Board of Trustees Report July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017 The BOT started its year with a retreat in August in which we welcomed new Board members, started the process of team building, discussed goals and the Board’s focus for the year both as a Board and with our Minister. Additionally, one of the first projects for the BOT is to update our Board Liaisons and begin work with contacting committee chairpersons and coordinators for updating the Annual Directory. Over the course of the year the Board assists with the work of many committees. We have discussions with the Nominating Committee regarding BOT Succession, with Stewardship regarding goals for the canvass, and we assisted in restructuring the Membership Committee into a 3 team Membership Development Council. In February, the Board was presented with the UUA/UUSC Declaration of Conscience. This is a joint initiative with the UUA and the UUSC to affirm our commitment to our UU values and principles. Michael signed the declaration as the President on behalf of the congregation with the full support of the board. UUFH again qualified for the 2016-2017 Blue Ribbon Congregation Award in recognition of our financial contribution to the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, this is the sixth time we have received that recognition. The Board hosted a Committee Chairperson’s Forum in February as well as supporting and participating in several committee forums such as those hosted by Long Range Planning, the Committee on Ministry, as well as the New Member’s Orientation, and the Stewardship Luncheon. Our largest challenge and the focus of much of the Board’s efforts is with the ongoing deficit situation. With the continued idea of transparency the Board held two Budget and Finance Forums, one in November and one in May, both focused on giving an accurate report of the state of our finances. In 2016 the Board had established the Long Range Planning Committee with a charge to develop a plan for sustainability, growth, and direction and in December LRP presented that plan including recommendations for a three year strategy of how goals will be accomplished. In addition to this plan the Board examined several options for raising funds such as hosting a possible weekly Bingo game or a weekly Flea Market/Farmer’s Market. The Board also considered issues for saving expenses with a possible historical designation for our property. While some of these ideas were not possible the Board continued assisting the Development committee with fundraising ideas, in addition to the successful Services Auction, by supporting a plan to move forward with a Halloween Fair and Pumpkin Patch in the fall of 2017. The Board also had meetings with leaders from Stewardship, Long Range Planning, and the Committee on Ministry to help determine a desired path forward for sustainability. The Board recognized at this time a desire by many to continue to focus on raising income and grow out of the deficit.

In April, as budget numbers and contribution tallies from the annual canvass came in the Board was informed by the Budget and Finance Committee that the current deficit for 2016-17 was in excess of $57,000. While the Board commends the dedicated work of committee members from Development and Long Range Planning and realizes that it’s necessary to allow time for their efforts to come to fruition, the Board also came to a consensus that the current state of the deficit is not sustainable. After extensive discussions the Board formulated a goal to present a balanced budget to the congregation in the spring of 2018 and is willing to reduce expenses as necessary to the congregation so that the budget does not exceed a defined deficit amount. As such, the Board passed a resolution “The Board resolves to present a balanced budget for 2018-19. Should the Board determine that a balanced budget is not obtainable, the Board will propose cuts to the budget so that the deficit does not exceed $15,000.” Given the current state of deficit in 2016-17 the Board has also determined that although decisions are difficult, a reduction to expenses is necessitated at this time. At the May 21 Budget and Finance Forum the Board made recommendations to reduce the role of the Communications Specialist to basic website and technical maintenance. This recommendation and other cuts to expenses result in a savings of approximately $27,000 less than total expenses in 2016-17. While the Board is not pleased to be presenting a budget deficit for 2017-18 we are satisfied that we have accepted what is possible currently as the budget proposal represents the second lowest deficit in the last 5 years. Additionally the Board has agreed to enter into discussions of a possible shared ministry model for the coming year. While the goal of these proposals is to reduce our deficit to a manageable level, the Board realizes that new expectations in regards to communications and possibly ministry must be acceptable to the Fellowship. Moving forward the Board is committed to a sustainable budget that is within the resources of our Fellowship. Finally we thank outgoing members of the BOT, Brian Cohen, Kim Schultze, Jennifer Thieke, and Cathi Zillmann for their service and we welcome new members Jean Marra, Karen Mazzotta, Peter Montemurro, and Brigitte Zimmer. Respectfully submitted, Michael Amendola, BOT President.

Minister’s Annual Report, 2017

Rev. Jude Geiger

Since our last annual meeting, we remember the lives of:

Grace Donaldson, mother of Terry Donaldson; Catherine Epstein, mother of Cathi Zillman; Rita Kay, mother of Pat Keely; Lorelei Kurfist, mother of Lee Kurfist; Anne Pawlowski, mother of Carol Ann Norton; Millie Novak; Doris Pfuhler, sister of Anne Rattinger; Bob Ralph; Louise Curtis Seidl; Lois Ann Sepez; Peter Sepez; Herb Sussman, father of David Sussman; Bob Wochinger; Elisabeth Woelker, mother of Birgit Woelker, and grandmother of Grace Kenny; Charles Reina

It has been a challenging but full year. HIHI (Huntington Interfaith Housing Initiative) and our Grow to Give Garden continue to be bedrocks for our direct service work to those in need in the community. Many thanks to all the many members it takes to live fully into our commitment to the community. HIHI is exploring broader collaboration in how our congregations can team up to support the Sanctuary movement. And the GTGG has expanded its beds to improve our capacity.

In December, I convened a visioning meeting for our 11 Long Island UU congregations to imagine how we can better collaborate for social justice. We host a monthly gathering – the Social Justice Roundtable - on the second Monday’s of the month. All are welcome. I have also reconnected us with the LI Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods group which are currently focusing on the Heroin and Opioid Epidemic on Long Island.

Recent inquiries tell us that our congregation has striven to build or rebuild our grounds for 37 years. I was five years old when we first seriously considered it. As we close this Fellowship year, that dream has finally come to fruition. Latter in the year, when the landscaping is fully done, we’ll celebrate with a grounds dedication. But I want to especially thank the volunteers on the parking lot task force for making the impossible possible and for Liza Burby in particular for keeping us on track when we needed it most.

Our Finances teams continue to do the hard work of balancing our budget through stewardship, fundraising, membership growth, and rental use of our property. Our deficit will be less than half what it was last year. We have much more work to do, but we’re going in the right direction.

Membership growth has fluctuated over the past few years. We are up for our low point of 209 members about 6 or 7 years ago, to our current membership of 226 adults. Recent RE enrollment continues to be stable at around 70-85 children and youth each year.

I continue to serve widely in the denomination. I am about to enter my third and final year on the Metro NY UU Ministers’ Association Executive Team. After two years as president, I will remain on for a third year in the role of “Past President.” I also serve on the UUMA continental Continuing Education Team. I will return again for a week of

youth ministry at our Fahs Summer Camp in August. Starr and I will be leading a Family Ministry 3 day training for Religious Professionals in the Central East Region of the UUA this summer.

Warmly,

Rev. Jude Geiger

Religious Education Annual Report 2016-2017 Submitted by Starr Austin, Director of Lifespan Religious Education Eric Gerde, RE Council Chair. Children & Youth RE Program Data

Registered children and youth: 74

Average attendance: 53%

Teaching Team: 14 teachers

RE Council: 6 members

We have seen an increase in young families in the Fellowship over the last two years. Our RE Council has improved attendance at our monthly meetings and has worked to increase the breadth of some of our annual programs, such as the annual RE Art Show.

Children & Youth RE Curricula

Nursery: Provides stories and free play

Kindergarten & 1st Grade: Rainbow Promises – a story based curriculum on the 7 principles.

2nd & 3rd Grade: Signs of Our Faith – “I am UU” rite of passage year. The curriculum focuses on what it means to live a UU life of faith, how our congregation works, and helps children connect our principles to everyday life.

4th & 5th Grade: Toolbox of Faith – uses everyday symbols and tools to help children build their toolkit to navigate their world. These tools help with self-reflection, kindness, centering, and living our values as a way to help children work through the years when bullying emerges in their life at school. This teaches that they can draw on their UU faith for strength and support each day.

6th & 7th Grade: Riddle & Mystery – a primer to Coming of Age, the curriculum focuses on big questions about life, God, and death.

8th & 9th Grade: Racial Justice – using materials from Teaching Tolerance and other anti-racism educational sites, youth learned how being an anti-racist fits into their UU values and explored terms, privileges, and disadvantages around race and racism.

10th – 12th Grade: Covenant Café – Bagels, coffee, and small group ministry. Our teachers work to guide our youth through discussing current events and life as a teenager. They help them find hope, respite, and motivation in their UU community.

Rites of Passage:

Baby Dedication – 1 baby dedication

I Am UU – We have approximately 5 children who took this class and will have their ceremony on June 4.

Coming of Age – 3 youth participated in the LIAC program and will be recognized in service on June 4.

Bridging – 5 youth went through our bridging program and will be recognized in service on June 11.

Special RE Programs:

Fellowship Retreat – We held a retreat at Camp Qunipet in November. The retreat, while geared toward families, was open to the entire Fellowship. We had 63 people attend. The next retreat will be in April 2018 and we hope to get 96 participants!

RE Art Show – We expanded this program to include 8 adult artists from the Fellowship working with our children and youth to share their art, talk about mediums and technique, and to share in the spiritual practice of making art. The children and youth made art at home and submitted it for the show. We had 37 pieces. The show was displayed with the photo and a brief statement from each young artist to help our adult congregants get to know the children and youth better. This was a big success.

