The Social Justice Team met recently to review progress on its agenda which includes the following activities and initiatives:

  1. Offering a bus tour of Underground Railroad sites in Washtenaw County during Black History month next February (Rhonda);
  2. Continuing efforts for AACRC to become an authorized Private Sponsor Organization which will permit our church to sponsor the immigration of Hameed Azizi’s parents and four siblings who are currently refugees in Pakistan via the U.S. State Department’s new Welcome Corps program (Bill);
  3. Supporting the Fair Housing Initiative whose goal is to reduce barriers for prisoners in obtaining housing upon re-entry (Jon);
  4. Supporting local efforts to establish resources that provide emergency responders with non-police professionals to de-escalate certain types of domestic crises (Dave);
  5. Exploring the feasibility of joining other local churches in becoming a Solar-Faithful Church (Dave);
  6. Educating our members on the plight of DACA immigrants who are trapped in a years-long legal limbo (Phil); and
  7. Putting pressure on Kroger and Wendy’s to join corporations like Walmart, Whole Foods, Chipotle, Burger King, McDonalds, Trader Joe’s and others to join the Fair Food Program — a program whose goal is to purchase fruits and vegetables from growers that do not engage in human rights violations (Barb).

 Save the Date Nov 18-22:

Thanksgiving Week of Action Against Kroger – Coalition of Immokalee Workers
https://ciw-online.org/blog/2023/11/save-the-date-nov-18-22-thanksgiving-week-of-action-against-kroger/?emci=93e6acc9-ea83-ee11-8925-00224832e811&emdi=2079229a-eb83-ee11-8925-00224832e811&ceid=29650924

If you are interested in receiving more information about any of these activities and initiatives, and/or would like to get involved in one or more of these initiatives, please contact the designated SJT member.

Phil Boonstra
Bill Dahms
Jon Cooper
Barb Fichtenberg
Mike Hoogeboom
Dave McLaughlin
Rhonda Workman