Residing in the historic Aldrich Presbyterian Church building, the Center of Belonging—as its name implies—has been intentionally cultivated to be a safe space for our community, a place where all neighbors can find meaningful connection and access to important resources. The Center of Belonging opened in 2020 with the vision of housing multiple community-facing organizations and functioning collaboratively, believing that together we can offer something special to every neighbor who enters our doors.
The Center of Belonging is a collaborative of partners providing inclusive space and holistic resources to advance individual and communal health and well-being.
Our collaborative is a diverse group of organizations, each of whom serve the community in their own way. Given the Center of Belonging’s mission, the ways in which these partners collectively inhabit the space is as important as anything. Our collective work is guided by the following four values—shared expectations that each organization has committed to as we seek to provide an inclusive and healing space for all:
We will maintain a physical space that is safe and inviting, and we will engage every guest, visitor, and contributing community member with a posture of warmth and welcome.
We will combat societal tendencies of exclusivity by prioritizing the experience of community members of historically marginalized groups. We will be receptive and responsive to the expressed needs of our community members, deconstructing any barriers that hinder belonging.
We will celebrate our ability to co-create as a group of organizations and individuals with differing insights and perspectives, believing that more is possible when we lean into our diverse strengths and passions. Truly, we are better together.
We will intentionally create and maintain policies that embody our unwavering belief that all racial groups are equal, and will work to combat the preexisting racist systems which result in societal inequalities.
The Center of Belonging celebrates the combined expertise, knowledge, and capabilities of each partner, with our collaborative model offering opportunities for partner organizations to link arms in shared endeavors. Together, we desire to be a source of collaboration and innovation for the flourishing of our neighbors.
We invite you to learn more about each of our collaborative partners, we’d love to have you check out the Center of Belonging for yourself sometime (and maybe even host a gathering of your own here!), and we’re always interested in hearing from you, our neighbors, about how we can partner together with you for the sake of our community.