In January of 2025, a group of approximately 21 people met to begin discussion and action to implement a Safer Congregations model for our community. The results of that first gathering can be seen in the growing awareness and interest of the congregation and their participation in helping to design strategies for First UU Safer Congregations.

January 2025 also saw the first ‘walkthrough’ visit of a professional to assist us in determining facility needs for any kind of emergency response.

A second congregational session was held on March 9, 2025.  Results of the Fire Marshal walkthrough (January) and of an electrician’s walkthrough (February) were presented to the group along with plans for door signage, fire extinguisher placement, and other basic implementations for Safer Congregations.

In the following months, several fire extinguishers were moved to more visible locations and reflective signs were placed to highlight them. Great Hall signage was installed with doors marked (outside and inside) North/South. This signage will be useful for evacuation information being developed now. 

In November 2025, 31 members and friends of First UU gathered to share information and ideas about how to ‘Put the Puzzle Pieces Together.’  Safer Congregations tends to be a vast and interconnected web of topics, each of which needs to be designed in conjunction with the others. The purpose of this report is to share that First UU is working towards an implementation of Safer Congregations that will serve the needs of the congregation and leadership as well as providing the structures and protocols necessary for our community to feel we are truly a Safer Congregation.

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Safer Congregations Training begins January 2026

Saturday, March 28th: Civilian Response and Casualty Care (CRCC). The multi-layered class provides information and exercises designed to support and empower a community in response to a variety of emergency situations.