UU Pals – This year we did a 5 week letter exchange between adults and children & youth. The adult pal was a mystery and was revealed at a potluck celebration. Everyone enjoyed this program and we had 34 participants.

Adult Religious Education

Programs offered this year:

Small Groups

Yoga

Meditation

Writing Memoir

Poetry as Spiritual Practice

On Being Discussions

Film Nights

Parent Education & peer circles

Ongoing faith development with RE teachers

Adult Coming of Age with Rev. Jude & Starr

Coffee & theology talks with the DRE

Book clubs

Teach-in for Racial Justice

Co-facilitated book discussion with NAACP

Small Groups – This is our primary adult RE offering. Groups meet once a month Sept-June and discuss the monthly theme in groups of 4-12 people. We will be asking people to sign up in August and early Sept for next year

Finance Committee 2016-‘17 The Finance Committee's functions include preparation and presentation of the annual operations budget, oversight of fund-raisers, receiving and recording of contributions to the Fellowship. Our bookkeeper handles many of the financial chores using Quick Books to prepare payments and track our Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss statements. Following is an overview of our current financial state. For Fiscal Year 2014-2015, there was a deficit of $19,857. For Fiscal Year 2015-2016, there was a deficit of $34,473. For Fiscal Year 2016-2017, there was a deficit when the budget was submitted of $43,957. It is currently projected that by June 30th (the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year), that the deficit will be approximately $57,887. This higher deficit is due in part to increased insurance carrier cost; mold issue last summer - increased electric; less building usage than expected; less income from assets (money spent on parking lot); less received in pledges and contributions. Income (Budgeted amount/Projected total June 30):

INCOME Budget

Projected

6/30

Pledges/Contributions (all, including plate)

295,000 288,801

Fund Raisers: 32,500 38,658

Building Usage 88,980 85,034

Other Income 4,250 770

TOTAL INCOME $420,730 $413,263

Total income is projected to be $7,467 below the budgeted amount for 2016-17. Expenses (Budgeted amount/Projected total June 30):

EXPENSES Budget

Projected

6/30

Personnel 297,861 293,794

Building 99,200 104,270

Office 14,930 18,352

Programs 19,475 17,513

Denominational Dues 23,308 23,308

BOW Philanthropy 2,913 2,913

Reserves 7,000 7,000

TOTAL EXPENSES $464,687 $471,150

SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) -$43,957 -$57,887

Total expenses are projected to be $6,463 more than the budgeted amount for 2016-17. On 2/13/17, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution: “The Board resolves to present a balanced budget for 2018-19. Should the Board determine that a balanced budget is not obtainable, the Board will propose cuts to the budget so that the deficit does not exceed $15,000.” The Board passed the resolution unanimously. Before the 2017-18 budget was presented to the BOT by Finance, as mentioned and shown above, as actual numbers were coming in, we saw that the current year deficit would increase from the initial amount of $43,957 to close to $60,000 (as of 5/29, the projected deficit is $57,887). Likewise, without any further changes, we were looking at a deficit of at least $60,000 for the 2017-18 budget. There was even more pushback on the numbers for the budget. Finance finished the fiscal year 2017-2018 budget, which for the third straight year is essentially extremely close to an austerity budget. There were no salary increases or additional paid hours

given to any staff. Finance and the Board of Trustees pushed back on every program to see what was essential, and what could be trimmed. Initial budgets were discussed in general at the Congregational meeting on April 23rd. When the updated projections for the year were shown at the meeting together with the outlook for the upcoming budget, one of the items that was discussed was Beyond Our Walls funding (BOW). It was proposed by the BOW committee and supported by the majority of those at the meeting to not fund BOW while we are in a deficit situation. This will save us approximately $3,000 a year. Another savings that was presented to us was the offer by Rev. Jude to reduce by half both his and Starr’s professional expenses for the upcoming year. This will save a little over $7,000 a year. We had our second fiscal year Budget & Finance forum on May 21st, when we presented significantly more detail and showed the budget with extensive Q&A. We discussed in general some of the cost cutting moves mentioned below, as well as hearing others that were presented. The BOT reviewed the budget that was presented by Finance, and decided that further cuts needed to be made. With an eye to the future on trying to balance the budget, and knowing cuts would most likely need to be made, it was decided to begin by cutting back on the communications specialist spending. After discussions with the Executive Committee, Communications team, and directly with the affected communications specialist, we looked to reduce the upcoming amount, while also being able to transition to reducing the amount of work produced in general, and in particular work done professionally. The cut went from what was $21,000 to $11,000 (a savings of $10,000). The BOT passed the updated budget on June 1, 2017. As in the past, we regret to be presenting a deficit budget, yet it is still a reality. We have enough to pay our bills for the next few years without any problem, because we have money in our Investment accounts. The good news is we do have these funds to tap into, and we own our land and building outright. Our concern is that we have is that this is not a path that we can continue for many years, which is why we have been presented austerity-type budgets the past three years. In addition, as mentioned the BOT has essentially drawn a line in the sand that we will be either presenting a balanced budget in 2018, and if not balanced, it would be no more than $15,000, which is putting us in the right direction. While we hope that the commitment to growth, and plans by the various committees to grow, as spearheaded by the Long Range Planning committee will help, we need to take specific action if needed, and that includes the possibility of cuts. One of the possibilities that is being actively looked at and being worked on is not only shared resources, but shared ministry as well. This is something that is not being taken lightly, and extensive research is being done, as well as working with assorted other committees, such as Personnel and COM. The bottom line is the BOT is committed to reduce the deficit, and is focused on the overall well-being of the Fellowship with respect to any steps taken.

Fiscal Year 2017-18 Budget

INCOME Budget EXPENSES Budget

Pledges/Contributions (all, including plate)

295,000 Personnel 297,619

Fund Raisers: 32,500 Building 99,200

Building Usage 88,980 Office 14,930

Other Income 4,250 Programs 19,475

Denominational

Dues 23,308

TOTAL INCOME BOW Philanthropy 2,913

Reserves 7,000

$420,730 TOTAL EXPENSES $464,445

For Fiscal Year 2017-18, there is a projected deficit of $24,883.

UUFH FINANCIAL INFORMATION 5/16/2017

Peter VanRoy Fund (total of next two figures below): approx. mix of 65/35 (stocks/fixed income) $95,000

Traditional $49,000

SRI $46,000

Ameriprise Investment Accounts (total of next two figures below) approx. mix 63/37 $226,000

Traditional $133,000

SRI $93,000

"Endowment" – Restricted approx. mix 62/38 $128,000

Chase, main operating account (100k needs to still be paid for parking lot; landscaping is around 32k of which about 10k raised so far). $130,000

Fidelity (called reserve, funds transferred in, $67,000

replenishes Chase operating account)

Regards,

Brian Cohen, Treasurer Jean Marra, Finance Chair

UUFH Membership Annual Report

Fellowship Year July 2016 – June 2017

Newcomers/Guests

Greeters and Membership Committee members routinely encourage visitors, newcomers and guests to sign the Guest Book located in the lobby of the building. The Membership Committee records all entries in the Guest Book in an Excel spreadsheet for later use in extending invitations to newcomer events. Joan Caly oversees the visitor guestbook each Sunday. For the Fellowship year 2016-2017 there were 83 entries in the Guest Book.

Membership provides a copy of each guestbook entry to the UUFH office and for entry into the official UUFH database. Joan Caly enters all the visitor information into the database and sends a welcome email note to each newcomer.

The Membership Committee has a Newcomer packet available in the Fellowship foyer each Sunday. The Packet contains a Welcome Letter from Jude, A Pathway to Membership flyer, a sample Sermon, a copy of the UUFH Mission and Vision Statements, and Covenant as well as a flyer listing UU Principles and Purposes.

The Membership Committee also draws from the pool of Newcomers and Guests to extend invitations to Services Auction events when openings are made available by winning bidders who are unable to attend events. These invitations are provided at no cost to newcomers and guests.

Orientations

The Membership Committee organized four two-hour orientations to Unitarian Universalism and to life at the Fellowship, Part I on December 4, 2016 and Part II Getting to Know Us – How We Do Things at UUFH on January 22, 2017, Getting to Know Us: Part I on March 5, 2017, and Part II Getting to Know Us – How We Do Things at UUFH on April 2, 2017. This year we added an Events for Newcomers poster in the Fellowship lobby advertising each of the Orientation sessions.

Events

Membership sponsored/assisted with newcomer events during the 2016-2017 Fellowship year to help further integrate newcomers and new members into the life of the Congregation:

Newcomer Social on October 14, 2016

New Members

The Membership Committee organized new member recognition ceremonies during the Sunday services on December 4, 2016 and April 23, 2017. Following the service on April 23 a new member reception took place at a member’s home. A total of 12 new members signed the membership book during the 2016-2017 Fellowship year.

For those new members that wish to be included, new member photographs and biographies are routinely posted on the new member bulletin board in the foyer.

