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Justice and Outreach Council (JOC)
Digest
March 2025
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Justice and Outreach Council Newsletter—Take a step toward justice. | |
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JOC Immigration Action Circle
805UNDOCUFUND
We believe that all human beings are born equal in dignity. When disaster hits, every person is worthwhile, unique, and deserving, regardless of immigration status, class, language, national origin, race, age, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or abilities. https://www.805undocufund.org
IRIS emergency fund seeks donations after federal funding freeze
Donate here.
Following President Trump's Jan. 20 executive order suspending refugee resettlement in the U.S., Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Services (IRIS), a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, cannot use any federal funding for refugee resettlement.
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Save the Date: May 3, 2025, for
"Trinity Climate Connections" Forum
Mark your calendars now to attend "Trinity Climate Connections," a special forum on Saturday, May 3 from 9am - 2pm in the Parish Hall. Featured forum leader will be Kate Varley from the LA Bishop's Commission on Climate Change, who will also speak at both church services on May 4th.
More information will follow. Contact: Jean Davis, jeanlangedavis@gmail.com.
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How to Spot—and Help Stop—Misinformation
Recognizing propaganda was part of my education in my English, History, and Social Studies classes. We were graded for clear ideas with examples, evidence, and logical flow of ideas. In debate clubs, students learned to argue against their personal opinions in order to improve their skills. Sadly, these skills are seldom taught in schools today.
Climate Change misinformation has now grown to Climate Solutions misinformation according to the UN IPCC (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) recommends not commenting or responding to any social media posts that spread information you believe to be questionable. This increases traffic to those sites and continues the spread of incorrect information, especially since many social media sites do not factcheck.
Instead NRDC suggests that you write your own post, briefly quoting the erroneous information and pointing readers to reliable sources. For more info, here is their link:
https://on.nrdc.org/414EqAk
Cathy Runser, JOC, crunser@verizon.net
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PFLAG Virtual Support Meeting
Monday, March 17, 7-8:30pm
Join PFLAG for their monthly virtual meeting to learn, reflect, and share together. This month's topic is: Gender Affirming Health Care: Highlights & Misconceptions; Updates On Where We Are Now. They will welcome special guest speaker Dr. Michael Snavely, Staff Physician at Planned Parenthood.
Meetings are held every third Monday of the month at 7pm on Zoom. Registration is required and must be done at or before 6pm on the day of the meeting. PFLAG envisions an equitable, inclusive world where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved. Experience what we do together as PFLAG to create a caring, just and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them. Register here.
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Gun Violence Prevention Action Circle
The Future of Gun Violence Prevention Community Forum
Save the Date: Sunday, April 6
11:30am-12:30pm
Justice and Outreach's Gun Violence Prevention Task Force is working on bringing a forum to Trinity.
Ken Johnson, JOC Member, <41omaha73@gmail.com>
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From Climate Change and Environment Action Circle
State Oversight of Oil Pipeline Proposal
Representatives Limón and Hart, in collaboration with the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), have organized an informational meeting about Sable Offshore proposal to repair and restart oil pipelines along the Central Coast. At this meeting, key state agencies will outline their roles and responsibilities in the review process.Thursday, March 13, 4 - 6:30 p.m. at Direct Relief's Hatch Hall, 6100 Wallace Becknell Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93117
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Isla Vista Community Care Project Revitalizes Parks, Gardens, Benches with Community Outreach
[KEYT, March 3, 2025] ISLA VISTA, Calif. — The effort to clean up and revitalize several areas of Isla Vista is in full swing with the Community Care Project.
Multiple organizations have collaborated to take on tasks in various parts of the community. The targeted streets range from Cordoba to El Colegio and Campus to Camino Pescadero. The initiative includes neighborhood cleanups, mural painting, community garden expansions, and parkway beautification.
One of the most popular sites has been the community gardens, including a large one recently established at St. Michael's University Church.
Read more
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Sacred Resistance - Have Plan in Place
By Pat McCaughan
[The Episcopal News — Feb. 19, 2025] Keep calm and carry on but have a plan in place now in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents show up at houses of worship, Samir Hafez and Tony Gevorgian, students from the UC Irvine Law School Immigrant Rights Clinic, told interfaith gathering at St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park.
The interfaith workshop, “Offering a Safe Haven for Immigrants,” was hosted by the diocesan Sacred Resistance movement and CLUE, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, to raise awareness of constitutional protections in the event of ICE actions at local congregations.
ICE agents may now conduct actions in “sensitive” areas, like churches, schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, basic constitutional rights apply to everyone, regardless of immigration status. These include the right to remain silent; to consult an attorney before speaking with agents; to not incriminate oneself; and to refuse searches of property or person.
Resources are available through the wider Episcopal Church and locally through the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service, an institution of the diocese, which has been caring for refugees, asylees, and migrant workers since 2004. The National Immigration Law Center offers further information about immigrant rights.
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Celebrate and Support Justice | |
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Celebrate loved ones by using the envelopes in the pews
to recognize a special family member or event.
Turn your memories into a donation to the Justice and Outreach Council. We will use these funds to provide comfort and safety to those in need—food, education for children, assistance to immigrants—any of our neighbors needing support. . . so they can celebrate. Together, these gifts make possible our community of welcome, reconciliation, and service.
There are two ways you can continue to celebrate and support our justice work in addition to your pledges both now and in the future. Send in a check made out to Trinity and simply note “Justice” in the memo line and provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate. Or donate via Trinity’s PayPal account, select "Justice Fund" and under “special instructions” provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate.
Thank you to our celebration donors in February
Jeannie Christensen, Jean & David Davis, Sarah Fenstermaker, ViAnn Oden
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Land Acknowledgement
We honor and acknowledge the Chumash people, the traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to the Chumash elders, past, present, and future, who call this land on which we sit their home. We appreciate their wisdom, their culture, and their presence among us today as the host people of this land. We lament the injustices done to the original inhabitants and the injustices done to this land in the centuries since. We seek the courage and wisdom to heal the wounds of the past and build a better future together, in deep solidarity.
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