Minister Sam Casey, Director

Who we are?
We are a small group of Passionate, Progressive, and Proactive Clergy, Lay, and Community Leaders founded COPE in the Fall of 2000. COPE’s founders determined that building a collaboration of proactive and prophetic leadership was needed to bring some measure of attention, respect and social justice to neglected African American neighborhoods. As a result, they created a model for isolated churches and community groups to come together in San Bernardino and Riverside County’s in a purposeful faith-based learning network that would extend their ministry beyond church walls to provide critical community services, while also building political power to make lasting policy change.

Today, COPE instructs clergy and lay persons in the art of community organizing, public policy formation and program development. We accomplish our work through regional and local conferences and mentoring relationships, and through the development of regional and local public policy initiatives coordinated through our staff, Pastors, and Leaders within the organization.

What we offer?
COPE edifies the leadership of clergy and congregants by building their capacity as publicly skilled leaders.

We accomplish this through national and regional trainings, and through mentoring relationships, resource development and technical assistance as follows:

Community Assessment and Analysis
COPE works with clergy and congregations to identify and research community needs and identify what services already exist in the community of interest through mapping and other methods. Structured, public, face-to-face actions are held with key business and political leaders on an issue-by-issue basis to explore and develop joint solutions to the root causes of problems in communities.

Strategic Planning

Pastor Hodari and Sis. V. Jews

COPE helps congregations conceptualize a vision for thriving communities, and works with congregants and community groups to map out how to get there.

Meeting Preparation and Participation
Maintaining an effective presence in meetings is critical to organizing success. COPE’s training covers how to develop clear meeting agendas, determine roles and responsibilities for meeting participants, how to gather necessary research and statistics to help make a case, and role-play and practice before attending sessions with public officials.

Program Development and Organizational Management
COPE helps congregations develop and strengthen programs to serve the needs of their members and the communities they serve. Trainings cover (1) identifying management and organization models that are best for managing public and private funds; (2) service models that are most effective when working with African American communities; (3) how to incorporate cultural considerations for African Americans in a multi-cultural program; (4) identifying appropriate staff, board and management training; (5) developing effective marketing materials; and (6) collecting, interpreting and disseminating relevant program information/data.

Policy Influence
Through a social justice framework, COPE works with congregations to promote privateand public policy solutions to community problems by teaching them strategies for convening, informing, and influencing and holding accountable key decision makers in their communities.

Resource Development
COPE’s training includes a range of strategies for foundation and corporate fundraising.

Grant and Report Writing Assistance
Participants learn what the elements of effective grant requests are and how to craft them, and also receive guidance on how to write narrative and financial progress reports for funders.

Reflection and Evaluation
Throughout training sessions with COPE, congregations learn the importance of observation, participation, and study. COPE emphasizes the key to successful public ministry: reflection…action…reflection.

How we Work?
Using the Post-Civil Rights Movement as a model for building church- and community-based organizations, COPE’s approach to community change focuses on preparing clergy and lay members of small and mid-sized churches to take on leadership roles in advocacy campaigns.

Through a series of training sessions, clergy, churchgoers, and community leaders become steeped in the fundamentals of community organizing: conducting political and power analysis; building public power through structured actions; establishing intentional relationships as a basis for power; examining institutional relationships and how they affect communities; and developing relationships with other congregations who are actively working on issues in the public arena. Churches that have fewer than 200 members predominate in black communities. These smaller churches are much more likely to be attended by members who live in the surrounding neighborhood. With their immediate connection to the people and institutions in traditional black neighborhoods, small and mid-sized churches are uniquely positioned to serve as agents of change for low-income African Americans. They are on the front lines, and most in need of the capacity building and training that COPE provides.

Additionally, COPE’s is not persuaded by one political party or another. Our participants work all sides of the political spectrum to accomplish their policy goals. We also believe that local communities must organize themselves into local and regional networks to protect their interests. Small movements are built one by one, and state policy is impacted through the structure of COPE and regional affiliates in two counties, who work together across denominations to achieve mutually beneficial policy victories.