FAITHIFY is a crowdfunding site where passionate people FOLLOW, SHARE, and FUND Unitarian Universalist ministries.
FAITHIFY’s purpose is to:
- Inspire a culture of innovation that extends the reach of UU values
- Lower the walls between existing congregation
- Ignite ministries in new venues, formats, and communities
- Bridge geographic and generational borders using 21st century technologies
- Help passionate individuals invest directly in ministries that excite them
- Help ministry innovators reach a passionate public
“We envision a people with renewed faith and a Unitarian Universalism that is more connected, relevant, and vibrant.”
The success of a Faithify campaign is entirely dependent on the energy and excitement behind it. NOW is the time to think about and get excited by the passion that drives you to be an active part of the UU Legislative Ministry of NJ.
Did you know that one in three online donations is made through peer-to-peer fundraising? P2P fundraising is great for smaller non-profits for several reasons. It eliminates the trust issue. It takes a long time to cultivate a relationship with a supporter and potential donor. Your friends and family already know and love you. They trust that if you are dedicated to a cause that it is worthy of their time of resources. You’re not asking them to make a major donation, put to make a gift in your honor.
Peer fundraising also gets around the lack of resources in a small organization. With only two part-time staff we can only reach so far, but by activate our 1000 emails subscribers and 700 Facebook and Twitter followers we can successfully reach thousands of people!
Do you not have a social networking account? Now’s the time to get active. For those not active online this may be an even more powerful way to say “HEY! This is important to me!” It’s easy, go to the UULMNJ page and click “share”. Not only is social media revolutionizing justice advocacy, its a great was to keep in touch with children and grandchildren (you can thank us later). It’s easy to setup and use. You can ask someone to help you set up your account and find people in your network or you can visit this great online tutorials for seniors.
Faithify is an all-or-nothing funding platform.
All-or-nothing funding means that projects are only funded if they reach or surpass 100% of their funding goal within the duration of their campaign. No funds will be collected from donors unless the goal is reached.
All-or-nothing funding has a number of advantages:
- It’s less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000 but only raise $1,000 the project will not work.
- It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they’re going to spread the word.
- It works. Projects either make their goal or find little support. There’s little in-between.
So now that you know about Faithify, how do you engage and help UULMNJ have a successful campaign? We’ve come up with an easy four step plan.
Create a personal story:
Why do you support UULMNJ? What cause is nearest to your heart? Do you have a personal story to share about why this issue is so important to you? Family member in prison? Housing crisis? Healthcare issue?
Reach out to friends and family, NOT JUST UUs:
Send an email ask to your friends and family members who are likely to donate because they care about you, not the organization. You’ll be provided with basic language. You fill in the specifics.
GET SOCIAL:
Do you have a Facebook or Twitter account that you don’t use? Write a short blurb asking your friends to give up a cup of coffee or a beer (you know your friends) in support of social justice. Ask them to share it, too.
Ask your friends why they care about social justice. Ask them to share a personal story about why they support UULMNJ. Pictures are worth a thousand words! Give the organization faces and souls to connect with.
Talk about it! Bring up UULMNJ’s first Faithify campaign in conversations. It’s pledge season in most congregations so you’re already talking about money. Why not talk about this great way for UUs to give back to causes that are important to them.
Stay active! Share updates, donations, issues and more.
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
ACTION ALERT: Tell Gov. Christie “Women Are Not Worth Less!”
On March 14 New Jersey took a step in being a leader in gender equality with one of the most comprehensive pay equity bills pending in state legislatures around the nation. S922/A2750, the New Jersey Pay Equity Act, sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt, will give women formidable tools to combat pay discrimination and remedy an injustice that has gone on for far too long. With a growing number of New Jersey women responsible for supporting their families, pay equity is not only a matter of justice for themselves, but also a matter of economic security for their families.