Goals and Tasks for the Coming Year

Much remains to be done to realize the full functioning the Membership Committee and complementary and related functions of Sunday morning greeting, canvass and stewardship, the Board of Trustees, the Minister, the Director of Religious Education and the Finance Committee. The Membership Committee discussed the option of creating two additional committees that would help to further integrate new members into the life of the congregation and also to maintain and strengthen connections to all members of our community over the long term. The final structure and function of these two groups remains an ongoing conversation and will be continued in the next Fellowship year starting on July 1, 2017. The current Membership Committee also plans to update and make current the information related to membership on the Fellowship’s web pages.

Respectfully submitted by Judie Delano Gardner, Kristina Heinemann, Carol Holmes, Jennifer Sappell and Sue McGovern

Sunday Program Committee

Committee Mission: To plan and provide Sunday Worship Services for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington. The SPC is responsible for one Sunday Service a month, with more services during the Summer Months of July and August. The SPC utilizes Speakers from outside of UUFH when possible, UUFH members and SPC committee members to provide content.

Committee Members: Ken Buley-Neumar, Chair (4 years); Rich Buley-Neumar 4 years); Theresa Karp; Dorothy Burns; Mary Beth Guyther

Accomplishments this past year: The SPC was responsible for 19 services from 6/26/16-6/25/17 as follows-

6/26/16- "Creating Space for Faith" – Guest Speaker - Hakan Yesilova 7/3/16- "Swing for the Fences” - Guest Speaker - Dylan Doyle-Debelis 7/10/16- "Twitch” - Guest Speaker - Dylan Doyle-Debelis 7/17/17- "The Whole Truth” - Guest Speaker - Laura Pederson 7/24/16 - "Raising Hell” - Guest Speaker - Dylan Doyle-Debelis 7/31/16 - "The Blame Game” - Speaker Rich Buley-Neumar 8/14/16- "Healing Within, Healing Without” - Speaker Ken Buley-Neumar 9/4/16 - "Crisis In Burundi" - Helen Boxwell 10/1/16 – Chris Crass Workshop on Black Lives Matter (JTW, SPC co-lead) 10/2/16- SPC/JTW: Chris Crass Guest Speaker concerning race relations in the United States. Part of the Black Lives Matter Movement. 10/23/16- “UN Sunday” SPC & UUUNO 11/13/16 – “A People of Story” - SPC reading of Jude's Sermon 12/18/16 – “Do No Harm” – Guest Speaker - Rev. Dr. Linda Anderson 1/2217- “Roe v. Wade: A UU History of Reproductive Justice” – Guest Speaker Sadie Lansdale 2/5/17 – “A Short History of the NAACP and it’s Relationship with UUFH” – Guest Speaker Delores Thompson President Emerita Huntington NAACP 2/26/17 - "Tender Hearts in Tough Times" – Guest Speaker Dr. Janice Marie Johnson and Choir 4/2/17 - “The Right Choice” - Guest Speaker Laura Pedersen, Guest Chior – LI Pride Chorus 4/30/17- “What I learned from my Daughter’s Wedding – Guest Speaker Andy Feign

In addition to the designated SPC Sundays, the committee has provided support for all other services (as needed), provided set-up and maintenance functions (candles, chalice, and plants).

Goals for 2017/2018: To continue to provide excellent SPC services utilizing Speakers from outside of UUFH as well as from within, with an increased emphasis on Speakers from outside of UUFH. SPC is working with the Social Justice Committee and the UUFH Developmental Committee for future joint/ co-led services.

Do we need new members for next year? Simply answered - YES! We continue to struggle to attract new members. Is it because what we do seems daunting? Undoubtedly. We need any help that can be offered.

The SPC could use at least two new members, but more would certainly be welcomed.

Budget: Our requested budget has already been submitted (see previous communications.)

The SPC did not make any money this past year.

How can the Board of Trustees help the Sunday Program Committee?

The SPC asks that the BOT continue to be as supportive of the committee as they have and to please continue to have open lines of communication.

Respectfully submitted by: Ken Buley-Neumar on behalf of the Sunday Program Committee members

Choir Annual Report

This year, in addition to singing in twenty Sunday services, the choir hosted the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service in November. We also chanted with 15 different faith groups in "Voices of Faith for Peace," held at Farmingdale State College in April. The theme of our special "Choir Sunday" service was "Songs of Protest and Resistance."

The choir has added a number of enthusiastic new members this year, and the sound keeps getting better and better!

We rehearse every Thursday evening 7:30-9:30 in the main hall. If you can carry a tune (you do not have to read music!), and would like to participate creatively in the nurturance of our congregation, please join us!

Richard Hyman, Music Director

Development Committee Annual Report 2016/17

Starting in July 1, 2016, the Development Committee began a year to expand its means of sponsoring and holding events at the Fellowship that would pull in revenue from other people than congregants, i.e., the larger Huntington Township community and beyond. Because of our faith’s values we found ourselves gravitating toward not only entertainment-oriented events, but social justice informative events. This was a natural fit with our community and faith’s values. However, even though these events proved to be positive revenue generating, there were questions concerning whether it is in our best interests to charge a fee for activities and events that are social justice oriented. It, therefore, was decided that although there is a natural tendency to schedule such events since there is such a natural alignment with our core values, charging a fee for such events runs counter to our ultimate objectives to provide a community service and attract potential members. And, as it turns out, all “social justice oriented” fundraisers did not produce the revenue envisioned. However, without a doubt these events have provided the means to raise the Fellowship’s profile in the Huntington community and beyond, and it is our intention to transition these “donations accepted” events to the Social Justice and Membership Committees.

As far as the entertainment-oriented fundraising events that were held to attract participation from beyond our congregants, i.e., other than the Services Auction held in November 2016, the Retro-Video Game Events proved very successful. Two events were held yielding a total profit of $2,123. It’s gratifying to report that the process used for holding these events is sustainable. However, even we want to stress that even though the process and related tasks have been streamlined, new volunteers are needed to retain this stream of revenue.

The Development Committee would like to give a special shout out to last year’s Services Auction leader Margie Bell, and the excellent team that assisted her in making this past Fellowship Year’s one of the most successful Services Auction to date both with respect to efficiency and effectiveness that resulted in profit to the Fellowship of close to $28,000. Hence, a BIG thanks you to all the congregants who helped with the Auction, and all those who participated in bidding for the offerings. A great success indeed.

A new entertainment fundraiser was created during the year that reflects the fact that many Long Island Gold Coast mansions, such as the McKesson Estate that the Fellowship resides on have unique stories associated with them. These include “ghost stories.” Using this theme, this past October we held a Gold Coast Ghost Event, where a “paranormal investigative organization” that specializes in “ghost hunting,” was invited to present. The evening was very well attended, realizing revenue of $781 with a minimum amount of publicity (one week.) Because of the turnout, and the interest shown, the Development Committee has briefed and obtained the go-ahead for a Halloween/Psychic Faire to be held October 14, 2017. A full scheduled plan has been decided upon, and a subcommittee to coordinate tasks is in place. However, the Faire is a sizable endeavor, and we will be counting upon a large volunteer base from our congregants to make this event the success we envision. If successful, the intention is to hold this Faire on an annual basis.

The resources and revenue profile for the July 1, 2016 through May 23, 2017 for all events held other than the Services Auction is as follows:

Reserves from 2015-2016 $ 1,753 Budget allocation for 2016-2017 $ 2,250 ----------- Dev. Comm. Budget for 2016-2017 $ 4,003 Expenses (“Let’s Erase Racism Now”[LEARN]) $ 3,000 (Chris Crass panel/workshop, with SJC) ----------- Remaining Budget Reserve $ 1,003 Profit from:

LEARN $ 1,773

(Chris Crass panel/workshop, with SJC)

Sustainability Growth Lecture $ 280

Retro Video Game Events $ 2,123

Gold Coast Ghost Event $ 781

EDF 50th Anniversary Celeb. $ 695 ----------

Total Profit from Dev. Committee Events $ 5,652 Long-Range Planning Annual Report 2017

Our Charge: The vision of this committee is to gather the input and feedback of the

UUFH members and Board of Trustees (BOT), and develop a long-term plan for the

sustainability, growth, and direction for the UUFH. This is to include at a minimum a

three-year strategic plan with specific recommendations on how we should achieve it

before and no later than 2020. Once the goals are established the committee will help

the Congregation achieve them. For this committee, members should initially go over

past findings of similar groups, along with gathering input from members. After this is

presented, it will be LRP’s responsibility to help accomplish what has been decided and

agreed upon.

Steps We Took:

1. We began meeting in July about twice a month. Initial discussions included

reviewing files from the 2003 LRP Committee. They talked about a generational

shift in volunteerism, which we think was significantly addressed by BOTs and

ministers after; and tackling capital expenses with our physical plant and

building the parking lot, both of which have been dealt with. There was also

discussion that the congregation talked about wanting to grow, but didn’t take

growth-oriented steps; in other words, was ambivalent about it. We concluded

that thanks to the BOT’s consistent, detailed and candid conversations about

finances since 2014, the congregation does have an understanding that we

need to increase revenue and one way to do so is to increase membership.

Though we will learn through our plan how accepting of growth members today

are, we believe it’s less of a hurdle now.

