Emily Parker

Environmental Justice supports Permanent Community Solar

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

This month, our Environmental Justice Task Force submitted comments to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on the permanent Community Solar Program.

“New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Program allows those who rent, lack control of their roof, live in a multi-family building, do not have property suitable for solar, or cannot afford the cost of a solar installation to benefit from the cost savings and access to clean energy through solar power,” according to the NJ Board of Public Utilities.  The permanent Community Solar Program was established this August, following a successful two-year pilot program.  We vocally support this program first and foremost for its ability to create access to solar energy for renters and low-income households.

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Delivering The People’s Lame Duck Agenda

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

Today, UU FaithAction NJ joined with a powerful coalition of justice-seeking community organizations to hand-deliver The People’s Lame Duck Agenda to legislators across the state!  We are urging our legislators to pass critical racial and social justice legislation to move our democracy forward.

Rev. Charles Loflin visited the office of Senator Nia H. Gill, along with Micauri Vargas of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and Eric Benson of New Jersey Policy Perspective.  Nancy Griffeth, Board Trustee, also visited the offices of Senator Jon Bramnick, Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, and Assemblywoman Michelle Matsokoudis, along with Bill Griffeth and Rosella Clyde of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey.

All together, our coalition visited every state senator and assemblyperson’s office in New Jersey.

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Policy 5756 Statement of Support

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

As Boards of Education across New Jersey are considering repealing Policy 5756—i.e. the “Transgender Student Guidance for School Districts” policy—our Reproductive Justice Task Force is eager to share a resource to empower UUs to speak up.

📄 “Policy 5756 Statement of Support” PDF download

Our sample Policy 5756 statement of support is intended as a resource for UUs who wish to make comments in support of policy 5756 and trans students at their local school board meetings.

Many thanks to Rev. Rosemarie Newberry and to Garden State Equality for their contributions.

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Action Hour a Success!

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Good news—our first-ever “First Friday Action Hour” was a success!

On Friday, November 3rd, twenty-five UUs gathered to dedicate their lunch hour to advocacy.  Together, in one hour, we learned about the Values Act, made 40+ calls, and sent 40+ messages to state representatives via the NJAIJ action form.  This was tremendous for our first time!

The hour was also FUN, and we received great feedback!

We hope you will join us next time, for our critical Lame Duck Action Hour, on Friday, December 1st, 12–1 PM.

Bookmark our Action Hour instructions, updated monthly — bit.ly/1st-fridays

Promote Action Hour in your congregation — Outreach Toolkit

Join us the first Friday of every month, 12-1 PM, to actively promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations!

*First* First Friday Action Hour November 3rd!

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This Friday, November 3rd, is our first-ever “First Friday” Action Hour!

Join us at 12 noon, on Zoom, to TAKE ACTION together!

At our 2023 Fall Issues Conference, we officially announced the launch of a new initiative for UU FaithAction NJ—First Fridays Action Hour!  Our Action Hour is inspired by and modeled after the successful program of our sibling state action network, UU Justice North Carolina.

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NJAIJ Organizes and Prevails

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By Ted Fetter, Immigration Justice Task Force Chair

On Tuesday, October 3, there was an urgent call from the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ).  The emails and texts, starting around noon, called for immediate action.  The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners would vote that very afternoon at 4:00 on a resolution calling for the State Legislature to rescind New Jersey’s Sanctuary State status.  Supporters of immigrants had to mobilize quickly to oppose that resolution.

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Keeping up with BOE’s

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At our Fall Issues Conference on October 21st, 2023, Rev. Rosemarie Newberry delivered an urgent report on the quiet, insidious attack on New Jersey Dept. of Education guidance policy 5756 happening in local Board of Education meetings across our state.

Under the guise of “Parents’ Rights” or “Parental Rights,” this movement really represents a chipping away at trans children’s rights.

Watch Rev. Rosemarie Newberry’s “Keeping up with BOE’s” report at our Issues Conference, and view the text of her slideshow, below.  Rev. Rosemarie’s segment begins at minute 57.

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Fall Issues Conference Agenda

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Our Fall Issues Conference is Saturday, October 21st at 10 AM.  Register Today!

Our UU FaithAction NJ 2023 Fall Issues Conference will be on Saturday, October 21st at the UU Church in Cherry Hill and online.  The Zoom meeting will open at 9:45 AM, and the program begins at 10 AM.  The program will run until 2:00 PM, with cookies and conversation for in-person attendees from 2:00 to 2:30 PM.

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