We've kicked off a series of events on economic inequality and our many economic problems. We've posted links to the January 29 sermon by Rev. Jon Luopa and Teach-in materials. Next up: Join us Saturday February 4 for an Action Lab from 9:30 to 2:30.

There is a new social justice group at UUC! We are excited to be working alongside the residents and staff of Brettler Family Place, a permanent housing community for formerly homeless families in Magnuson Park. There are many opportunities to connect with parents and children at Brettler. Take a look at Brettler Family Place at www.solid-ground.org, or contact Susan Wake or April Osborne for more information. We need tutors, financial advisors, crafters, coaches, and more! Our December 11 Dedicated Plate Collection will go to support activities and classes for Brettler Family Place residents.

Sound Alliance victory in Bank of America campaign

UUC is a founding member of Sound Alliance, a community organizing alliance of faith and labor organizations. We recently secured a major victory in our foreclosure intervention campaign:  Bank of America will open its first-ever permanently staffed customer assistance center in Washington state to assist financially distressed homeowners.

If properly operated, the center should provide borrowers with an opportunity to resolve problems face-to-face with loan servicers rather than being diverted to call centers with long waits, multiple transfers, and inaccurate or misleading information.  

The Social Justice Steering Committee is pleased to announce the Seeds of Justice Grant Program, through which UUC will award $10,000 to a social justice nonprofit working or based in our community.

This first year, we want to kick off the program, engage the congregation, learn from the experience, and set a foundation that can grow. The Steering Committee decided to build on UUC’s long history of advancing justice for people whose voices, needs and rights are invisible or dismissed in society.  UUC was “ahead of the curve” in addressing the AIDS epidemic; we’ve offered witness and aid to refugees and immigrants; we house the chronically mentally ill.  The Seeds of Justice Grant Program is our first grantmaking endeavor, and the goals of the program are:

On behalf of UUC’s congregation, our Social Justice Steering Committee is honored to give $4,400 to Fonkoze, a nonprofit alternative bank for the poor in Haiti.  Fonkoze offers savings accounts, small loans and insurance policies, financial literacy education, and wire transfer services from abroad.

For several years, UUC’s Economic Justice Committee sold fair trade gifts during the holidays. The proceeds sponsored three $5,000 microlending banks in Guatemala and Haiti.  Last year, when EJG determined its economic justice mission was being met by other UUC entities, it disbanded, leaving behind an amazing legacy of ministry – as well as over $4,000 in funds.

Program at 9:30 in the Chapel; one worship service at 11:15

On Sunday, May 23, we will hold an information forum on health care reform in lieu of our first worship service. From 9:30 to 10:15, we will engage with a panel of speakers on the new law, what it means, and how it will roll out. 

Church school will be held as usual at 9:30 and 11:15, and worship will be as usual at 11:15 (with New Member Ingathering!).

This event has been organized by the UUC Health Care Reform Task Force, in partnership with Temple Beth Am.  The panelists include:

UUC's congregation continues its generosity through our monthly Social Justice Sundays, when we lift up one aspect of our church's social justie work and generally dedicate the morning's plate collection to that cause. 

In February we raised $2,900 for our church's hunger ministries - a cause sponsored by the social action group of our church's high school students. Food and hunger was the theme of the regional social action conference organized and hosted by our youth.

In March, in honor of Rev. Jon Luopa's 10th Anniversary Celebration, we picked a cause near and dear to his heart: community organizing. We raised $2,500 for the Sound Alliance, a community organizing alliance of religious and labor organizations of which UUC is a founding member.

Prior to the national conversation and legislative action on overhauling health care, Sound Alliance was focused on a Washington state study presenting options for "universal" health care.  The Obama administration's push for health care reform took that off the table. But the Health Care Research Action Team soon discovered that no matter what legislation was passed on a national level, both documented and undocumted immigrants would be excluded from coverage for at least five years after the bill was passed.

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.)