There are so many organizations located in MetroWest doing incredible work. We promote their programs, offer them meeting space, and celebrate their impact. We are honored to stand beside these partners.
You can learn more about the Hands-on Service work we do on a separate page.
Natick Service Council (NSC) in is an advocacy, referral, case management, and information center serving the most economically disadvantaged members of our community to meet basic needs for food, housing, and access to health care (with the ultimate goal of promoting self-sufficiency). Our congregation has been a community partner with NSC since its founding in the 1960s. We collect food for the NSC Food Pantry with a Thanksgiving “ingathering” and a “Souper Bowl” in February (a friendly competition to raise support for NSC).
Family Promise Metrowest (FPMW) transforms the lives of families with children that are facing homelessness, by mobilizing a diverse community to provide shelter, education, and comprehensive support. FPMW houses families directly. Our role is to volunteer at the FPMW office/shelter on a designated week, and to raise funds (through special events and the annual FPMW walkathon).
For several weeks in August, we turn over our front lawn to SOAR Natick (Supporting Outreach and Addiction Recovery) for their Opioid Overdose Memorial Display
Each purple flag they plant in the lawn represents one opioid overdose death in Massachusetts in the past year. For many years, over two thousand flags have been planted. In recent years, there have also been red flags, planted by those who have lost a loved one to overdose, with personal messages of remembrance.
Natick 180 is a community coalition that brings together a wide range of people and resources from around Natick to address the factors that contribute to addiction and to build up the community characteristics that protect against it, fostering community conversations about substance use and mental health that are driven by empathy, respect, science and data. FCC Natick is honored to join in these important conversations.
The Natick Art Association (NAA) holds Natick Artists Open Studios each fall when local artists open their studios to visitors for a fun-filled weekend in Natick center and all around town. FCCN provides space for artists during the Open Studios weekend. Our congregation includes NAA members, some of whom grace our Sanctuary with their art at various times of year. FCCN shares NAA’s goal of welcoming, fostering and encouraging ongoing conversations about the experience of creating and appreciating art and craft.
The Natick Center Cultural District is home to more than 200 working artists, The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), the Morse Institute Library, The Walnut Hill School for the Arts, many independently owned businesses and cultural organizations (including FCC), and an active Recreation and Parks Department. Each makes a unique contribution creating a busy year-round schedule of arts and cultural events. FCC Natick is in the very center of the district, sitting as we do at the crossroads of Natick Center.
Partners for Guatemala Education (PGE) provides education and development support to Santa María Tzejá, a rural community of indigenous Maya located in northern Guatemala.
Working in solidarity with Santa María Tzejá’s community leaders, PGE works to promote access to high quality education to empower the community’s next generation of leaders.
Angels of Hope (Medical Clinics in Uganda) provides medical, psychological, and social care to orphans in Uganda. Angels of hope supports clinics staffed by nurses with skills and experience who work not just to care for the immediate needs of the patients, but also to understand their psychological needs, to watch for signs of physical abuse and/or long term illnesses, and to maintain accurate files on each patient.
A Place to Turn is a choice food pantry located in Natick that takes pride in offering their MetroWest clients a friendly and dignified experience. Their Diaper Project provides families in financial distress with up to 1 week of diapers every 30 days to keep them clean, dry, and healthy.
Composed of people representing a number of faith communities in Natick and Sherborn, the Caring Coalition meets every other month to collaborate and coordinate resources to address needs in the Metrowest area. Current efforts focus on the housing shortage and food insecurity faced by recent immigrants. In addition to raising funds and gathering other material aid, the group engages in advocacy around state and local legislative issues to impact policy. The coalition seeks to grow by including additional individuals and organizations with a passion for making Metrowest a caring community for all who live here.
Launched to counter cyberbullying in 2010, SPARK Kindness hosts speakers, parenting groups, and community activities, all for free. SPARK Kindness ventures into vulnerable, emotional issues to cultivate skills for caring and equity. They work with schools, parents, and civic institutions. Their “wrap around” programs and resources better equip communities to create lasting interdependence and connection.