and Mini-Grant support to all faith communities. Located in Durham, NC, Michelle can be contacted by email at PHWinfo@ncchurches.or or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 107.
  • Chris Pernell, PHW Director, focusing on deepening and expanding our PHW work across the state through partners and funding opportunities. Located in Wake Forest, NC, Chris can be contacted by email at Chris@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 108.
  • Rev. Jessica Stokes, PHW Associate Director, focusing on statewide mental health advocacy and education. Located in Durham, NC, Jessica can be contacted by email at Jessica@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 109.
  • Nicole Johnson, PHW Associate Director, focusing on statewide denominational support. Located in Winston-Salem, NC, Nicole can be contacted by email at Nicole@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 110.
  • Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn, PHW Associate Director, focusing on statewide healthy aging initiatives. Located in Asheville, NC, Karen can be contacted by email at Karen@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 111.
  • Elizabeth Brewington, PHW Opioid Response Coordinator, focusing on the overdose crisis and substance use. Located in Durham, NC, Elizabeth can be contacted by email at Elizabeth@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 112.
  • Lindsay Barth, PHW Communications Associate, focusing on developing our monthly newsletter, social media, and email communications. Located in Raleigh, NC, Lindsay can be contacted by email at Lindsay@ncchurches.org or by phone at 919-828-6501 ext. 104.