Mission
Fighting poverty by working with residents to build social capital and improve systemic structures within vulnerable neighborhoods.
Motto
Transforming Communities through Community
Vision
That every vulnerable neighborhood in the city, through the reintegration of social capital and leadership of residents, would become sustainable places offering safety, security, and wellness for all.
Values
The Sincerity of Family: the commitment toward family is not a “feel good” phrase but a sincere expression of inclusively and solidarity.
The Commitment of Family: family is not a temporally-bound “project” but a commitment in the fidelity of relationship.
The Functionality of Family: fidelity in family is not found in a “hands off,” observational approach but rather in a full engagement within all the complexity of life.
The Products of Family: it’s within the context of full family engagement that vulnerability, accountability, and discipleship are most fully realized and transformation occurs.
The Holistic Care of Family: the transformation one desires for family members is not parceled or fragmented but holistic, involving the body, mind, soul, and spirit; and holistic transformation requires holistic care.
The Reciprocity of Family: transformation of one family member means transformation for the entire family; though each member of a family holds a specific role, each member is also an equal contributor toward the overall health and growth of the other members.
Commitments
Gospel: The most severe poverty is spiritual in form and can only be eradicated by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ transforms us from the inside out and allows us to truly identify, suffer with and care for the poor. True freedom from all kinds of poverty, comes only through the Gospel.
God’s heart for the poor: God’s heart for the poor is the foundation of our own care and desires to be among those who are poor and suffering in our city. We believe God desires to see justice for the oppressed, to speak for the voiceless, defend the weak and remember the forgotten.
Education & Advocacy: It is through education and helpful dialogue that false attitudes and presumptions about the poor, homeless, addicted, orphaned and forgotten people in our city can be changed. We believe in order to shift a cultural paradigm of forgetting and repressing the poor; we must focus on educating the public and advocating for those who are not heard.
Community: Community is the venue in which we make our efforts. We desire to embody healthy community within our organization and amongst those we serve, so that others may see what is possible when we work together and care for others more than ourselves.
History of inCOMMON
Mosaic Community, a non-denominational Christian church, was established in the spring of 1999 with an aim of impacting the lives of those living in the urban center of Omaha. They chose the name “Mosaic” as it accurately represented the diversity of the group itself, as well as the diversity of the people around them they had begun engaging in life.
It quickly became apparent, however, that the needs of their growing community were too great for their current structure to support. In response, Mosaic Community Development (MCD) was birthed by Mosaic Community Church in June 2001 and quickly set to work developing programs that would meet the immediate needs of their neighbors.
In November of 2001, MCD was awarded a three-year VISTA grant by the Corporation for National and Community Service. During that time, 13 full time VISTA volunteers have helped to work toward the goal of community development alongside MCD. In November of 2004, MCD was privileged again with a second VISTA grant that allowed another 15 VISTAs to join MCD in its mission full time over a three-year period. This three-year period was extended to four until November of 2008 when MCD received a year-to-year VISTA cost-share grant, allowing for up to seven VISTA members at the cost of one VISTA stipend per year.
In 2009 MCD became inCOMMON Community Development and narrowed-in its focus to the following mission statement: “Fighting poverty by working with residents to build social capital and improve systemic structures within vulnerable neighborhoods.” With this aim of developing and equipping people of varying socioeconomic status toward healthy, transformational relationships, inCOMMON’s mission may be summed up as, “Transforming Communities through Community.
inCOMMON is purposed in fulfilling its mission through the operation of two unique programs: CommonLife and CommonGround. Isolation resulting from failed relationships is “the single greatest cause of sustained poverty in our cities.” Therefore, for a person to successfully transition from poverty, he/she must have the love, encouragement, and support that comes with committed, authentic relationships. Unfortunately, many of the relationships that those in poverty know are either broken, destructive, or purely service-oriented.
CommonLife effectively affronts poverty by training, equipping, and supporting individuals and small groups in their companionship of an individual or family throughout and beyond their transition from poverty. There are four main populations served by CommonLife: homeless and near homeless, post-incarceration, refugee, and at-risk youth.
CommonGround addresses the barriers to holistic transformation that our local neighbors are facing while addressing the greater community context of transformation. The current context of this has been within the Park Avenue neighborhood. Once an economically thriving community, twenty percent of Park Avenue residents now currently live below the poverty threshold. Furthermore, in light of this area’s recent economic depletion, an informal economy trafficking drugs and people for sex has developed. In response to the clear need in this neighboring community, inCOMMON began the formation of a local faith leader collaboration (Neighbors United) in February 2007. With a total representation of over one dozen churches, CommonGround is not only building relational bridges leading toward CommonLife through weekly community meals and other community events, it is building an alliance between local churches in this area of unprecedented proportions.