2. We also talked about the state of religion in our country in general—there’s a

decrease in membership among all denominations except evangelical. And we

looked at UUFH strengths and weaknesses in terms of our current membership

and to attract new members.

a. We determined our internal strengths are: RE/music program/grounds

& building; parking lot (rapid funding = core commitment); Sunday

programming (though SPC needs support); new website; new

volunteers; improved integration of newcomers; paid staff; better use of

community space; increased rental income; art gallery; formation of

development committee; office volunteers; memorial services; HIHI;

pastoral care/care-share; intergenerational awareness; honoring other

faith traditions; leadership BOT structure; and Split Plate.

b. We felt our internal weaknesses are the continuing need for

volunteers; poor member retention; the membership process; the

stewardship process; aging congregation; minister & DRE are not

living in the community; lack of adult education; lack of outside income;

and leadership building.

c. But we saw opportunities in: our liberal region; affluent membership;

being an alternative to traditional faith formation; LGBTQ welcoming

community in the area; Black Lives Matter Movement; LIAC (members

Matt Barish and Royal Forest are leaders); and our allies: UCC Mark

Bigelow Centerport, St. John’s Episcopal (RMM), Farmworker Justice,

NAACP, Evergreen Baptist Church, Bethel AME, St. Hugh of Lincoln –

Latino community, United Methodist on W. Neck Rd., Cinema Arts

Centre, Southdown Coffee, Bhavani@I Eat Green – Slow Food NS –

Fair Food Movement, Beth Fiteni – Environmental Stewardship; and

our BOW nonprofits.

d. We still face obstacles: our remote location, racial imbalance and

cultural mismatch (we’re too intellectual). Too is a little strong for me,

but probably OK for internal reading.

e. In balance, we see our greatest strengths as our Mission & Vision.

If we believe in and focus on them, they will promote growth and

increased income. By focusing on our UU values, we see the

election results as a further growth opportunity.

3. We studied other UU congregations that have successfully grown and

particularly consulted with Morristown, which Jude said was most similar to our

membership. They have a three-team Membership Committee structure that has

successfully increased membership, which we talked about with our

Membership Committee. They are now in the process of implementing the

three-team approach that works best for us: Visitor/Newcomer, New Member

and Member Retention. Volunteers are needed for the last two.

4. We consulted: Matt Barish to talk about shared resources as promised at the

June 2016 Congregational meeting; Metro-District liaison Hope Johnson to talk

about how an LRP Committee should begin working (she said think Big Ideas);

Jude to talk further about LRP Committee work and also who are the new

members and what are their goals (see below); and Jim Monnier, the 2003 LRP

chair and fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity who specifically worked with us on

goal setting and told us we were on the right path.

5. We spoke with Jude about where our current new members are coming from. a. Many of our new people are the nones who are not converts; they’re not

churched. They have no baggage from other religious experiences and come because they’re looking for something spiritual.

b. We’re also seeing younger families looking for connection. c. Millennials are not looking to meet others their age, but in fact to have an

intergenerational experience.

d. Newer people are coming for a purpose. They’re not interested in meetings, so not as likely to get involved in committees that require lots of talking, our specialty. They have limited hours in their week so are looking for activities like HiHi where they can be in service to the world. They want direct calls to action.

e. We believe that families should not be relegated to RE, but be purposefully brought into the larger community as a whole. Find out what they’re interested in.

f. At the same time, continue to find ways for long-time members to feel engaged.

g. We also have seen an increased interest in the UUFH since the presidential election, and Social Justice, Communications and Building Use under Susie Byrnes have all been working to take that into account in reaching out to the larger community.

6. The BOT asked us to explore resource sharing, which we did to a degree. We

agree that sharing resources with groups like Pastoral Care, Social Justice and

SPC are a great idea and help to foster our relationships with other UUs,

particularly post-election. But in regards to staff sharing, we felt that at this time,

that discussion was best left to COM and the BOT. Should it be determined that

it would help to have LRP look into this further, that would be a task after

implementation of this current plan.

7. With all the above research, several major elements emerged:

Growth is everyone’s responsibility by virtue of our shared mission,

including staff and membership.

If we focus on living our values, we will naturally encounter

opportunities to foster growth.

We have something to offer the larger community that is particularly

valuable given our current circumstances.

8. Within this context we identified the following:

We need to raise awareness about what growth and sustainability

means to UUFH.

We need to get our members to buy-in and commit themselves to our

growth.

We need to quantify our goals for membership growth and pledge units

based on the current annual financial short fall and attrition trends.

We need to maximize the visibility of the UUFH in the community and

increase facility use fees.

Our committees can play a major role in fostering growth by

recognizing opportunities that arise as they do their committee work.

9. While our original charge was to wait until April to implement our plan, we felt it was crucial to immediately pursue the growth work we envision so that together we can begin to solve the deficit budget issues in 2017. To that end, we presented the following to the congregation in January and have been working with committees on setting their goals since then.

UUFH Long Range Planning Goals & Plan

Goals: Because we love our Fellowship and believe in our Mission and Vision, we are

compelled to share them in order to promote UUFH growth and sustainability. Together,

members and staff will accomplish this by engaging with our congregation and the

greater community. As the world faces many challenges, the UUFH can be a beacon of

hope to those seeking a safe and welcoming place to come together. By sharing our

Mission, Vision and Principles we can make a difference and thrive as a congregation.

By recommitting to our UUFH Mission and Vision by 2020 we will:

1. Increase our visibility within the larger community.

2. Increase our building usage revenue by 5 percent a year.

3. Increase our membership by 10 percent a year with a net increase of 5 percent a year.

4. Increase our total pledges by 5 percent a year.

Action Plans:

1. 1/15/17 COM Forum - Share LRP goals and plans COMPLETED

2. 1/29/17 Sunday service - Jude delivers sermon on recommitting to and living

our Mission and Vision while raising awareness that sharing our values and

growth is everyone’s responsibility. COMPLETED

3. LRP will promote goals by:

Meeting with Membership Committee on change in committee

structure. COMPLETED FEB. 21.

Meeting with staff, Communications Team and Social Justice -

Determine potential new membership groups. What are the populations

we can reach out to now that may be seeking a place post-election? Once

we identify, how do we reach them? Work on coordinated marketing plan.

COMPLETED FEB. 19

BOT Liaison-Chair Forum to speak with chairs about (REPORTS

COMPLETED):

(1) Intentionally envisioning, investigating, implementing and promoting

one new Mission- and/or Vision-related project no later than March 15,

2017.

(2) Finding ways to work with other committees; and

(3) Asking that they have membership materials available at all events that

draw from the community, and when possible;

(4) Mention who we are as a congregation at all events that draw from the

community.

Revisiting 2014 decision to staff for growth before budget workshops

start in March. What growth-specific goals are we meeting with our staff?

What still needs to be worked on? BOT DISCUSSION COMPLETED

Developing a congregation-wide outreach project like HiHi to present

in fall 2017 that will encourage congregational engagement as well as

outreach. SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE IS WORKING ON

May 2017 Follow-up member/chair meeting – (1) To prepare for a

celebration at a June Sunday service to highlight what each committee

has done to promote growth. (2) Set plan to develop three more ideas for

2018. TBD

June 2017 Develop next steps for LRP based on where we stand in

June

Respectfully submitted by Liza Burby, Susan McGovern, Peter Montemurro, Gerald

Moss, Susan Peters, Frank Towne and Diana Weaving

Office Volunteers

There are currently nine volunteers who come in to the Fellowship to do a variety of jobs that help Susie run the office.

Some tasks are the same every week; and some vary with current needs. Some jobs are: answering the phone, running off, folding the Beacon and OOS, assisting with computer work, organizing the weekly and monthly calendar, proofreading, filing, distributing the mail, cleaning the wax off the candles used on Sunday, and showing possible renters and repairmen, around the building. In the future, Susie is planning to train volunteers to use more computer function and do special projects. There is a

Volunteer Appreciation Lunch each year that Susie organizes to thank those who give their time weekly and for special projects.

Ann Scolnick, Coordinator of Office Volunteers

Communications Committee Report

This committee serves as support to our communications specialist Bridgette Nicolini. Liza Burby has been chairing the committee for four years and in fall 2016, the “committee” grew when Karen Mazzotta and Carol Towne volunteered. Annette Kirk will join us this summer.

This Fellowship year, particularly the fall, was busy with numerous activities that required marketing and publicity from Bridgette and the team, including flyers, posters, press releases and contacting numerous media outlets. The end result was good attendance at and media coverage of these fall events: Chris Crass weekend (Sept. 30 - Oct. 2); Gold Coast Ghost event (Oct. 15); Keep Pluggin Video event (Nov. 5) and the Environmental Defense Fun event (Dec. 3), as well as the April 22, 2017 Earth Day event. All of these were covered in the Long Islander, and most were also covered by Newsday, News 12 and FiOs1 News. They also raised additional funds for the Fellowship as at each there were either suggested donations, or in the case of Keep Pluggin, entry fees.

