FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Fw: UUSC Local Reps Bulletin: Charlie Clements's Address, Freedom Summer, Gulf Coast housing and more

[jojane (jojane]

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Rachel Jordan, UUSC" <rjordan [at] uusc.org>
To: "Jo" <jojane [at] juno.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:16:08 -400
Subject: UUSC Local Reps Bulletin: Charlie Clements's Address, Freedom
Summer, Gulf Coast housing and more
Message-ID: <UUSCEXCHANGE2sL3Mh90001f645 [at] email.uusc.org>

****************************************************************
UUSC Local Reps Bulletin June 2008
****************************************************************
** Listen to Charlie Clements?s address on June 2 conference call
** 2008-2009 Guest at Your Table & Justice Sunday
** Countdown 2008: An activists? training to responsibly end the war in
Iraq 
** Win a human-rights experience ? join or renew your membership by June
30!
** 2008 Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights Journey
** UUSC action alert: Help pass veto-proof Gulf Coast housing money
** Tents of Hope for Darfur
** UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund
** Kenya crisis relief work continues
** UUSC shakes up the 2008 PepsiCo Annual Shareholders? Meeting  

****************************************************************
An updated list of your congregation?s UUSC members and supporters will
be emailed to you separately.

Remember to be  sure that all monies for holiday cards, church budgeted
gifts, Guest at Your Table, and Justice Sunday are sent in before June
30th ? the end of UUSC?s fiscal year.

****************************************************************
>> Listen to Charlie Clements's address on June 2 conference call

You can hear a recording of our June 2 conference call by dialing
1-888-203-1112 and entering the pass code 63811080.

Also attached is the text of Charlie Clements's address, which will be
delivered at a GA plenary.

This was our final call for the 2007-2008 year. Monthly calls will resume
in September.

****************************************************************
>> 2008-2009 Guest at Your Table & Justice Sunday

Both Guest at Your Table 2008 and Justice Sunday 2009 will celebrate the
60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Together
in congregations, we will explore how this inspirational document upholds
UU values, such as the inherent worth and dignity of all people. 

Now is the time to plan for next year?s Guest at Your Table and Justice
Sunday programs! Please save these dates on your 2008 -2009
congregational calendar.

Guest at Your Table ? Sunday, November 23, 2008 
For more than 30 years, the Guest at Your Table tradition has enabled
participants to put UU faith in action. Join nearly all UU congregations
around the country ? and around the world ? in welcoming a Guest at Your
Table. The suggested date for opening Guest at Your Table worship
activities is always the Sunday before Thanksgiving. However,
congregations are free to plan activities for a date that best suits
them. Resources will be made available online and mailed to all
congregations and local reps by September 1, 2008. For more information,
visit www.uusc.org/guest/.

UUSC understands that in these challenging economic times, opportunities
for sharing our blessings ? like Guest at Your Table ? can seem like
challenges in themselves. This sense can be compounded when so many
congregations are experiencing financial struggles. Still, the struggle
for human rights continues throughout the world, and there is so much
that we can do when we join together in generosity. We thank all who have
helped make a difference through Guest at Your Table and all who are
committed to doing so again next year.

Justice Sunday ? Sunday, March 29, 2009 
Justice Sunday is the perfect follow-up to a memorable Guest at Your
Table experience. Having learned about the intersection of the worldwide
human-rights movement and UU principles, congregations can use UUSC?s
Justice Sunday as a way to incorporate a deeper human-rights educational
program and advocacy action into their worship service. 

Justice Sunday activities (advocacy action, human-rights education, and
worship service) have global reach and make local impact. Our eye-to-eye
partnership and advocacy approach connects congregants with people whose
lives are profoundly affected by the struggle for human rights.
Congregants of all ages can take meaningful actions so that, together, we
can move social justice forward.

In 2009, congregations can choose to focus their Justice Sunday
activities on any of UUSC's four program areas: Civil Liberties, Economic
Justice, Environmental Justice, and Rights in Humanitarian Crises. They
can also choose to incorporate all four areas into their celebration of
the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We
will provide educational materials, inspiring stories, a suggested
advocacy action, and other resources. For more information, visit
www.uusc.org/justicesunday/ .