In New Jersey, women earn 80 cents on the dollar compared to men in the same field, despite national legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009. States around the nation are recognizing the persistence of wage discrimination and taking similar legislative approaches and remedies as New Jersey. For women of color the situation is even more dire, with African-American women earning 64 cents, and Latinas only 56 cents, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
Both houses have passed this bill with strong bi-partisan support. It now sits on Governor Christie’s desk, awaiting his signature. Email the governor and urge him to set an example for states across the nation because women are not worth less. It only takes a moment to let yUUr voice be heard!
The New Jersey Pay Equity Act :
– Requires companies with public contracts to disclose info about the compensation by Sex (and race too) of all employees;
– Expands the previously established prohibition against paying women less who are in identical jobs as men, to include jobs that are similar or comparable;
– Establishes triple damages to employers who violate the law and discriminate against women;
· Allowing employees the right to tell each other what they earn without fear of retribution from employers, prohibits employers from making people sign a contract in which they are sworn not to disclose their compensation to co-workers;
· Extending the time in which a discrimination lawsuit can be taken (expands the statute of limitations) by making every paycheck an possible offense, thus restarting the clock on statute of limitations every time someone is paid.
Related Articles
Women leaders press Christie to sign pay equity bill
#WomenAreNotWorthLess #CloseTheGap #PayEquity
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
2nd Annual MUUsic Festival Program
ACTION ALERT: Support S51 Limiting Solitary Confinement
In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.
The NJ Senate Law and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to restrict solitary confinement this Thursday, March 10.
This bill, S51, sponsored by NJ Senators Raymond Lesniak and Peter Barnes, III, would dramatically limit when New Jersey subjects people to extreme isolation for long periods of time and create a total ban on the practice for vulnerable populations who suffer most from it.
This bill would:
- Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
- Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
- Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
- Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.
Long-term isolated confinement poses extremely harmful effects on any prisoner, but especially members of vulnerable populations, such as people with mental illnesses, pregnant women, people under 21, and people over 55. It can worsen existing mental illnesses and inflict psychological trauma where it didn’t exist before. Alternatives to isolated confinement have proven to be successful, because they don’t come with the socially destructive side effects that result from psychological torture.
Most prisoners will re-enter society once they’ve served their time. Once they emerge, who do we want those people to be? Most likely your answer does not include someone whose time in isolated confinement has left them more psychologically wounded and socially ill-equipped than before they entered prison or jail.
This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will just put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.
Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
On Wednesday March 2, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, one of the most important cases on the availability of abortion in decades. We hope you will take a minute to read the important info below about context and messaging related to the case.
The core issue is that some of the mainstream analysis and communications about the case minimizes (or totally ignores) how the fight for legal access to abortion leaves out many of the larger obstacles faced by low-income people and people of color. As with the marriage equality Supreme Court case, we believe that it is critical to view the Whole Women’s Health decision as one piece of a much larger struggle. We’ve included links to more info, but of course you should free to contact Rob or Shaya if you want more.
In Faith,
Rev. Darcy Baxter, Reproductive Justice Activist and Congregational Minister in Modesto, CA
Shaya French, UU Women’s Federation Clara Barton Intern in Boston, MA (sfrench@uua.org)
Rev. Rob Keithan, Faith Organizing and Training Consultant specializing in Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Issues in Washington, DC
Carol A. Loscalzo, Co-proposer of the UUA reproductive justice study/action issue from the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, NJ, UU Legislative Ministry of NJ Reproductive Justice Task Force, Chair
Mandolin Restivo, Co-proposer of the UUA reproductive justice study/action issue from the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, NJ
Rev. Darcy Roake, Reproductive Justice Activist, Member of the National Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board, and UUA Donor Program Manager in New Orleans, LA
CONTEXT and MESSAGING
- The long-term struggle is about access. Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt is about two provisions of a Texas law that decrease the availability of abortion. As with most restrictions on access to abortion (and services generally), these laws has a massively disproportionate impact on low-income people and people of color. What’s critical to keep in mind is that the long-term struggle is not simply to make abortion care “available” in a legal or medical sense. The long-term struggle is to make quality abortion care truly ACCESSIBLE to all people, regardless of income, race, geography, age, immigration status, or other factors. As the 2015 UUA Statement of Conscience on Reproductive Justice states: “In our vision, everyone has access to accurate information about sexuality and family planning, and safe, healthy, and culturally sensitive reproductive health services” (P 2).
