Faith in Place

This is a wonderful organization for getting the word out on environmental topics. I enjoy this organization because they not only get the word out about environmental topics, but then they also help you to come up with a plan to put environmental needs into place.

For me, Faith in Place is the go-to organization for expanding my understanding of environmentalism and climate justice. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, their digital events offer practical ways to continue taking care of the earth and taking care of ourselves. Their team is deeply dedicated to the work, and the organization truly practices what it preaches in terms of intersectionality and inclusion.

Attended the green team summit and learned a lot about environmental justice and just transition! A very welcoming and inclusive organization.

I have worked with Faith in Place for nearly 10 years. Their local organizer assisted my parish in obtaining native shade plants that transformed an eyesore into a beautiful example of native plantings in a public space. By participating in an energy audit and implementing the recommendations, my congregation was able to reduce energy expenses by 50%. Church members were also able to schedule energy audits for their homes and connect to programs that significantly reduced their energy usage.

Faith in Place does an excellent job empowering faith communities to be leaders in caring for the earth and promoting environmental justice. Through individualized coaching, they assist communities in forming "Green Teams" that promote environmental education and action within their community. They also sponsor a Green Team summit once a year where Green Team members can come together to learn, network, and get inspired. Our connection with Faith in Place has made a huge difference in our community!

Faith in Place is simply excellent: focused, inclusive, and making an impact.

They help folks to engage environmental issues close to their heart and soul -- in their local faith community. The support extends to many different communities and faith traditions, and a particular strength of Faith in Place is to demonstrate the power that comes when these strands are woven together. People learn from each other, support one another, and advocate for policy change together.

There is much to learn from this example of the power of a network.

Having worked with Faith in Place as the leader of a Green Team at a house of worship, as a volunteer and now as a Board member I continue to be impressed with the breadth of outreach of this organization. There is always some type of programming happening with a house or multiple houses of worship to engage people in caring for the earth. Raising awareness and advocacy for environmental stewardship and environmental justice is clearly important in all they do. Not only does one have the opportunity to learn about care of the earth but also to learn from a diverse group of individuals about different religious perspectives.

I have volunteered with Faith in Place for about 8 years, and have been very impressed with their dedication to inclusiveness and environmentalism. All of the staff - from the executive director to the program activists - they work hard every day to include people from all religions, ethnic groups, and communities across Illinois in organize and implement positive ways to reduce pollution and further sustainable practices. Although my role in assisting to identify energy efficiency and cost-saving opportunities in buildings operated by various religious groups has given me a limited vantage point to see all of the things that Faith in Place does, I am nevertheless amazed at the good works that they do.

My first experience with Faith In Place (FIP) was through my church. Each month, my church distributes a portion of the Sunday "loose change" offerings to a different nonprofit organization. Of course, there are more worthy organizations than there are months, so my church has a vetting process for selecting just twelve organizations. This year, I was a part of the committee who did the selecting, and FIP scored highly on so many indicators that I had to check them out. From that introduction, I attended their 2019 annual "Green Summit" conference and have also volunteered in their offices. When you are "inside," you really get a feel for how an organization works. They continue to impress me as lean, efficient, hard-working and truly committed to their goal of uniting "diverse people of all faiths in sharing the commitment to care for the Earth." In short, this organization has a much needed grip on mobilizing houses of worship in the fight against climate change and for climate justice. Plus, they've been doing it for awhile - since 1999 - and have their act together. On a 5-star scale, I give them a 10!

Faith in Place has transformed lives and communities. Its founder, the Rev. Clare Butterfield, believed deeply in the ability of people to achieve sustainability while promoting social harmony. Rev. Butterfield forged community connections, started conversations about sustainable stewardship of the earth's precious resources, and showed people how simple actions really made a difference. She brought a moral, Christian perspective to what many consider to be secular issues, and Faith in Place is continuing her legacy forward.

Faith in Place sponsors the One Earth Film Festival and gives out green products at these events. Faith in Place also sponsors bus trips to the state capital to lobby for green legislation. But when I suggest that eating animals promotes cruelty to God's creatures that are raised mostly in factories, they change the topic, or respond "no, not me."

Faith in Place is a great organization. They have organized so many events in a way that makes it easy for people to attend. I always learn so much at the Summit. I wish the workshops could be taped so that I could see ALL of them!! Thank you for everything that you do. Very inspiring, I have so much information to take back to St. Simon's. It is wonderful to meet with like minded people and share so many different experiences. Sweet blessings to you!!

I joined the Faith In Place organization because I wanted to merge my work activities with the passion and spirit God has given to me. I found that Faith in Place truly cares about the communities being served and strives to sustain and improve their social service capacity. They are an example of how organization should operate and I am proud to be associated with them.

Faith in Place is a faith-based organization that works to protect and improve our environment. We are a unique organization in that we seek members of all faiths who recognize that our Creator has blessed us with the beauty and bounty of this world and who want to fulfill their role as good stewards of this grand creation. Faith in Place offers opportunities to those who seek to be such stewards to become involved in urban gardening, improving the energy efficiency of their places of worship, becoming effective advocates to protect the environment, teaching a faith based course on water and/or working with city youth on winterizing residences. I find the opportunity to be engaged in these efforts with people of different and diverse faiths a real blessing.

I became involved in Faith in Place because of the basic reasonableness of the leadership and staff I met at a workshop. Aggressively inclusive, practical and smart, fun, hopeful, yet serious about the huge amount of work that needs to be done if we are going to care successfully for our world -- this is an organization that is always a pleasure to be part of. Impeccable integrity is also a pretty great trait. Though the depth of knowledge and care is impressive, my experience is that Faith in Place organizers are really good at meeting people where we are and inviting us to join together in whatever attempts we can make on environmental issues. This is community-building at its best. While some worthy nonprofits suck energy out of us Faith in Place is the opposite - providing sustenance and cheer in the midst of many difficult challenges. For this I am grateful, and heartily recommend them.