Historic Black Church Program

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"Our intent is to create an archive for all interested churches so that they have a resource to teach the next generation and preserve their history." - Professor Anthony Alfieri, Director, Center for Ethics & Public Service

The Historic Black Church Program is part of the Center for Ethics and Public Service's ongoing nine-year effort to help Miami's distressed Coconut Grove Village West community. The program provides multidisciplinary resources in education, law, and social services to underserved residents by establishing congregation-based church partnerships through the West Grove's sixteen-church Ministerial Alliance. The Program offers University of Miami students and faculty opportunities for civic engagement, service-learning, and community-based research.

The program is comprised of the following initiatives:

• The Oral History Project compiles oral history archives for church congregations and ministries through film documentaries with the School of Communication and Ransom Everglades High School.
• The Community Education Project provides rights education seminars, capacity-building workshops, and community-based research support to the churches of the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance and to local nonprofit organizations. The seminars address the rights and entitlements of children, the elderly, tenants, homeowners, and at-risk families.
• The Lawyer Referral Project coordinates legal assistance referrals in Village West for eligible individuals and qualified nonprofit groups in conjunction with the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr., Bar Association, the School of Law's in-house clinics and Graduate Program in Real Property Development, and South Florida law firms and nonprofit legal services organizations.
• The Campus-Community Engagement Project sponsors interdisciplinary colloquia on the interaction among law, religion, and society with special emphasis on communities of color.

Awards

INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH PROGRAM
University of Miami School of Law
2012

E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL PROFESSIONALISM AWARD
American Bar Association
2012