- The long-term struggle is about more than abortion. Although abortion access is incredibly important and thus worth fighting for, some organizations and activists have a tendency to deify it. According to the woman of color-led reproductive justice framework, which the UUA endorsed with the 2015 Statement of Conscience, the right to not have children must be accompanied by the right to have children, to parent the children one has in healthy environments and to safeguard bodily autonomy and to express one’s sexuality freely. As the statement of Conscience reads:
“Such liberation requires not only accurate information about sexuality and reproduction and control of personal reproductive decisions, but also living wages, safe and supported housing, high quality and comprehensive medical and reproductive health care, access to voting and the political process, affordable legal representation, fair immigration policies, paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and the absence of individual and institutional violence.” (P. 2).
In sum, if you plan to preach, write, or otherwise talk about this case, I urge you to (1) consider access to abortion as not just a legal issue but as a justice issue in a much larger context, and (2) name abortion access as just one of the many important reproductive and other concerns that warrant our attention. At a time when media and other organizations will be narrowly focused on the availability of abortion, let’s be strong and faithful voices for a larger goal that includes the needs and stated desires of low-income people and people of color.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
UULMNJ Statement of Support for Planned Parenthood
UUA Statement of Conscience FINAL as adopted
Two Things Every UU Should Know About Reproductive Justice
“What is reproductive justice?” in UU World by Darcy Baxter
Vote, New Jersey!
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this training and for getting out the vote in your congregations!
The Presidential Election is on November 8. The last day to register to vote in this primary is on October 18, 2016. Download, fill, out and submit your application by mail or deliver to the County Commissioner of Registration or Superintendent of Elections
Voter Registration Application (English) Voter Registration Application (Spanish)
You no longer need a reason to vote by mail. Anyone can! Don’t feel like going to the polls? Need to schedule a meeting out of town? Fill out an application and have your ballot sent to you. Mail your application to your county clerk. Find your clerk here. To vote by mail in the primary, your application must be received by 3:00 on May 31, 2016.
Vote by Mail Application (English) Vote by Mail Application (Spanish)
Are you currently registered as independent but want to affiliate with a party? Fill out the Declaration Form and send to the County Commissioner of Registration or Superintendent of Elections at your county clerk’s office.
Need more information? Learn more.
Black Lives Matter
Cherry Hill Church’s “Black Lives Matter” Banners Stolen, February 24, 2016
Our Dismantling Racism Working Group co-chair uses an act of vandalism as an opportunity for public discussion about “the underlying issues” behind the Black Lives Matter movement in a community that he feels is open to talking about it. Read more.
At the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ’s annual meeting in Montclair on April 17, 2015, the joint Boards released the following statement dismantling racism. The UULMNJ is committed to the Black Lives Matter movement and to ending the systematic oppression faced by people of color in our country and the State of New Jersey.
Board Statement on Dismantling Racism
Unitarian Universalists have long been spiritually and morally committed to the elimination of racism and oppression. We have a long history of coming forward to answer the call for racial justice, and UUs have shed their blood in these struggles. In this we are motivated by the moral imperative of our covenant to affirm and promote the principles that are the uniting basis of our faith community.
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
The work to eliminate racism continues to be a litmus test of the strength of our principles and the authenticity of our faith.
