We believe God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit is calling us to respond to the challenge of youth underrepresentation in our church. We see the desire for youth inclusion and seek to offer a proposal that will provide an avenue for youth influence at both regional and national levels. The aim of this proposal is not to prove that young people are important leaders in the church, it is to provide a new avenue for their leadership to be empowered within the governance of our denomination.

Our society is in the midst of overlapping crises, the impacts of the housing crisis cannot be separated from the increasing anti-immigrant and racist discourses and behaviours prevalent in Canada. As young people, we notice in our communities especially the impacts of lack of affordable housing and racist housing policies and practices especially on Racialized international students. As a Church we are called to notice and respond to injustice, as young people we are tasked with fighting now for a better world for us and for future generations to inherit. This proposal is important because it contributes to United Church’s goals and commitments to being and creating a diverse and just society. Housing inequality is a social justice issue and as such, the church should continue to respond in creative and meaningful ways.

The United Property Resource Corporation (UPRC) works with communities of faith, regional councils and other United Church of Canada entities to assist them in making informed decisions about their real estate assets and where possible to repurpose underutilized church spaces to serve broader community needs.