For assistance with either program, please contact me (Rachel Jordan) at
volunteerservices [at] uusc.org or 617-301-4307.
****************************************************************
>> Countdown 2008: An activists? training to responsibly end the war in
Iraq

At this UUA GA event, participants will get updated policy information,
as well as practical tools and skills for taking effective action, to end
the Iraq war. To register, please contact Michele Rudy at
gacountdown2008 [at] uusc.org.

When: 
June 25, 2008, Noon to 4:00 p.m.

Where:
Panorama Ballroom
Hyatt Regency Pier 66
2301 S.E. 17th Street
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 

Speakers:
Camilo Mejía, Iraq War veteran, national chairman of Iraq Veterans
Against the War
Tom Andrews, former congressman, national director of Win Without War
Rev. William Sinkford, president of the UUA
Charlie Clements, president of UUSC

UUSC events throughout General Assembly 2008 will examine who pays the
price for the war in Iraq. Hear fascinating speakers including former
U.S. Congressman Tom Andrews; Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz; co-founder of
Military Families Speak Out Nancy Lessin; and Iraqi-American human-rights
activist Dr. Dahlia Wasfi. 

Join UUSC staff and keynote speaker Dr. Wasfi at UUSC?s Annual Meeting.
Tickets, priced at $20, are available for purchase at the UUSC booth and
at the door. Subject to availability. Seating is limited. 

Visit www.uusc.org/ga for more details about these UUSC sponsored GA
events and more.

****************************************************************
>> Win a human-rights experience ? join or renew your membership by June
30!

When you become a UUSC member or renew your membership at the $100 level
now through June 30, 2008, you will be entered in a raffle for a chance
to win a human-rights experience for yourself or a loved one. 

Membership for yourself or someone special could win you a spot on a
2008-2009 JustJourney to meet our international program partners! The
winner will be responsible for getting to the JustJourney site.
JustJourneys are unique educational travel experiences that focus on
human-rights and social-justice issues. Participants meet UUSC program
partners and other human-rights defenders to become more inspired,
informed, and effective human-rights activists. Learn more at
www.uusc.org/justjourneys. 

For our youth supporters, memberships or renewals at the $10 student and
youth rate will earn them an entry in a raffle for a spot on a 2008-2009
JustWorks camp! JustWorks participants must be 16 or older. The winner
will be responsible for getting to the camp site. JustWorks camps are
short-term projects that help volunteers examine and understand the
causes and damaging effects of injustice by working directly with people
in local communities and experiencing social-justice struggles firsthand.
Learn more at www.uusc.org/justworks.

Give today at www.uusc.org/info/vsmember.html.

****************************************************************
>> 2008 Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights Journey

You have three weeks left to sign up for a civil-rights journey that
could change your life!

UUSC is excited to announce the 2008 Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights
Journey, which will take participants to the front lines of the U.S.
civil rights movement.

During UUSC's fifth annual Civil Rights Journey, we will travel by bus to
historic sites and hear inspirational stories from courageous people who
participated in the movement. This intergenerational camp (ages 16+) will
include stops in Atlanta, Ga., and Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham,
Ala. 

The Civil Rights Journey will conclude with a two-day community-service
learning project that will take place in Birmingham, Ala., during which
participants will work with community-based human-rights organizations. 

Visit www.uusc.org/justworks/flyer08.pdf to download a flyer to post in
your congregation, community center, or college bulletin board.

To learn more about past participants' experiences, visit
www.uusc.org/blog/labels/JustWorks%20camps.html.

****************************************************************
>> UUSC action alert: Help pass veto-proof Gulf Coast housing money

Thanks to steady grassroots pressure, the U.S. Senate voted by an
overwhelming margin to include $146 million for affordable housing for
Hurricane Katrina survivors in the supplemental funding bill. The action
now moves back to the U.S. House of Representatives for a final vote. 

Take Action. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask for
your representative?s office. Then call the housing staffer in that
office.

Urge your representative to support the supplemental spending bill passed
by the Senate, making sure that it continues to include:
**  $70 million for permanent-supportive-housing vouchers in Louisiana; 
**  $6 million for case management and housing transition assistance in
Louisiana; 
**  $20 million for permanent-supportive-housing vouchers in Mississippi;

**  $50 million for a Community Development Fund in Alabama. 

Visit http://www.uusc.org/katrina/gulfactionalert2.html for talking
points and more information.

****************************************************************
>> Tents of Hope for Darfur

Through Tents of Hope, communities are responding together to the
genocide in Darfur. 

