CARE Project
Community Action and Relief Experience Project
Originating in the Pacific Northwest, the C.A.R.E. (Community Action Relief Experience) Project is a pilot project from the North Pacific Union Conference Community Services department coordinated out of the Center for Humanitarian Engagement (CHE) at Walla Walla University (WWU).
CARE Project has the vision to increase the involvement of young people in community service through a comprehensive, assessment-based engagement plan, supported by a team of CARE Advocates and resident expert partners.
The application period is currently open for two to three Church-based Adventist Community Services ministries in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana) seeking to increase impact on the ministry and community through a CARE Project.
After interest applications are reviewed, three programs will be selected to participate in a feasibility study with the end goal of providing a readiness review of the community. This process would involve a weekend visit from a CARE Project team, involving focus groups with church members and community leaders to ensure the community’s readiness for change. Each community can expect growth in individual and corporate engagement through involvement and implementation of a strategic plan created from a period of discovery and assessment.
If you are interested in being considered as a CARE Project location please fill out the CARE Project interest form here.
Next Event
Community Engagement Workshop
Dive deeper into a church's role in community transformation through this workshop, which will include topics such as understanding your why, goal setting, and measuring success. This event will highlight valuable insights on navigating strategic planning around community engagement while engaging in fellowship with other leaders.
This workshop will take place on June 8, 2024 from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm and June 9, 2024 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm at Walla Walla University.
All church leaders are welcome.
Ways To Get Involved In CARE Project
Students Interested in CARE Project
If you are a student and are interested in getting involved in service by being a student missionary at one of our pacific northwest locations, please visit and fill out the CARE Project SM Application. You can visit the Student Missionaries page for more information on being an SM either in the pacific northwest or another location around the world.
If you apply and are interested in a CARE Project location, there will be varying cash bonuses added to your time spent as a student missionary. If you go for 3 months you will receive $150 cash bonus, 6 months a $600 cash bonus, or 9 months a $1350 cash bonus. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us using the form at the bottom of this page.
Churches Interested In CARE Project
If you are interested in your church being a part of this project, please follow the steps below.
In this step, you can share with us what service projects are already happening in your community and what your church is interested in developing further!
After you submit the interest form, you will hear from the CHE office allowing for additional questions to be answered. CARE Project Interest Form
In this application process you will be reviewing what a partnership with WWU will look like. You will be asked to provide some additional details regarding the existing leadership, budget and existing community partners. A commitment to the partnership would involve obtaining signatures from your ACS conference director, local pastor and conference president. Together these specifics will help us as we decide which projects are ready to be approve for our last step. CARE Project Application Form
Get your congregation excited for service! This is an opportunity for us to learn more about the current progress of the service projects in your community and to gather feedback from local community. A small team of students and mentors would come on site to facilitate a ACS vision conversation, provide inspiring service testimonies for worship time, fellowship with the congregational through potluck round table conversations, coordinate community focus groups. From this a feasibility study would be created by the CHE team to give the church an outside perspective and recommend possible areas to focus efforts on.
This information will also help in recruiting the right students to participate.
CARE Project Locations
Possible areas of engagement:
- Refugee assistance (Spokane)
- Homelessness (Spokane, Portland)
- Food insecurity (Nooksack)
- Community garden (Nooksack)
- Vulnerable youth and/or elderly (Spokane)
- Education
- Strengthening partnerships in local community (Portland and others)
- 5-year business plans or long-term strategies (Portland)
- PR, design, communications, social media (Portland)
Listed below are 4 project location sites for the 2023-24 school year:
You can read more information about each location and about the CARE Project opportunity by clicking on the location or by going to the Student Missionary page on the Walla Walla University website.
Bonners Ferry, ID
Portland, OR
Nooksack, WA
Spokane, WA
A huge thank you to ACS and Versacare Foundation, our financial sponsors, who have made this happen. For more information about Adventist Community Services and Versacare Foundation, please visit: communityservices.org and versacare.org
Frequently Asked Questions
C.A.R.E. (Community Action Relief Experience) Project is a pilot project from the North Pacific Union Conference Adventist Community Services department coordinated out of the Center for Humanitarian Engagement (CHE) at Walla Walla University (WWU).
CARE Project has the vision to increase the involvement of young people in community service through a comprehensive, assessment-based engagement plan, supported by a team of CARE Advocates and resident expert partners. The application period is currently open for Church-based Adventist Community Services ministries in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana) seeking to increase impact on the ministry and community through a CARE Project.
This depends on many factors but is being developed as a 1 to 2 year pilot program. Our desire is it each church will be enabled to continue collective support from community partners and church members alike to create a sustainable model.
In 2018 the Center for Humanitarian Engagement was formed, by Walla Walla University, with a mission to have students engage with Christ and their communities through service. C.H.E. had done this successfully and continues to do so, and as a result, has partnered with Adventist Community Services and Union leadership to help create a pilot program that could be replicated around the world. To inspire and educate on the topic of service, the C.H.E. has developed C.A.R.E.; Community Action and Relief Experience. These C.A.R.E. projects are mobile versions of what the C.H.E. does and are centered more around the training and leadership components.
There are a few ways that projects are funded…