In July 2019, we finished our first surveys for the 10 Zip Codes Initiative! Over 80 organizations in Washington Heights and East New York responded, helping us track the measurable impact of the church in these two communities. This week, local stakeholders, strategic partners, and experts met with our team to analyze the preliminary data from the surveys. We had leaders from Hope for New York, Redeemer City-to-City, The Navigators, along with many other pastors and non-profit leaders. They provided meaningful insight, analysis, and pathways to action.

The data itself was very encouraging – in each zip code, an average of 1.8 million hours in paid and volunteer church efforts is being provided annually from the organizations that responded to our surveys alone! That’s the equivalent of around 900 full-time employees serving their community in each zip code – at a living wage, that’s around $45 million worth of work hours being directed towards serving the Kingdom of God in one zip code!

Bruce Barker, the Network Lead for the Cinnamon Network, put it well:

“It is exciting to see scientific proof of who we are when we work together.”

Rupert Hayles, our chief strategist, said of the data: “To have quantitative information that complements empirical information brings to completeness the actual impact of Christian organizations in New York. This is a game-changer in terms of understanding!”