In refugee camps, cramped 10-foot-by-12-foot tents are used to house
people forced from their homes by violence and ongoing insecurity. But in
communities in the United States, tents painted with bright colors and
messages are becoming symbols of peace and hope. 

UUSC?s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign encourages your community to
participate in Tents of Hope to learn about the crisis in Darfur. Visit
www.uusc.org/drumbeatfordarfur/tentsofhope/index.html to get started or
contact us at tentsofhope [at] uusc.org or 617-301-4392. 

****************************************************************
>> UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund

In Myanmar, volunteers are slowly spreading through the Irrawaddy Delta
using dugout canoes and cars in order to distribute food, water, plastic,
medicine, and charcoal to 2.5 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis. This
amazing grassroots response from the people of Myanmar and local NGOs has
reached a third of those affected. UUSC is supporting local partners to
bring people this lifeline, the only one they have.

As UUSC provides steady and persistent support through local
organizations, we are mapping out future strategies and directions for
helping the people of Myanmar with their mid-term and long-term
rebuilding and rehabilitation needs. From our experience working with
communities after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, UUSC has learned that
local organizations already working in affected regions are best equipped
to respond quickly and efficiently to natural disasters. Our experience
also shows that strengthening the capacity of these local responders is
crucial to ensuring sustainability. UUSC?s future course of action will
be based on this understanding.

Together, and with your generous support, we will be able to act in
solidarity with the courageous survivors of this devastating natural
disaster. Learn more and give today at
http://www.uusc.org/info/article051408.html.

****************************************************************
>> Kenya Crisis Relief work continues

The post-crisis situation in Kenya remains critical, and UUSC is mounting
an effective response. Your generous support will enable UUSC to direct
assistance to those whose human rights have been further eroded during
the rebuilding process.

Through UUSC's long-term and ongoing work in Kenya, we have established
relationships with grassroots organizations from a variety of social
sectors whose courageous struggle for human rights has become even more
precarious. In collaboration with these groups, we support those whose
human rights are most at risk. 

UUSC has put into place a plan of action to help strengthen and
reestablish our two partners in Kenya, the Rock Women Group and the Kenya
National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENASVIT). 

KENASVIT is uniquely equipped to undergird vital grassroots
conflict-resolution work nationwide in the wake of the crisis. In
partnership with this organization, UUSC has helped to establish
revolving loan funds for street vendors and provided technical assistance
in the form of support for the implementation and management of these
funds. This is not microcredit, but one-time emergency support. 

Visit http://www.uusc.org/Kenya/index.html to learn more about the crisis
and UUSC's response. And visit
http://www.uusc.org/programs/econjustice/workersrights/partners.html to
learn more about our Kenyan partners.

****************************************************************
>> UUSC shakes up the 2008 PepsiCo Annual Shareholders? Meeting  

UUSC and NorthStar Asset Management presented a shareholder resolution at
the PepsiCo Annual Shareholders? Meeting asking beverage giant PepsiCo to
adopt a human-right-to-water policy for all of its bottling operations
around the world. Communities in India and Colombia have had alarming
drops in their water tables due to excessive water use and consumption by
beverage bottlers. Read UUSC's statement at
http://www.uusc.org/programs/environment/Statement_to_PepsiCo_Shareholder
s.pdf. 


More news from UUSC's Environmental Justice Program ?

Site Visit to Tanzania partners
Staff for UUSC?s Environmental Justice Program just returned from a visit
to our partners the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP). Read an
article about the trip published in the Boston Globe at
http://www.boston.com/news/world/blog/2008/05/in_tanzania_the.html

Water Justice Praxis Pilot Project 
UUSC's Water Justice Praxis pilot project is underway in California. The
curriculum will be ready at the end of the summer. With Praxis, we hope
to encourage local congregations to work on water-justice initiatives in
their water-service district - and help to build the worldwide movement
to support the human right to water. Please let the REs in your
congregations know about this new learning and action tool!

South Africa court case
The City of Johannesburg and the Water Ministry have decided to appeal
the human-right-to-water case that was recently won in South Africa. We
will keep you posted.

****************************************************************
Rachel Jordan
Senior Associate, Membership Development

UUSC
689 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139-3302
phone: 617-301-4307; fax: 617-868-7102
www.uusc.org // info [at] uusc.org 

The Cost of Iraq: Who Pays the Price?
To learn more, visit: www.uusc.org/iraq/
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