Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ
A UU voice for justice, equity and compassion in NJ
The 2021 Justice Gala includes an online auction of social justice themed gift baskets donated by individual UU congregations. While we encourage everyone who can to attend the online Gala, the basket bidding is open to all.
Bidding will be open from 7:00am on Tuesday, February 16 until 12:05pm on Wednesday, March 3. There are 13 baskets, so please be sure to scroll all the way down the page, so you don’t miss what could be your favorite!
Our major, most important, super big fundraiser of the year!
Please join us for UUFANJ’s UU Justice Gala 2021. We’ll gather in fellowship at this virtual event to celebrate what we have accomplished through Faith Action. Racial Justice has been chosen as the theme to highlight the overarching goal of the dismantling racism work across all our Task Forces.
It is said that you cannot create what you cannot imagine. As individuals and groups call for an end to mass incarceration and new visions of how to achieve public safety, we need to imagine together.
Treasurer’s Report
Agenda
8:30 – 9:45 Cong. Liaisons Breakfast Breakfast and conversation with Board members
9:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:10 Welcome & Worship Rev. Andrée Mol, Central Unitarian Church
10:10 – 10:15 Remembering Luis Merlo CUC members
10:15 – 10:30 Welcome & Update Tim Catts, Board President & Rev. Rob Gregson, Exec. Director
10:30 – 10:35 Another Way to Serve Carolyn Baldacchini, Chair, Nominating Committee
10:35 – 10:45 Helping Justice Thrive Marty Rothfelder, Chair, and Rev. Jennifer Kelleher, Eco Gala 2020 Committee
10:45 – 12:15 Keynote Panel w/Q & A. Prof. Sara Wakefield, Tia Ryans, Andrea McChristian
12:15 – 1:30 Lunch “Lunch with A Leader” in the Sanctuary
1:30 – 1:40 Task Force Introductions Tom Moran, Chair, Task Force Committee
1:40 – 3:15 Task Force Break-out Groups & Voting on Issues
Gun Violence Prevention – Kathy Allen
Criminal Justice Reform – Susan MacDonnell and Anne Houle
Environmental Justice – Nancy Griffeth and Ray Nichols
Immigration Justice – Clara Haignere and Peggy Hayden
Reproductive Justice – Carol Loscalzo
3:15 Break
3:30 Closing
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION TASK FORCE
Join us to see possible ways your congregation can spread the word about the issue of gun violence.
I. Create our network – We will introduce ourselves and form friendships that can sustain us as we work on this (largely American) problem. We will try a breathing meditation suggested by the new Lutheran Minister of Gun Violence Prevention, Deanna Hollas, to help us get through this often-emotional and difficult work.
II. Handouts and Display
A. See some of the orange origami cranes made by Beacon Summit congregants during June coffee hours to honor New Jersey gun victims (1/1/19 to 6/30/19) whose names are recorded on each crane. Nearly 90 cranes were made.
B. Handouts provided by Carinne Murphy, from Central Unitarian Church during their observance of Gun Violence Awareness weekend, June 2-4, 2019.
C. Literature from Unitarian Church in Cherry Hill’s symposium on Suicide Prevention.
III. Educational – We will watch AIMING FOR SAFETY, a 7-minute film that presents six possible solutions to gun violence, a film by George Faison available on YouTube. George is a gun-owning hunter and a UU congregant at Beacon, whose message should appeal to both sides of this issue. We will discuss ways to disseminate this film.
IV. Legislative – In New Jersey, we are lucky to have a governor and attorney general who support the issue of preventing gun violence. We will review and talk about the many bills that Gov. Murphy has signed into law, bills that make New Jersey one of the most safe states in the country.
A. One still-pending bill was co-written by UU Faith Action: the SAFE STORAGE BILL, A 3696 / S2204. We will try to Skype with Jeannine Coyne, former head of this Task Force, who was instrumental, along with Rob Gregson, in drafting this bill. Jeannine cannot join us in person.
B. ERPO, Extreme Risk Protection Order, went into effect 9/1/19. We will go through a training on 1) how to interpret ERPO and – more important – 2) how to initiate it. We will also discuss avenues to set up training sessions in your own towns or areas.
Legislative Priorities 2019/2020
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM |
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE |
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GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION |
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IMMIGRATION JUSTICE |
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REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE |
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Immigration Justice Task Force
The Immigration Justice Task Force has had the benefit of two summer interns, who helped us be ready to launch two and possibly three action projects for volunteers to provide direct help to undocumented persons. Much of the groundwork has been done. The action projects are 1) temporary housing for persons released from detention, 2) accompaniment for persons who need to report regularly to ICE and/or attend court hearings, and possibly 3) provide transportation assistance to persons traveling from the southern border to temporary stays with family.On the housing effort, First Friends of NJ and NY has established a very good program, and they have been able to hold one training session so far for UU volunteers. We expect that First Friends will agree to several more training sessions. On accompaniment, we have identified two organizations and possibly a third with which to work, channeling UU volunteers to them for training and assignment to specific opportunities for service. One training opportunity has occurred, and we are developing others. On transportation assistance, we have so far not found an organization in place in New Jersey offering help, and we will decide (based on the level of interest) whether we think that FaithAction itself can sustain the program.Many details still need to be worked out, but we look forward to an opportunity for volunteers who are able to get involved with specific cases and provide direct service to those who need it.
The UU FaithAction NJ annual Fall Issues Conference was held on Saturday, October 19 at Central Unitarian Church in Paramus. This well-attended event featured a panel of criminal justice experts. If you were unable to attend, you can still read the reports by clicking on the link below.
Get Conference Packet Information Here: https://www.uufaithaction.org/?page_id=8284&preview=true