To help committees understand the steps needed to help them get the word out about their events, the team has created a step-by-step document on the site: http://www.uufh.org/pdfs/FUNDRAISER-PROMO-HELP-SHEET.pdf

In addition this year, Bridgette created The Community Space @ The Fellowship, a marketing concept designed to increase rental opportunities at the Fellowship. It was launched in May. The Communications team is working with Building Use to maximize our rental capabilities and messaging. Stay tuned for how you can help to spread the word about this exciting new endeavor. Take a look here: http://uufh.org/pdfs/csatf-two-sided-flyer.pdf

With the help of Karen Mazzotta, the Fellowship Facebook and Twitter pages have been active this year as well, reaching more viewers with messages that focus not only on our Sunday services and events, but also on our principles and mission. We also experimented with boosting (for a fee) some events on Facebook, most notably the Christmas/Passover holiday services and the “Brain Washing of My Dad.” We also took out paid ads for Easter in the Long Islander, along with our weekly listing in the Religious Directory of the Huntington News. We’ve asked for an ad budget for next year that includes both Facebook and targeted print ads.

The Beacon and Flash continue to be the ways in which we inform members and friends—as well as others who subscribe—about our events. This year at the recommendation of Rev. Jude and Bridgette, the Beacon articles have focused less on events and more on how we as a congregation are Living Our Values. It has been a

tough transition for most committee members, but the resulting articles have been informative and reflect who we are as a congregation.

Finally, the main way we reach the larger community is through our website, uufh.org, and to that end, Bridgette created our Events and News & Announcements pages and submission process that congregants have increasingly been using to great advantage. We have a full and busy calendar that is used both from within the congregation and without. In order to make sure the web pages are up-to-date, we’ve asked all committees to please send Carol Towne their updates, including photos and text. This has been a slow process so we ask again: Keeping in mind that those who may be interested in coming to the Fellowship will be looking at your committee’s page, please send Carol the information you most want them to know. Outdated information impacts the hard work that the Communications team is trying to do to help get the word out to the larger community about all that UUFH has to offer.

Communications is an ongoing task and one that we’re constantly working to improve so that everyone is informed about all the wonderful events, services and more that are taking place at UUFH.

Submitted by Liza Burby, Karen Mazzotta and Carol Towne

Committee on Ministry Annual Report

The Committee on Ministry (COM) endeavors to support the ministry of our congregation. The UUFH operates through collaborative leadership, shared by the minister, the staff, the lay leaders and each individual congregant. No one body is in total control of the others. Working together, we’re all responsible for ensuring that our congregation is in good standing with our Mission, Vision and Covenant (MVC).

This year COM spent a lot of time trying to determine how best to measure the ministry of the congregation. We held a forum in January that began with a discussion of the COM’s role at the UUFH. Not only do we support the minister when necessary, but we are a committee that strives to strengthen the ministry of all of us here at the UUFH.

We then reviewed the Fellowship’s Mission, Vision and Covenant (MVC) statements and discussed how we, as a collective group, whether through individual committee work or several committees working together, can make a difference in our Fellowship and in the larger world.

In April, Ann Scolnick and I travelled to the Westport UU Congregation for a regional seminar for COMs. COM members from 8 congregations in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey participated and discussed different ways we each envision and work as a COM. It was a great experience and we gained insight and ideas from the other congregations, as they did from us.

One of COM’s responsibilities is to periodically evaluate how the congregation’s ministry is working in keeping with our MVC. As a starting point for COM’s evaluation process, early next Fall (2017) we will be offering everyone in the congregation the opportunity to

participate in a style of small group meetings called “Conversation Café” with a discussion around the successes and challenges of living our MVC as a collaborative group.

More information will be publicized as we get closer to the fall.

Respectfully submitted, Nikki Willard, Convener of the Committee on Ministry

UUFH Personnel Committee 2016-‘17

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the UUFH Personnel Committee since I began acting as Committee Chair in July, 2016.

Transfer of Responsibility: At the beginning of the year I met with the outgoing Committee Chair to review the Committee's scope of purpose and responsibilities. Documents were transferred via the cloud and a general timeline was developed.

Meetings: The Committee has met monthly since the fall. Minutes have been kept of all the meetings.

FLSA Issues: The Committee began grappling with FLSA issues last fall when Rev. Jude alerted me to changes in the FLSA that were to be effective in December, 2016. Over the past several months, the Committee has researched and reviewed a variety of FLSA issues attendant to UUFH staff. As a result, we did the following:

Created a timesheet and instituted a timesheet procedure for all non-exempt staff.

Re-worked DRE and Office Administrator job descriptions (see below).

Provided training to all committee chairs regarding FLSA implications.

Updated UUFH's bookkeeper.

Staff Evaluations: The Committee took great care in analyzing the evaluation process. Rev. Jude participated in some of these conversations. Concern was expressed over the value of the congregation-wide surveys that were previously used. The feeling was that those surveys did not necessarily portray an accurate representation of the staff member's work since (a) many people did not complete the surveys, and (b) often people who completed the surveys had little to no interaction with the people being evaluated. The Committee chose to institute a new process which involved the collection of feedback from individuals who have worked directly with the person being evaluated. Names were collected from the staff member being evaluated and then those names were vetted through the Committee and Rev. Jude (the staff member's supervisor). Committee members conducted interviews and collected data which was then

summarized and provided to Rev. Jude for incorporation into his end of the year evaluations. We also revised the job descriptions for the DRE and Office Administrator, to align expectations and the scope of review for the employees.

Benefits: We notified all eligible staff of their renewal options and deadlines for the health plan and dental plan. As per Rev. Jude and the Board's request, we investigated the possibility of offering Susie health insurance through the same plan. Susie has chosen to opt into the plan and is paying the premiums, in full. The Committee drafted a letter for the Board President to provide to Susie (and retain in UUFH records) that memorializes this change and clarifies some additional issues relative to her initial offer letter.

Staff Communication: The Committee was approached with concerns regarding communications among congregants and UUFH staff. In response, the Committee developed a training program to assist congregants in understanding the role of UUFH's staff and offer a process for communicating critiques or concerns in a meaningful and mindful way that is consistent with our UU principals. As mentioned above, this training was provided to Committee Chairs at the Committee forum and it was requested that the Chairs turnkey the training to the other members of their committees.

Budget Development: The Committee was approached by the Board with concerns regarding UUFH's budget and the impact personnel costs may be having on same. The Committee has been and will continue to work with the Board regarding these sensitive but important issues.

Looking Forward and LRP Mission/Vision Related Projects

Moving forward, the Committee is hoping to promote the following projects, which are in line with the Long Range Planning Committee's request to promote UUFH's mission, vision and principals.

Training: The Committee will continue to provide the aforementioned training as needed and on request. We are scheduled to train each member of the Development Committee in the next month or two, as the structure of the Development Committee warrants more than turnkey training. We feel this training assists in acknowledging the inherent worth and dignity of every person, promotes justice, equity and compassion in human relations, and fosters acceptance of one another as well as encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregation.

Goals: The Committee would like to work with UUFH staff to develop meaningful and measurable goals that are aligned to the position's job description (as revised). We have communicated this with Rev. Jude and hope to work with the staff in the coming months to complete same. It is critical for staff to have a comprehensive understanding of the nature of their job and expectations that will

form a basis for their evaluation in the coming year. We feel this training assists in acknowledging the inherent worth and dignity of every person, promotes justice, equity and compassion in human relations, and fosters acceptance of one another as well as encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregation.

Celebration of Staff:

o We are grateful to Rev. Jude for pointing out that Richard has been with UUFH for about 20 years and suggesting we celebrate this milestone in some way. The Committee is in the process of arranging a celebration to be held on May 21st, after the service. We believe that showing gratitude for the good work and commitment of UUFH staff promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person, justice equity and compassion in human relations, and the acceptance of one another as well as encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregation.

o We recently learned that Starr has obtained her credentials as a religious educator. We are proud of her hard work and would like to offer our assistance in celebrating her achievement.

Future Hiring: As positions open, the Committee is committed to working with

the hiring committees to clarify job responsibilities, ensure compliance with law and principal and maintain UUFH's commitment to diversity in hiring.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Christine, Jack and Joanne for all of their hard work this year. Each committee member has been deeply committed to the Committee's purpose and their assistance has been invaluable.

I hope this provides you with the information you need. Should you have any questions or require anything further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Submitted by: Laura Granelli

Castle Care 2016-‘17 Annual Report

MISSION Castle Care tends to the physical aspects of our spiritual home: our buildings and grounds. We strive to perform these tasks ourselves when possible, and we engage others when our skills and capacity are exceeded. MEMBERS Our active members include, Alice Link, Andy Feigin, Bill Houck, Ginny Kushnick, Tim Kidder, Jon Nielsen, Mary Jane Wochinger, Michael Sussman, Ralph Talierico, and chairperson, Susan Peters, plus Susie Byrnes (ex officio), vital to coordination.

ACHIEVEMENTS Besides our routine maintenance items, such as annual removing and installing A/C units, storm windows and screens, hoses, winterizing the building, replacing light bulbs, doing small repairs, checking exit signs and emergency lights, etc., we oversee outside contractors such as carpet cleaners, maintenance of our heating and A/C system, electricians and plumbers, snow plowing, and sprinkler system - to name just few. This year we also replaced the kitchen door with a more secure one, installed closers on that door, plus on a gallery outside door, replaced faulty thermostats, repaired major damage from small animals, sealed the building against small animal access, had extensive electrical repair work done, both inside and outside and installed new blinds in the RE office. GOALS Our goals are to:

Increase members’ awareness and involvement in the ongoing mission of this committee.

Have new carpet installed in the main hall and rear entrance area.

