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BLUU provides support, information, and resources for Black Unitarian Universalists across the country. Through our faith, BLUU leads groundbreaking initiatives that build power for Black people. We’re excited to share updates about our Housing Initiative and programming. It is because of support from you - our donors, volunteers, and the wider UU community - that we can do the work that uplifts our communities and strengthens our faith.
BLUU Cooperative Housing Initiative donations will be matched!
Get to know Alberita “Albie” Johnson, BLUU’s Commissioned Lay Minister
Please share this update with folks who may be interested in learning more about BLUU.
Thank you!
BLUU Cooperative Housing Initiative Spotlight
Thanks to a generous challenge donation from a member of the Unitarian Universalism community dedicated to affordable housing and racial justice, donations of any amount will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000, from now through June 2024!
Across the country, efforts to change zoning laws that would allow more multifamily housing are being challenged. This includes Minneapolis, as efforts to increase housing density to meet the need for affordable housing in the city, like the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, are being thwarted.
The good news is the BLUU Housing Cooperative Initiative is moving forward. The pilot site has all the necessary permits; construction for the triplex pictured here will soon be underway. However, the likelihood is that subsequent sites will be duplexes instead, and as a result, fewer families will have the opportunity to access this type of homeownership.
“I’m not going to say 2040 will create a utopia city, but it’s a really good set of policies that incorporated a lot of evidence-based research, and that was lauded as a step in the right direction,” Lena K. Gardner, BLUU’s Executive Director said. “There’s a lot of great projects out there, like ours, that could really help alleviate the affordable housing problem.”
Want to get your congregation or community excited about the BLUU Housing Initiative? Share this video featuring Lena K. Gardner, Executive Director of BLUU, and AsaleSol Young, Executive Director of Urban Homeworks, as they talk about how BLUU’s Cooperative Housing Initiative is breaking barriers in affordable and cooperative housing.
Learn more about BLUU’s Cooperative Housing Initiative at
“Knowing BLUU exists, and that it is available, is a blessing to so many. It feels like a big embrace.” - Alberita “Albie” Johnson, BLUU’s Commission Lay Minister
Alberita “Albie” Johnson served as a Baptist minister for almost two decades before her path crossed with the UU Congregation at Fort Myers (UUCFM). Albie was searching for a labyrinth in her neighborhood, the closest being in the UUCFM garden. This introduction to Unitarian Universalism, which was quite different from her upbringing, sparked curiosity. Albie started attending services, taking classes and with the support of the UUCFM congregation, she enrolled in the UUA’s Commissioned Lay Ministry (CLM) Program, an endeavor that takes three to four years to complete.
Albie completed the CLM Program during some of the most tumultuous years of her life. Not only did the pandemic throw her plans for a loop (although she was not at all derailed), she also experienced incredible devastation by Hurricane Ian which displaced her for almost a year. Despite these challenges, Albie finished the program. Around the same time that Albie was finally able to move back into her home, she was also offered two roles, one as Interim Minister at All Faiths Unitarian Congregation in Fort Myers and another as Commissioned Lay Minister at BLUU. While all this transition has kept Albie incredibly busy, she is thankful for the stability and comfort that All Faiths and BLUU have provided after years of instability.
As CLM for BLUU, Albie supports BLUU worship services in planning, technical support, and sharing readings and poetry. Albie also provides pastoral care and answers BLUU’s pastoral care line. Albie took this position because over the years, Albie has found BLUU members to be extremely accepting and she has found solace in the BLUU community. Albie knows that there are many people like herself, Black members in mostly white congregations and Black UUs whose identities go against identities of the surrounding community, specifically Black LGBTQIA+ individuals who reside in conservative areas of the country. She wants these Black folks to know about BLUU, that BLUU is here for them, created by and for them. She acknowledges for many BLUU community members, BLUU worship may be the only genuine UU connection they have.
Love at the Center has always been a core belief for Albie. For her, it means really looking and reflecting internally and asking, “How can I help and what can I give?” The UU faith for Albie is a place where people share liberally so that we can all have enough. As Albie says, “It isn’t about how big or how small or how much faith you have. It is all about how you interact with other people in the world that we share together.”
BLUU’s Commissioned Lay Ministry is possible thanks to generous funding from the UU Funding Program and UUCSJ's Experiential Internship Equity Fund. We are grateful for their support. Learn more about BLUU’s pastoral and spiritual care. If you are a Black person in our faith who has not yet experienced our online services, or you know Black folks who would value connection with other Black UUs, join us for, or connect folks to, BLUU worship.
