Nearly 30 UUC members participated in a rally and march in support of comprehensive health care reform. The May 30 event, organized by Washington Community Action Network, attracted several thousand people in support of affordable, high-quality health care for all.

UUC members at the May 30 health care rally A UU dog for health care reform!Marching together

What a victory for Sound Alliance, and what an example of grassroots muscle at work.  Thank you to those of you who took time to write letters and make phone calls!

This bill authorizes the use of federal stimulus money for pilot programs aimed at reducing carbon emissions through in-depth energy efficiency retrofits for low to middle income homes, non-profits, and businesses. One such pilot program is Sustainable Works, a program of the Spokane and Sound Alliances.

UUC member April Osborne, who has worked tirelessly for this initiative, attended the signing ceremony. (See her in white just behind/to the left of the Governor.)

This fall, our congregation began a new practice of dedicating our plate collection on the second Sunday of each month to a social justice caused with which we are partnered or involved. We kicked off in September, when we raised over $5,000 towards our Habitat for Humanity project. In October, our dedicated plate collection generated $4,000 for our emergency feeding programs - critical at a time when more people in our community are facing hunger.

In November we took a slightly different  approach, educating our congregation on the UU legislative advocacy network, Washington UU Voices for Justice, and encouraging people to join this important organization and get involved in selecting priorities for the 2009 legislative session.

In December, we will use our second Sunday to promote the Fair Trade goods sales of our Economic Justice Committee, which raises funds for microlending in some of the world's poorest communities.

Summer certainly seemed to take its time arriving this year! But now that it has arrived, here are some summer film and reading recommendations from various members of UUC's social justice groups. Enjoy!

“You’re a big crowd!” exclaimed Governor Christine Gregoire as she took the podium at the Sound Alliance’s Founding Assembly on June 1. We were a big crowd, and the 110 members of UUC’s delegation were right in the forefront!

Hundreds of people from labor unions, churches, synagogues, and grassroots citizen groups came together to adopt our Agenda for the Common Good. Powerful personal testimonies put a human face on the issues, and we publicly negotiated concrete next steps with the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader on health care, education reform and energy conservation.

Our own social justice coordinator Jennifer Bright added to UUC’s visible leadership role as one of the co-chairs of the proceedings, as well as Ruth Little, who cast our vote to formally found the Alliance.

As you may know, the federal government is “rebating” tax dollars, encouraging us to spend the money on consumer goods in order to “stimulate” the lagging economy. You probably have also seen news stories about the escalating cost of food and the associated hardship for people everywhere. The rebates will not help those in the direst financial circumstances, because people who are too poor to pay taxes will not receive a tax rebate.

Within our own congregation, some of us will need this check just to pay our bills, and some of us won’t. If you are in this latter category, you can Rechannel Your Rebate through UUC. Funds received will be used in three ways:

What's a wind farm look like? Eleven members of University Unitarian Church found out when we visited Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Facility on April 19 on a Green Sanctuary-sponsored field trip.

We joined with University Congregational to visit the wind and solar installation located between Ellensburg and Vantage. One of University Congregational's members is on the PSE team developing alternative energy sources and gave us a tour and informative presentation.

This month at UUC, we launched the drive for funds and volunteers for UUC's third Habitat for Humanity build. UUC led the first interfaith build in the Seattle area, and now we are seeking to lead the first UU build, inviting our fellow UU churches to join us.

Construction will start in spring of 2008, but we will need volunteers in a variety of organizing and planning roles starting soon. Are you good at organizing volunteer work teams and trainings? Writing thank-you notes to donors? Planning family-friendly events to engage and educate our congregation's children? Taking pictures and writing newsletter articles? Contact Social Justice Coordinator Jennifer Bright to learn how you can help!