Increase UUFH directional signage around the town.

Investigate new phone system.

Install gutters and leaders on the cottage and regrade foundation soil Susan Peters, Castle Care Chair

Social Justice Annual Report 2016-‘17

Fall of 2016 was focused on a 3-day, anti-bias training weekend featuring Chris Crass (a noted, white anti-racist trainer and UU preacher) titled Let’s End All Racism Now (LEARN). This Friday through Sunday event began with an evening panel discussion of local multi-racial, anti-racist activists and an SCPD officer responding to questions posed by Steve Burby, our moderator, followed by an open Q&A from the audience.

Saturday was an all-day training workshop with breakfast and lunch led by Mr. Crass addressing white privilege and how to harness it to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Chris drew from his book, Towards the "Other America": Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action. Attendance at this training included members of our Fellowship as well as other UUs and outside attendees.

After Inauguration, Steve Burby led a group of Fellowship congregants in the NYC Women’s rally, while Diana was on the bus to DC with concerned Long Islanders and a group of Shelter Rock parishioners at the Women’s March on Washington.

The spring has been spent meeting with and learning from local progressive groups that have sprung up in the wake of the new administration: LIA (Long Island Activists – former Bernie Sanders’ advocates looking to further his socialist platform with local electoral reform); ATLI (Action Together Long Island – local chapter of national progressive organizing effort for social, economic, educational, and environmental justice); SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice -believes in collective liberation -- and

that none of us can be free until we end white supremacy); ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union combatting xenophobia; backing free speech, the right to protest and reproductive freedom) and LI JwJ (Long Island Jobs with Justice – building a movement for workers’ rights and economic justice).

The Long Island Area Coalition of 11 UU congregations (LIAC) began a monthly social justice round table the first Mondays of the month to coordinate and amplify efforts locally by sharing resources, best practices, and supporting one another’s initiatives. The first order of business has been to appoint a part-time communications coordinator (Karyn O’Beirne - karynobeirne@gmail.com) to blast out local calls to action weekly around progressive initiatives. These e-blasts are complemented by the Long Island Activist and Long Island Progressive Coalition’s Monday morning missives as well. Groups are keeping one another in the loop and gladly welcome individuals to sign on to these weekly updates.

We are also nurturing relationships with local area faith groups like Temple Beth El’s One Community, the Turkish Cultural Center’s Abraham’s Table forum, and NAACP’s Huntington chapter. We’ve been part of external book discussions (Deep Denial: The Persistence of White Supremacy in United States History and Life with LINC) and will host our own Fellowship read May 23 with NAACP on The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement Is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear.

We’ll continue our support of farm worker rights in partnership with the Episcopal Rural Migrant Ministry whose LI representative, Nathan Berger, will present his group’s organizing work on the East End of Long Island at a service May 28th. Their annual bus to Albany to lobby for passage of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (S2721/A4189) leaves May 23rd from NY’s St. John’s Cathedral. The Fellowship hosted last year’s marchers overnight as they kicked off their 200-mile walk from Smithtown to Albany and sat in on planning meetings with St. John’s of Huntington’s social justice team to support RMM’s efforts.

Issues that have taken front stage for us include immigrant accompaniment and witness (full-day training workshop offered by LIJwJ), the nuts and bolts of becoming a sanctuary congregation (UUA), how to join a rapid response team to offer public sanctuary in case of ICE raids, meeting with SCPD commissioner Sini to avoid ICE entanglement in the honoring of administrative warrants, rallies outside of Peter King’s Massapequa office against the Muslim ban, and protesting Attorney General Sessions’ recent visit to the Central Islip court to urge more draconian deportation efforts to combat MS-13.

We’ve sent delegates to local legislative officials’ offices (Rep. Suozzi, Marcellino, etc.) to fight for the NY Health Act – a universal, single-payer medicare program for all New Yorkers – and have signed on in support of Affordable Housing legislation recently passed by Huntington councilwomen Tracy Edwards and Susan Berland. We are working with Councilwoman Edwards to develop an Anti-Bias Task Force in Huntington. There is a plan to meet with Doc Spencer to urge becoming a sanctuary city and we hope to kick-off the annual Van Roy Lecture Series with a 3-day weekend, October 1st – 3rd, following the same Friday panel, Saturday workshop, Sunday service format

adopted last fall with our LEARN event. This year’s plan is to involve the Fellowship in immigrant advocacy by inviting LIwJ to train us with support from NYC’s New Sanctuary Movement.

Our intergenerational social justice efforts are mediated through the RE program as Royal and Diana work with our 8th and 9th graders once a month on racial justice training using the Teaching Tolerance curriculum and videos from ERASE Eracism. We’d like to reach out to our RE liaison, Maria Nielsen, to bring the issue of inequitable education to our larger RE contingent by hosting a video discussion of A Tale of Two School Districts, perhaps in the fall. We wish to work more closely with the RE program to involve the kids in anti-bias education and training. Our recent teach-in on this topic was well attended by members of the congregation after service and we hope to follow up with more anti-racist workshops in the fall using the UUA’s Beloved Conversations program.

UUCSR keeps us abreast of the refugee situation here on Long Island and recently got word of some Afghan families living in the Huntington Station area that could use both material and spiritual support. A list of needed items was provided that our Fellowship might wish to support along with opportunities for mentoring, English language teaching, and orientation services. A Syrian vocalist is offering a benefit concert for refugees at Shelter Rock congregation May 19th that many of us are attending. We’ll bring back more information next Sunday about how the Fellowship can help these families in need with ideas about involving the entire congregation.

The Social Justice committee is reaching out for more volunteers to support these many efforts.

Submitted by Steve Burby and Diana Weaving

HIHI Annual Report, 2016-‘17

Chair: Joanne Polichetti

Co-Chair: Allyson Barish

Monthly Managers: Allyson Barish, Joanne Polichetti, Mary Sussman

Overview

I am proud that our congregation continues to provide outreach to the homeless of Huntington, providing safe shelter in these uncertain times. Our guests were welcomed, housed, and fed every Sunday night from December 1 thru March 31. UUFH hosted a total of 148 guests (down from 149 last season), fully staffed with UUFH members, friends, and youth as volunteers (135 were overnight guests, 13 guests were housed in a motel due to unsafe snow conditions on Dec. 11, but we provided a hot dinner and bagged breakfast and lunch).

Volunteers from Trinity Episcopal in Northport and Christ Church in Oyster Bay, hosted 135 guests.

On partner church nights, the partner church sets up, and provides all food and chaperones, and the UUFH provides an on-site monthly manager, access to facility, Monday morning breakdown volunteer, and paid cleaning services.

For the total season, UUFH hosted a grand total of 283 overnight guests. This number is down from 302 guests hosted in the 2015-2016 season. While the season was generally warm, we also expect that participation was impacted by concerns about immigration sweeps at the pickup site, or after guests leave in the morning.

Volunteers

Again, as in previous years, our diverse group of volunteers beautifully mirrors our congregation. Our religious education families and youth hosted three Sundays. The tradition continued of having our Religious Education children and youth host a seasonal celebration on the last Sunday before Christmas. One two different Sundays, a collaboration of youth from UUFH, UUFB and UUSCR hosted, with one Sunday devoted to Middle School youth, and the other devoted to High School youth.

UUCCN also hosted one night, bringing RE families and congregants of all ages to host HiHi for the first time.

This is also the first year that UUFH has hosted on Christmas night! We had 16 volunteers (include 5 family members/friends of congregants). It was a beautiful evening!

Our adult volunteers were long time members and friends, new members, new visitors to the Fellowship, friends of friends, and those from the meditation group. HIHI signups in the Social Hall continue to be a big draw for visitors to the Fellowship on a Sunday morning; it’s a great, concrete representation of who we are and what we do.

Volunteers from the Long Island Pride Chorus continue to join us on Sunday nights to do the dishes and clean the kitchen. We thank them for their ongoing support!

The only volunteer slot that continues to be challenging to fill is the overnight chaperone. We investigated the possibility of offering a stipend, but there are insurance issues as well as personnel/employment concerns. Mary Sussman was instrumental in recruiting new overnight chaperones, including two members!

This season, we returned to the practice of having our guests sleep in the social hall. This arrangement provides direct supervision of our guests at all times. Until the time when we can provide two overnight chaperones, we will continue to host guests in the social hall.

Community Volunteers!

I am pleased to report that our participation in HiHi continues to attract the community. In addition to individual requests that come through the office, Nicole Pultz at the West Side Elementary School in Cold Spring Harbor contacted Joanne. Sixty children participated in a service activity to create lunch bags on March 24. They filled more than 120 bags! As this was the end of the HiHi season, we provided the prepared lunches to our last guests of the season, and donated more than 100 lunches to Family Service League.

Management

The monthly manager structure is working well, but we need to recruit additional back-up managers. This season, we had only three managers for our four-month season.

Sanctuary

We had many discussions about potential immigration raids during HiHi. While no threat or action came to pass, we hold the position that we are a sanctuary and will not permit ICE to enter our building. That, of course, does not prevent ICE from waiting around the corner and stopping the van as it travels to or from our property. While Family Service League cannot take a position regarding Sanctuary, several HiHi congregations are interested in pursuing this. This is work in progress. Helen Boxwill and Diana Weaving are taking the lead on this work, as it is a separate initiative from HiHi.

