The Story of the 'Do Good' Fund

From 2007-2016, Duke Wesley owned a large house adjacent to East Campus. The Wesley House was home to a vibrant residential community and formed an important part of the ministry’s life. Generous donors made the Wesley House possible, and defined this period for two generations of Wesley students. But trends in student housing, combined with accumulating repair concerns and a change in leadership, led the Board of Directors to sell the house in the summer of 2016. This sale created the opportunity for Duke Wesley to begin writing a new chapter in our story.

In this transition, the Board saw a rare opportunity to engage students in thinking about money and generosity. The Board set aside a tithe of the house proceeds and tasked the students with distributing these funds to charitable organizations beyond Duke’s walls. The students quickly dubbed this the “Do Good Fund,” inspired by John Wesley’s second General Rule for the early Methodists societies: “Do all the good you can.”

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​Money and power go together. Do we use our money to make things happen the way we want them to happen? Do we ever use money simply to give others the freedom to do what they want to do?  
- Henri Nouwen, "The Spirituality of Fundraising"

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Throughout Lent 2019, a group of five students met with the campus minister to discern how best to distribute the Do Good Fund. The students quickly identified a few key principles that would guide our work:

1. To prioritize LOCAL needs.
2. To strengthen RELATIONSHIPS between Wesley students and trusted partners.
3. To support PEOPLE with marginalized identities.

THE GRANTS
(Click here to see a one-page summary of the grants.)
We wanted the Do Good Fund to benefit people who are part of marginalized or vulnerable identity groups. In our baptism, we have vowed ‘to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.’ With this in mind, our giving focused on Gender Justice, LGBTQ+ Justice,  Refugees & Migration, and Systemic Racism & Inequality. 

• Because women everywhere are denied equal opportunity and equal protection, we support the Durham Crisis Response Center and WISER International (Muhuru Bay, Kenya).
• Because we acknowledge the harm done to LGBTQ+ people by the policies of the United Methodist Church, we support the LGBTQ Center of Durham and the Reconciling Ministries Network.
• Because we stand with refugees and migrants, we support Church World Service (Durham), Mariposas Sin Fronteras (Tucson), No More Deaths (Tucson), BorderLinks (Tucson), and the Collateral Repair Project (Amman, Jordan). Wesley students have visited all of these agencies.
• Because our faith calls us to resist systemic racism and inequality, we support the Community Empowerment Fund (Durham/Chapel Hill), Open Table Ministry (Durham), and the regional organizations Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Southerners on New Ground (SONG), and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Because Duke Wesley is part of a longer story and a larger circle of generosity, we are also glad to give support to these ‘friends of Duke Wesley,’ important partners in our journey:

• North Carolina Central University Wesley: Our Conference’s first full-time campus ministry at an HBCU is here in Durham. In their 5th year under Rev. Gloria Winston-Harris, NCCU Wesley serves the campus with a focus on worship and student leadership development. 
• NC Conference Hurricane Response: North Carolina was battered by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Hurricane Florence in 2018. Duke Wesley has joined with Methodists from across North Carolina to support the recovery effort by donating money and cleaning supplies.
• L’Arche North Carolina: L’Arche is the international network of homes where adults with and without disabilities live together in community. The witness of L’Arche has been formative for many Duke Wesley students over the years: countless students have visited L’Arche during Spring Break, more than a dozen alumni have lived as assistants in L’Arche communities, and two of our alumni are now part of the founding board of L’Arche North Carolina. Because the witness of L’Arche has meant so much to Duke Wesley, we want to help advance the work of L’Arche here in our own community. 

You can continue the circle of generosity by supporting our work today!
www.dukewesley.com/give