The appearance and practice of racism in our society has in many ways radically changed, yet its basic manifestations remain the same. The illusion of a “color blind” society after the victories of the great civil rights movement and the historic election of an African American president has fully dissolved. Even though attention is being paid to the continuing epidemic of unpunished killings of people of color by police, it took a series of increasingly disturbing incidents before anyone paid attention to a long-established pattern of violence. This demonstrates that we have far to go to address the problems of racism. While it could be unfair to compare police killings to lynchings, the simple fact is that the rate of such killings in the last 15 years matches or exceeds the rate of some 5,000 recorded lynchings between 1882 and 1968. About 60 of these have been recorded to be of victims while in police custody. Currently the rate of police officer killings of people of color is reported to be at a rate of about two or more per week in the United States. The divide that exists between the criminal justice system and people of color is not an accident. It is a direct result of institutional racism.
This seemingly easy and all-too-common resort to lethal force in the moment of confrontation between police and persons — usually men of color — is only the most brutal aspect of the “New Jim Crow”. To the cry ”Black Lives Matter” we hear the casual and cynical reply “All Lives Matter.” The problem with proclaiming that all lives matter is that it denies the particular need to focus on black lives. Fundamentally, until our society accepts that black lives matter, the call that all lives matter is simply a denial of reality based on the limited experience of privileged people.
A basic condition of American racism is that the realities of life of people of color are not known well enough. In all aspects of American life, already drowning in inequality, people of color, as a group, continue to be victimized in the denial of human and civil rights, employment and income, health, reproductive services and life expectancy, wealth accumulation and home ownership, and in de facto residential and educational inequality and continued segregation. African American author Neely Fuller, Jr., has written,
“No major problem that exists between the people of the known universe can be eliminated until racism is eliminated.”
Racism continues today to be a key, interactive force affecting all issues in the struggle for social progress. Issues of race and racism infect all issues that the UULMNJ and Unitarian Universalists feel strongly about. From Criminal Justice Reform and ending Mass Incarceration to Fair Housing, to Immigration, to Gun Violence, to Health Care, to the Impact of Environmental Degradation, it is crucial for us to recognize that people of privilege experience these issues in an utterly different way from people of color. We must commit to expanding connection and understanding in order to unleash the full transformational power of a multicultural, multiracial alliance for meaningful and lasting change.
We continue to work to build the Beloved Community of all people, regardless of race, regardless of economic condition, regardless of sexual preference or gender identity, and of other seeming differences. The differences among us are not categories for separation; they only serve to show the amazing variations and possibilities of the human race. Seeing, understanding, and appreciating different realities and experiences is the major goal for achieving the transformational power of the Beloved Community.
The UULMNJ will continue to address the dismantling of racism on every issue and in all aspects of its activity. We ask that the New Jersey Unitarian Universalist Congregations we serve join us in this endeavor.
The Boards of
The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey
The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey Public Policy Network
April 14, 2015
Join us in Trenton on November 16, 2015!
Close to three hundred people gathered at Christ Episcopal Church on Tuesday evening, August 11, 2015. They came to hear a panel of experts discuss race, mass incarceration, and the role of faith in addressing these issues.
Read more and watch Senator Booker’s keynote address.
Million People’s March Against Police Brutality, Racial Injustice, and Income Inequality
150 Unitarian Universalists from 14 congregations showed their support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in Newark on July 25, 2015. Executive Director, Rev. Craig Hirshberg was one of several leaders asked to speak at the rally.
Learn more about this event.
MUUsic Festival Confirmation
We’re excited to have you join us for the 2nd Annual New Jersey MUUsic Festival! It has been a red letter year for UULMNJ! Take a look at some of our Top 10 Moments of 2015:
Joint Boards Release Statement Dismantling Racism
The UULMNJ is committed to the Black Lives Matter movement and to ending the systematic oppression faced by people of color in our country and the State of New Jersey. In this we are motivated by the moral imperative of our covenant to affirm and promote the principles that are the uniting basis of our faith community.
Calling for Paid Sick Leave for All
Thanks to the unwavering resolve of our coalition partners, we were able to secure passage of landmark legislation including Paid Family Leave and the minimum wage increase.