Financial

Total expenditures for the year were approximately $1200, against a budget of $1000. Please note there may be additional check requests still working their way through the system, so this number may rise slightly, but by no more than $100-$200 maximum. Funds for more than our budget will be deducted from our grant deposit.

Many of our volunteers generously donated toiletries and food to the program. I estimate approximately $1000 in food and goods were donated by volunteers. I am encouraging volunteers to submit a request for a donation letter so we can track the actual cost of running the HiHi program.

Financial Outlook

An inventory of our cots found only 8 to be in good working order (28 cots are broken, or have canvas that is ripped or shredding). The typical profile of our guests has changed, and we need to purchase heavy-duty cots. We will research our best options, and purchase 25 cots for the 2017-2018 season. We will seek funding from Family Service League, and if that is not available, utilize our grant money.

Respectfully submitted, Joanne Polichetti

The Pastoral Care Associates Annual Report

The Pastoral Care Associates augment the pastoral care of the Minister by providing a caring presence to Members and Friends who are experiencing a time of challenge and transition. This ministry of presence supplements the many services provided by the Care Share Committee. During the year, many families and individuals have been contacted with cards, calls, visits and personal contact. Our mission takes many forms depending on individual situations and needs.

This year we are continuing our work. We have continued our focus on establishing “teams” who helped Fellowship members, especially those without families to assist them.

Sue McGovern

Memorial Committee Report The Memorial Committee continues to provide many different services to the families of our members and friends as they cope with the loss of a loved one. Our roles can best be described by separating tasks into several different categories. During the 2016-17 congregational year, we have held 5 memorial services and have had the ashes of 2 of our members interred in the Memorial Garden. We are a self-sustaining committee with a current balance of $7,000 in our account. End of Life Planning The End of Life Planning packet has been updated by Don Knight and entered into our website. Don is available to assist people as needed. Memorial Services and Receptions Ginny Kushnick and Peggy Koulias arrange support for memorial services by recruiting volunteers, creating orders of service, coordinating music and planning services with the family. Alice Link coordinates the hospitality and catering in conjunction with the memorial services. Kim Kayal takes photographs of the receptions and the garden. Memorial Wall and Memorial Book (main hall) Milt Masur orders the engraved plates for the memorial wall, which now has 111 names

recorded. Family members submit a biography of the deceased for the memorial book. Memorial Cabinet and Interment Map (gallery) Carol Holmes has worked on converting our Book of Remembrance to an electronic version. Displays in memorial cabinet and interment map are organized and changed as needed. Memorial Garden Joyce Williams with the assistance of Peggy Koulias and a team of “Garden Keepers,” continue to work tirelessly to beautify and maintain the 4 sections of the garden that have been developed more than 35 years ago: • Entrance Pergola, Memorial Platform, Birdbath Garden, and Azalea Garden (sadly, our azaleas have recently lost their battle with the black walnut trees) • Children's Garden and Sunflower Garden • Laughing Buddha Garden, Fern Point, The Chalice Tree and Dry Stream Garden • The open field and vehicle access to Fern Point The Memorial Garden had its beginnings in the early 1980s when Madeline and Wilton Baty asked their handyman to clear a space in “jungle” behind the main building. The first interment of ashes was in March of 1982 under the ministerial leadership of Bruce Marshall. At that time, the ashes of Todd Stutsman (son of our first settled minister) and longtime member Bonnie Swike were interred. The Entrance Pergola was built in 1996 by Kathryn Johnson and her team of member builders with funding help from the Batys. There are now 71 members and friends of the fellowship that have joined Todd Stutsman and Bonnie Swike in the Memorial Garden Spirit Community at 109 Browns Road. Current Members Ginny Kushnick, Alice Link, Kim Kayal, Carol Holmes,Marilyn Kopp-Hecker, Bill Hecker, Michael Sussman, Ralph Taliercio, Kristen Weissleder, Royal Forest, Milt Masur, Debbie Cohen, Bea Coryell, Jim McKenna, Jean Marra, Tony Chiarelli, George Murphy, Patrick McGloin, Tim Schmitz Respectfully submitted, Joyce Williams, Donald Knight and Peggy Koulias Not Necessarily Seniors

Not Necessarily Seniors (NNS) meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month from September to June. We have a total of 20 members and about 15 attend each meeting. At these meetings one of our members or an outside speaker presents a program on a topic of interest to the group. These topics can be educational or entertaining. For example, Starr Austin our Director of Adult Education, led a workshop on effective writing. At another meeting Michal Fairchild gave a lecture on his photographs which were on display in the Gallery.

Joyce Williams, an NNS member, presented a detailed talk about her hobby of stamp collecting and why it is so important to her. During the warmer months the group goes on field trips such as to the Hecksher Art Museum, an Egyptian Coptic Church in Cold Spring Harbor or an art exhibit at Farmingdale College. In July and August we meet only once in the middle of each month. These meetings and field trips are open to all UUFH members and we welcome them to join us.

Dorothy Burns, NNS

Ushers and Greeters Annual Report

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Cathi Zillmann, for her 30 years of service and dedication to the UUFH, as she steps down from her positon as Coordinator of Ushers and Greeters. Words cannot convey the admiration and fondness we feel, thank you Cathi for all you are and all you do! We wish Cathi all the best as she embarks on her new life adventure at Shelter Rock and look forward to seeing her the last Sunday of every month ushering at the UUFH. We would also like to thank: Susan Peters, for volunteering to greet the 1st Sunday of every month; Joan Caly, who continues to take charge of the visitor’s log every week; Diana Weaving, for volunteering to usher the 3rd Sunday of every month; and the numerous members who step in and lend a hand without being asked. You know who you are and your assistance is noticed and much appreciated!

We are a small but loyal group and always looking for more volunteers, either on a regular basis or once in a while. If you are interested do not hesitate to contact us directly. In fellowship, Jessica Kitzen and Jennifer Hildreth Co-coordinators, Ushers & Greeters UUFH Book Groups

The first UU Reading Group was started in March of 1998 with Marilyn Kopp-Hecker and Ann Scolnick as facilitators and the group is still going strong today with 20 members. The groups alternate discussion leaders and meeting homes and they meet on the last Tuesday of each month, except for December and summer months.

The second UU Reading group was started, with Anne Rattinger as facilitator. They meet at one member’s house on the second Tuesday of each month.

The Daytime Book Club has been meeting for three years. Meetings take place in the member’s homes at 1:30 in the afternoon on the first Monday of the month.

All groups read from a variety of genres, including fiction and nonfiction. Refreshments and socializing occurs after the discussion.

Respectfully Submitted, Marilyn Kopp-Hecker & Ann Scolnick ~UUFH Book Groups

Long Island Multi-Faith Forum (2017) MISSION: Our mission includes acquainting students and other meeting participants with Unitarian Universalism. As one of the faith traditions on L.I., we promote respect for all religions. JOB DESCRIPTION: Committee members must have knowledge of UU history, principles, and practices. They must be willing and able to dialogue with Jr/Sr high school students when requested to do so. This usually requires a full school day commitment. The LIMFF operates under the supervision of the LI Council of Churches and is invited to visit facilities during the school year. Training is provided and proselytizing is prohibited. There is a monthly Board Meeting for purposes of planning and education. Committee members have the opportunity of attending and/or participating in the United Day of Peace and the Shanti Fund Event honoring Ghandi. END OF YEAR REPORT: This past year we visited Accompsett Middle School, Smithtown High School West, Smithtown High School, Baldwin High School and Great Hollow Middle School. Circumstances have prevented us from participating this spring. The leader of the LICC retired and the two persons responsible for organizing the Multi-Faith Forum have had lengthy illnesses. We hope to start again in the fall. Fellowship members are always invited to join the group. Present members are unable to continue, and the leadership of five years should be replaced. ~Bea Coryell

Beyond Our Walls (BOW) Annual Report, 2016-17 Mission: The Beyond Our Walls committee is the philanthropic arm of the UUFH,

designed to discover and review funding opportunities for our Sunday split-the-plate

charity of the month as well as our annual BOW Grants, which are currently financed via

a designated line in the congregational budget.

Committee serving 3-year+ terms:

Karen Mazzotta, Chair (2014-2017)

Michelle Byrne (2014-2018) Dave Martin (2015-2018) Ralph Taliercio (2015-2018) Pat Testa (2016-2019) Incoming Committee Mary Beth Guyther, Chair (2017-2020) Meigan Flood Cooper (2017-2020) 2016-17—SPLIT-PLATE SUNDAY COLLECTIONS TO DATE: $14,587.33

July/August ’16—Starter Pack Program/Gathering of Light (Homelessness)

$1539.33

September ’16—Huntington Sanctuary Project $1080.50

September ’16—UUSC Special Haiti Relief $679.50

October ’16—UU-UNO Every Child is Ours $1179.50

November ’16—HIHI $1473.50

December ’16—UUSC—UUA Refugee Crisis Fund $1255.50

December ’16—Christmas Eve Collection/Community Food Council $1240

January ’17—League for Animal Protection $1455.50

February ’17—NAACP $1528

March ’17—Lexington School for the Deaf, Herbert F. Voigt II Scholarship Award

$1272

April ’17—International Council of UUs/Burundi Unitarian Refugee Relief Fund

$1875

May ’17—Turquoise House TK

June ’17—Sophia Fahs Scholarship Fund for UUFH TK

2017 BOW GRANT DISTRIBUTION We were given $2918 for distribution this year, which was awarded in the following way:

– $1318 was earmarked for the LI Fall Fair “Standing on the Side of Love” community outreach initiative, which was the result of the Long-Range Planning Committee charge to “think out of the box.”

