Social Action

Mindfulness Must Be Engaged

"When I was in Vietnam, so many of our villages were being bombed. Along with my monastic brothers and sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we continue to practice in our monasteries, or should we leave the meditation halls in order to help the people who were suffering under the bombs? After careful reflection, we decided to do both - to go out and help people and to do so in mindfulness. We call it engaged Buddhism. Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise what is the use of seeing?

We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help. If we maintain awareness of our breathing and continue to practice mindfulness, even in difficult situations, many people, animals, and plants will benefit from our way of doing things. Are you massaging our Mother Earth every time your foot touches her? Are you planting seeds of joy and peace? I try to do exactly that with every step, and I know that our Mother Earth is most appreciative. Peace is every step. Shall we continue our journey?"

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

There are a number of wonderful organizations that we have partnered with to take our mindfulness practice into action. Won’t you please join us?

The Urban Ministries typically serves 800 sandwiches daily to those in in need in our community. That is nearly 300,000 sandwiches on an annual basis.

The Charlotte Community of Mindfulness sponsors events quarterly, making and donating about 1000 vegetarian sandwiches, fresh salad fixings and condiments each year.

The Room In the Inn

Since 1996, the Urban Ministry Center has partnered with colleges and congregations of many faiths to open their facilities to provide shelter and food for homeless people during the winter months, December 1 – March 31.

Each site offers a warm, safe place to sleep, serves three meals (dinner, breakfast and bag lunch) and then returns guests the following morning to uptown Charlotte. The program offers a unique way for people of faith to become directly involved with individuals who are homeless. The basic goal is to keep homeless people from freezing on cold winter nights. A greater goal is to provide a more personal relationship to homeless people, at least for a night, and to foster a deeper understanding of the depth and complexity of the issue.

From December 1, 2018, through March 31, 2019, Room In The Inn provided a total of 16,407 overnight accommodations to 1,494 different people. Each year, nearly 5,000 Room In The Inn volunteers throughout the community help in some way: registering neighbors, driving, making dinner and serving dinner, chaperoning overnight, making sandwiches for lunch or simply sharing a meal and conversation.

Each year, the Charlotte Community of Mindfulness volunteers for one full weekend in the Myers Park Baptist Church Room In The Inn ministry. Learn more about this vital ministry at
Myers Park Baptist: We Provide Shelter to Our Neighbors

To learn more, volunteer, or donate to the Urban Ministry Center, visit their website at https://www.urbanministrycenter.org/

The Charlotte Community of Mindfulness supports this mission, with clothing drive, food and needed good donations. To learn more about CCRA, visit their website at carolinarefugee.org

Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency

The mission of the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, is to receive, to connect, and to empower newly arrived refugees in the Charlotte area so that they begin successful and self-sufficient lives in the United States.

Behavioral Health Center

The Behavioral Health Center in Charlotte, is Atrium Health’s comprehensive, integrated system of inpatient, outpatient, school-based, crisis and residential treatment programs for comprehensive behavioral healthcare.

The Charlotte Community of Mindfulness supports this important service, via a book drive for their patient library.

YWCA

The mission of the Central Carolinas YWCA, is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

There are two transitional housing programs Women In Transition and Families Together, providing safe, affordable housing for single women and families with minor children while they participate in an intensive support case management program.

The Charlotte Community of Mindfulness supports their mission, by holding supply drives for women and families.

To learn more about the mission of the Central Carolinas YWCA, visit their website at ywcacentralcarolinas.org