A Celebration of our Faith, Equality, Compassion and Justice Through Song
The 1st Annual New Jersey MUUsic Festival at Morristown Unitarian Fellowship benefited the work of the Legislative Ministry. Over 100 musicians participated in the first ever NJ UU All-State Ensemble in March.
NJ Supreme Court Decision on Affordable Housing
In March, the New Jersey Supreme Court reaffirmed that no town in New Jersey may exclude working families, low-income seniors, and people with special needs.
Standing with Planned Parenthood for Reproductive Justice
In June, our Reproductive Justice Task Force made a statement of support for Planned Parenthood after vicious attacks hit the media. UULMNJ also allied with Planned Parenthood for a Legislative Summit at the State House with Sen. Loretta Weinberg.
Bipartisan Heroin Treatment Bill Passes
Our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force had a busy year which included work on juvenile justice, solitary confinement, and this bill for medication assisted treatment of heroin addiction.
March Against Police Brutality in Newark
1,500 people showed up in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in July. 150 UUs represented 14 congregations from across the state.
Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Domestic Gun Violence
Executive Director, Rev. Craig Hirshberg, met with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and other lawmakers to discuss legislation to protect women and children from domestic abusers with firearms.
Rev. Craig Hirshberg Joins Criminal Justice Panel with Senator Cory Booker
Seeking to cut government spending on incarcerating non-violent criminals, Senator Booker calls on his colleagues to “redirect resources into community policing and public defense” and a radical expansion of federally funded human services programs.
First NJ Legislative Hearing on the Legalization of Marijuana
Rev. Hirshberg was the only clergy to testify in this closed Senate Judiciary hearing. She is seen below with NJ-NAACP president Richard Smith, ACLU-NJ executive director Udi Ofer, and President of the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutor’s Association, Jon Henry Barr at a pre-hearing press conference.
Are you inspired by this work? Donate today!
ACTION ALERT: Pay Equity and Paid Sick Leave
We just got word that the Pay Equity Act bill, promising equal pay for women will be coming up at this Thursday’s Senate Session (Feb 11). Please write or call your local senator and ask him/her to support this important bill. Please share this with members of your congregation and encourage them to write as well.
S922, the New Jersey Pay Equity Act, sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg, is one of the most comprehensive pay equity bills pending in state legislatures around the nation. In New Jersey, women earn 80 cents on the dollar compared with 79 cents nationally, despite national legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009. States around the nation are recognizing the persistence of wage discrimination and taking similar legislative approach and remedy as New Jersey. For women of color the situation is even more dire, with African-American women earning 64 cents, and Latinas only 56 cents, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
The bill will give women formidable tools to combat pay discrimination and remedy an injustice that has gone on for far too long. With a growing number of New Jersey women responsible for supporting their families, pay equity is not only a matter of justice for themselves, but also a matter of economic security for their families.
The New Jersey Pay Equity Act :
- Requires companies with public contracts to disclose info about the compensation by Sex (and race too) of all employees;
- Expands the previously established prohibition against paying women less who are in identical jobs as men, to include jobs that are similar or comparable;
- Establishes triple damages to employers who violate the law and discriminate against women;
- Allowing employees the right to tell each other what they earn without fear of retribution from employers, prohibits employers from making people sign a contract in which they are sworn not to disclose their compensation to co-worker;
- Extending the time in which a discrimination lawsuit can be taken (expands the statute of limitations) by making every paycheck an possible offense, thus restarting the clock on statute of limitations every time someone is paid.
S-799 for earned sick leave will also be called. An earned sick days law would benefit New Jersey’s working families, businesses, and the community as a whole.Enactment of a statewide earned sick days law in New Jersey is an economic and moral imperative for all families in our state. It is for this reason that UULMNJ has partnered with Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. – a coalition of over 256 union, community, progressive, and faith organizations – and is diligently working to ensure passage of this legislation.
Thanks to the unwavering resolve of our coalition partners, we were able to secure passage of landmark legislation including Paid Family Leave and the minimum wage increase. This same commitment will ensure we are successful when it comes to earned sick days.
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