– $1100 for Grow to Give Garden expenses (Beth Feldman) – $500 to Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center/for Camping at Murray Grove

BOW GRANT PROCESS REVIEW AND REVOTE

Three years ago, our congregation voted for the continuation of the Beyond Our Walls

Grant program as well as a revote of the current funding policy in spring 2017. Unlike

the split-the-plate charities which are funded as a portion of our Sunday offertory

collection, the BOW Grant program funds are determined by a percentage of pledges

received each year.

BOW Chair Karen Mazzotta presented a multi-year review of split-plate collections and

grant distributions at the first Congregational Meeting, 4/23/17, proposing various ways

to move forward. Discussion followed which is detailed in the meeting minutes. A

recommendation was made “To suspend the program until we have a balanced budget.

At that time, consider if we should reinstate the grant, and if so, the specifics of how it

will be funded.” This will be voted on at the second Congregational Meeting, June 11,

2017.

For the record, within the past three years, the congregation contributed more than

$46.7k via our weekly split-plate collections for charitable causes—which we should be

proud of--while $10.5k via our grant program. Since 2012, BOW has experienced a

yearly decrease in the grant award due to overall congregational budget decreases.

A review of BOW history was reported at the meeting, which is detailed in full at the

bottom of this report.

CHRISTMAS EVE “MITTEN TREE” COLLECTION + GUEST AT OUR TABLE BOXES For the third year in a row, the BOW Committee took on the responsibility of the annual Christmas Eve mitten tree collection, with multiple bags/boxes of gloves, mittens, hats and scarves being distributed to our local Family Service League. We anticipate taking on the UUSC Guest at Our Table box collection as part of our annual UUSC monthly collection next year.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

So that we have a steady stream of charities to consider, for a second year, we have

been experimenting with a call for applications with deadlines, as well as continuing to

accept applications on a rolling and/or emergency basis.

* * * * * BOW GRANT & SPLIT-PLATE HISTORY Presented by Karen Mazzotta 4-23-17 (updated 6-4-17)

Current Beyond Our Walls (BOW) Grant Funding Policy Funding will be allocated based upon gross pledges actually paid to the UUFH

operating budget in the previously completed fiscal year, according to the following:

a. 1% of the total amount paid up to $300k

b. 10% of amount paid in excess of $300k but less than $350,000

c. 15% of amount paid in excess of $350k

Unspent funds are carried forward and available in successive fiscal years.

BOW Grant Funds History 2012: $7069 2013: $5870 2014: $4650 2015: $4817 2016: $2861 2017: $2757 (not yet distributed) $2918 (KM updated 6/4/17) Total Donated in 6 years: $28,024 $28,185 BOW Grant Distribution History 2017 LI Fall Fair “Standing on the Side of Love” community outreach initiative $1318 Grow to Give Garden $1100 Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center/for Camping at Murray Grove $500 2016 UUFH Parking Lot Fund $1211 Murray Grove Retreat & Renewal Center Master Plan mission (Lanoka Harbor, NJ) $500 Huntington Housing Coalition $500 Guitars for Vets $400 Meditation & Butterfly Garden for Women’s Shelter (Girl Scout Troup 1230 project) $250 2015 Unitarian Church of Burundi/Burundi Health Care Cards $1367 Bi-County Mental Health Empowerment Conference Scholarship Program $1000 Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative $1000 Soldier’s Project/Afternoon of R&R for Military Women $950 Gateway Community Garden $500 2014

Gateway Community Garden/Eco-Literacy Gardening Project $4077 UUFH Grow to Give Garden $573 2013 Soldier’s Project, Afternoon of R&R $2200 Holiday House, Science Camp $1400 Gateway Community Garden $1000 UUFH Grow to Give Garden $770 Durabare Foundation (HIV/AIDS) $500 2012 Literacy Suffolk $4000 Gateway Community Garden $1430 VIBS LGBT Outreach $1500 Sweetbriar Nature Center $300 Sunday Split-Plate Charity Funding 2014-17 (Total YTD: $46,762.55 updated 6/4/17)

2014-15 TOTAL: $16,990.46

– July/August ‘14: UUNO Uganda $1390.50 – September ‘14: Smile in a Bag $1063.57 – October ’14: A Mother’s Kiss $972.50 – November ‘14: Association for Mental Health and Wellness $1296.50 – December ‘14: Huntington Food Council $1331.50 – Christmas Eve collection ‘14: UUSC $1156.28, Mitten Tree donations to FSL – Dec-Jan 2014-2015 $213: UUSC Guest at Your Table – UU Congregation of Charleston $107.49 – January ‘15: Sophia Fahs UU Camp $1479.12 – February ’15 : NAACP $956 – March ’15: UUNO Every Child is Your Child $2041 – April ‘15 UU Southold Congregation Emergency Collection $1987.50 – April 26, ’15: Special collection for Fahs Collaborative $170 – May ‘15: North Shore Holiday House Summer Camp $958.50 – May 10, ’15: Special collection UUSC Nepal Earthquake Relief $475 – June ‘15: Save the Rain $1392.50

2015-16 TOTAL: $15,193.76

July/August ’15—Family Service League Back Packs (Education) $1092

September ’15—H2Empower (Education) $1385

Oct.’15—Safe Harbour/EAC Network (Human/Children Trafficking) $1543.50

Nov. ’15—Community Solidarity/Food Not Bombs (Food, Community) $951

Nov. 22, ’15 Special Collection—UUFH of Huntington, West Virginia (Fire Relief)

$776

Dec. ’15-- Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (Global Social Justice) $977

Christmas Eve Service—Community Food Council of Huntington (Food,

Community) $1220

Jan. ’16—Sophia Fahs Summer Camp Scholarship (UU, Children) $1430

Feb. ’16—NAACP Huntington (Education) $1298

March ’16—UUFH Grow to Give Garden (Food, Community) $1194.76

April ’16—Smile in a Bag (Children) $1028.50

May ’16—Bi-County Empowerment Conference (Mental Health) $1437

June ’16—Gateway Community Garden (Community, Environment, Food) $861

2016-17—COLLECTIONS TO DATE $11,431.33 $14,578.33 (as of 6/4/17)

July/August ’16—Starter Pack Program/Gathering of Light (Homelessness)

$1539.33

September ’16—Huntington Sanctuary Project $1080.50

UUSC—Special Haiti Relief $679.50

October ’16—UU-UNO Every Child is Ours $1179.50

November ’16—HIHI $1473.50

December ’16—UUSC—UUA Refugee Crisis Fund $1255.50

December ’16—Christmas Eve Collection/Community Food Council $1240

January ’17—League for Animal Protection $1455.50

February ’17—NAACP $1528 March ’17—Lexington School for the Deaf, Herbert F. Voigt II Scholarship Award

$1272 April ’17—International Council of UUs/Burundi Unitarian Refugee Relief Fund

$1875 May ’17—Turquoise House TK June ’17—Sophia Fahs Scholarship Fund for UUFH TK

Respectfully submitted, Karen Mazzotta, BOW Chair

Building Use Committee 2016 – 2017 Annual Report

The Building Use Committee has been engaged in what is more or less a holding action over

the past year.

We are pleased to say that we have had full occupancy for our rental properties (main building

apartment, Cottage apartment and RE classrooms for day care). The day care operation, Little

Learners 123, Inc. has received updated licensing from New York State, necessary for its

viability, and it is our hope that they will continue to be tenants for a long time to come. Building

use income is projected at about $85,000 - $88,000.

Community Supported Agriculture is no longer using our social hall. They were seriously in

arrears for rent and it turned out that the card tables they were supposed to provide for their

enterprise were actually purchased by the Fellowship, which was never reimbursed for the

expenditure. On the other hand, our Administrator has been successful in renting portions of

the building as intended and has maintained an occasional dialog with one of the local theater

groups regarding use of the Main Hall for both rehearsal space and limited production

There are some areas of concern that will be mentioned here but will be discussed in greater

detail in the long range planning report:

1. Staffing: the committee now has one full time member (the chair) and one part time member who consults on an ad hoc basis and prefers to remain anonymous. The effectiveness of the committee would be improved if it were more fully staffed.

2. Lease preparation and renewal: This is currently extremely cumbersome and needs to be streamlined so that responsible parties can check readily on lease status. We’ve gone to significant effort to structure leases with built-in escalation, but the efforts are negated if no one knows where the documents are and that they need to be consulted at least annually.

3. Lease and rider content: We had two episodes this past year in which the tenants interfered with our access to the property, in one case for emergency repairs and in the other for new construction. We need to declare our sovereignty and make it clear that penalties may ensue if tenant interference results in financial harm to the Fellowship (e.g. broken water pipes that we can’t fix because of willful obstruction). R.E. must also be consulted on new rider contents for any tenant using RE classrooms during the work week.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Houck