Spokane Alliance’s strength comes from our member organizations, aka “institutions”: the faith congregations, labor unions, nonprofits, and other civic organizations that share a concern for the common good of our community.
If your organization becomes a member of Spokane Alliance, we will work with you to build a “core team.” A core team is a group of volunteer leaders within a member institution. They intentionally build relationships among the organization’s members in order to listen for the community’s issues, and they find new volunteer leaders to engage in our work. The core team also acts as a liaison with Spokane Alliance.
Member institutions commit to building teams of volunteer leaders to work on local issues that are agreed on by Spokane Alliance’s full leadership. By joining with other institutions that have similar goals and concerns, Spokane Alliance members increase their collective power and work to achieve victories on local and state-wide issues.
Spokane Alliance member institutions have many reasons for joining. They see:
- that a core team can help to shift the culture of their organization into one that shares responsibility and leadership, is built on powerful relationships, and is responsive to the needs of their members,
- the advantages of working with a diverse cross-cultural collection of organizations that are all concerned with social justice and community development,
- the power of working in relationship with other organizations, which is ultimately more effective than working alone,
- the richness of the relationships that can form in the process of working together, and
- the possibility of increased influence in the Spokane region.
Other benefits of membership:
- Free registration for an unlimited number of members in the local Leadership Institutes
- Assistance with organizing local issue campaigns, as well as the ability to connect to Spokane Alliance’s broader campaigns
- Assistance with organizing strategies within member organizations
- Representation in organization-wide decision-making on the Spokane Alliance Delegate Assembly
Member institutions pay annual dues to ensure Spokane Alliance has a secure and independent core budget and to support the work of the organization. This enables us to be accountable to our member organizations, not outside funders.
Every pastor I know wishes their church was more responsive, more reflective, and more action-oriented! Being part of the Alliance has given me the tools to stop wishing and start implementing practices that have made my work and my fledgling congregation more responsive, reflective, and action-oriented.
The Abbey has long been a place where people in one of Spokane’s poorest neighborhoods can get a meal, a cup of coffee, and a warm spot to sit, but through our membership in the Spokane Alliance, the Abbey is now becoming a place where people struggling to get into affordable housing can gather to be heard, strategize, and take action together.
The church in each generation will be judged by how it does or does not engage with the most pressing social issues of its time. The problem of homelessness and lack of affordable housing can feel overwhelming, but the Alliance has given me and my community effective means to start making a real difference. In just a few months of working together, I’ve done things I never imagined doing before, like meeting with city council members. It’s been a delight to see many of the people who are part of our community at the Abbey share their stories, be seen, be heard, and develop as leaders.
To put it simply, I know of no other organization in our city that does what the Alliance does. My ministry is stronger because of their work, and my organization is more effectively engaging our neighborhood and the most important problems in our community.
Rev. Katy Shedlock, West Central Abbey
For more information on becoming a member institution of Spokane Alliance, please contact Laurel Fish, Lead Organizer ([email protected])