Poughkeepsie is carrying young Friends as associate members until age twenty-three, before asking them to commit to full adult membership. A few of our meetings find their places of worship a challenge to sensing God's presence, and want to enhance their limited physical facilities, or long for a meeting place of their own. Binghamton has spent the year seeking a new home, and as it looks forward, it hopes that their new meeting place will be a sacred space to enhance their experience of God's presence. Old Chatham copes with the unique problem of maintaining its own identity coincident with maintaining a vital relationship with Powell House. Many Friends contribute to relief funds, participate in vigils, and write letters of support and messages about our testimonies to the greater society in which we live.
Members feel greatly encouraged by their meetings.
Several of our meetings find opportunities to participate in local community peacemaking activities or share with other local resources in feeding the hungry. Meetings mention financial support of other local and larger Quaker organizations as well. Hamilton participates in YouthQuake, as one way to support young Friends. Some of our meetings provide learning and practice of testimonies in First Day school with intergenerational sharing of fundraisers for AVP, AFSC, and Habitat for Humanity, supporting Abolition 2000 to abolish nuclear weapons, and holding vigils to call attention to desperate conditions in Iraq. Others join in Peace Teams programs.