NCJW Weekly Advocacy Wrap-Up: December 31
In this issue...
  • CEO Sheila Katz with Poor People’s Campaign
  • LWV January 6th Candlelight Vigil
  • African Exodus Screening & Zoom Panel
  • Volunteers: 2022 Homeless Count
  • Volunteers: Trafficking Call-in Center
  • Help Afghan Refugees
  • 73 Forward – FDA Approves Medication Abortion
CEO Sheila Katz with Poor People's Campaign
Watch tonight, December 31, 5 pm ET
NCJW CEO, Sheila Katz, will be giving a sermon for the Poor People’s Campaign National Watch Night Service this Friday evening.

Please consider joining to watch the livestream this Friday evening from 5pm - 6:30pm ET or visit the Poor People’s Campaign Facebook page any time after to watch.
LWV January 6th Candlelight Vigil
Thursday, January 6, 6-7 pm
Join our partners at the LB League of Women Voters for a candlelight vigil!

Americans across race, place, party, and background are holding candlelight vigils and voter actions to urge Congress and the President to pass federal legislation to protect our right to vote and our democracy. You can learn more about this event here.

Register here for the local event at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse.


African Exodus Screening & Zoom Panel
Screening: January 7-10
Panel: Thursday, January 13, 1 pm
Join the Orange County Jewish Coalition for Refugees for the latest in their Film Series (no cost, donations welcome).

Seeking safety and asylum, some 60,000 Africans have fled to Israel over the past decade. The country, founded as a haven for persecuted Jews in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has no policy, infrastructure or political will to handle this wave of migrants. African Exodus, a documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Brad Rothschild ("They Ain't Ready For Me"), explores Israel's other refugee crisis.

Click here to register for the link to the film and panel.  
Volunteers: 2022 Homeless Count
January 25, 2022
The City of Long Beach is seeking 250 volunteers to help conduct the 2022 Homeless Count—also known as the Point-in-Time Count—which is a community-wide street count and survey of unsheltered persons experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The upcoming Long Beach Homeless Count will take place on the morning of January 25, 2022. The Homeless Count is vital for determining the scope of homelessness, defining existing resources available, and identifying gaps in the Long Beach region.
Volunteers: Trafficking Call-in Center
February 3-14, 2022
In  February of 2022 the Superbowl will be hosted in Los Angeles County at SoFi Stadium. Each year this massive event is a hot spot for human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In response, several Southern California service providers will host an anti-trafficking call & outreach center in Long Beach just miles from the stadium. This center will operate from February 3-14, 2022.

Volunteers are needed to staff a volunteer-run 24/7 call center to answer incoming calls from trafficking victims and survivors, as well as conduct outreach to crime spots including massage salons, nail salons, strip clubs and restaurants.  

Outreach will also take place at Long Beach & Orange County Airports where roses with notes and hotline information will be distributed to females.  Field volunteers will take gift bags (containing travel size toiletries, a note and the call center hotline number) to potential crime spots. 

You can find more information here.
Sign up here to volunteer. Training will be provided.
Help Afghan Refugees
We need your help.  
NCJW GLB & WOC is strongly considering forming a Welcome Circle for an Afghan refugee family. Do you have expertise or knowledge in any of the following areas?
  • housing 
  • accessing government benefits 
  • education
  • ESL
  • legal
  • health and mental health access

Contact Co-VPs Advocacy Cynthia Gordon and Deb Lelchuk at advocacy@ncjwlongbeach.org for more information on this opportunity to welcome these refugees.
Everything You Need to Know About the FDA’s Permanent Lift of Medication Abortion Restrictions:
  • This is a win twenty years in the making, which we celebrate. The FDA ruling on medication abortion is a significant improvement, permanently lifting the requirement that mifepristone (a drug used in early abortion and miscarriage care) be dispensed in-person. 
  • What does this mean for people? With the added restrictions that were in place, people were forced to travel great distances — even across state lines — to a hospital or clinic to pick up abortion medication in person, a requirement that was not imposed on any of the other more than 20,000 FDA-approved drugs. With the FDA’s ruling, these drugs can now be mailed and prescribed via telehealth.
  • Restrictions still exist. Medically unnecessary barriers still exist as providers and pharmacies still must obtain special certification in order to dispense the medication. 
  • Barriers to access remain. Many will not benefit from this game-changing decision as 19 states have laws requiring in-person visits or telehealth abortion restrictions, and the cost can be prohibitive for many.
  • Mifepristone is safe. A roadblock to life-saving and safe medication and self-managed abortion was removed last week which means an immediate impact for those seeking care. And the work continues!
  • Read the full press statement from NCJW on the FDA ruling.
NCJW Greater Long Beach & West Orange County
wishes you and yours a healthy and Happy New Year!
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Questions about anything you have read or related to our Section’s advocacy? Email advocacy@ncjwlongbeach.org.