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Justice and Outreach Council (JOC)
Digest
February 2025
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Justice and Outreach Council Newsletter—Take a step toward justice. | |
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JOC Immigration Action Circle
In Santa Barbara County we have over 40,000 undocumented immigrants. Many of our neighbors have lived here for many years, but today all are threated. The immigrant community is very frightened, especially since the ICE raids in Santa Barbara last week on the west side. These friends all deserve our compassion and assistance. The Immigration Action Circle and the entire JOC is moving to support them. We can all do something now.
1. Know Your Rights (KYR) cards are available at Trinity. This card informs people of their 4th amendment rights and instructs them exactly what to do if ICE knocks on the door of their home or of their car. Please give them to people who you believe might be at risk (without asking them their status).
2. DRIVES LISTOS, an interfaith initiative born at Trinity Episcopal Church, provides rides to our neighbors who are afraid to drive. Sign up as a volunteer to give rides, help with paperwork or donate to DRIVERS LISTOS to support this work.
New initiatives will be announced soon at Trinity. For questions on this or any other immigration matter call or email Molly Kellogg, 805-886-4655. molly@foodhuntermark.com
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“We have an executive order from God, not from politicians,” said Guillermo Torres, who leads immigration campaigns at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group in Los Angeles. “Do you think we’re going to betray the greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself?”
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Bishop John Taylor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles said he looks forward to joining with colleagues in mounting further legal challenges “if the government follows through on its stated intention to violate the sanctity of churches and other places of worship when they shelter those fleeing unjust power.”
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Warm Clothes Drive at Trinity
Sundays, February 16 - 23
Trinity will partner again with Doctors Without Walls-Santa Barbara Street Medicine to support their Clothing Compassion Donation Drive. The items they are looking for are very specific:
- Jackets - Gloves - Beanies - Scarves
If you would like to help, please drop off your donations in the church on Sundays. Jeffrey Krutzsch, co-chair of the Justice and Outreach council is the coordinator of this effort at Trinity. DWW-SBSM is dedicated to providing free, volunteer medical care for the most vulnerable in Santa Barbara County. They also focus on education and training to promote excellent humanitarian medicine in our hometown and beyond.
Jeffrey Krutzsch, JOC Chair, jskrutzsch@gmail.com
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Preparing our Families for Emergencies
Thinking of recent natural disasters, here are the P's to pack when evacuating your home or workplace.
Musts: People, Pets, Prescriptions, Phone
Irreplaceable: Photos, Papers
Good to Have: Passport, Portable Hard Drives, Portable Chargers
Optional: Pampers, Pet Food
So, stay safe and plan ahead. Cathy Runser, JOC, crunser@verizon.net
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JOC Education and Youth Action Circle
Our immigrant neighbors on the Westside and elsewhere around the county and our country are now panicking. In January, I attended a community meeting at La Casa de la Raza listening to representatives from Congressman Salud Carbajal and State Senator Monique Limon, as well as Goleta City Councilmembers James Kyriaco and Jennifer Smith. There were people from various faith communities as well and a good many questions from the large audience!
An update on things that are going on at Harding School: ICE was sighted on the Westside detaining someone in regard to his immigration status. In response to this verified activity, we have been providing the red card, Know Your Rights, to our immigrant neighbors, as well as flyers regarding expanded Drivers Listos services to Harding. Veronica Binkley, the Harding Principal, will contact the school district leadership about the flyers and expects to get their approval.
Back to the happy news, March 6, 5:30-7pm: Family Literacy Night - more details to follow but we will have several stations for students and families to visit, a free book swap, and other opportunities. We are also seeking book donations!
Thanks for supporting Harding’s families!!
Jennifer Bergquist, JOC,
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Gun Violence Prevention Action Circle
A news organization focused on gun violence; The Trace has covered every dimension of the crisis. Join us as Trace journalists share the insights they gained from analyzing a decade’s worth of shootings. You can register for the virtual event here. Trace Talk: Lessons from 10 Years of Gun Violence Data Tickets, Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM | Eventbrite
We look forward to seeing you for this member-only event.
Wednesday, February 12 at 12:30pm EST / 9:30 am PST on Zoom.
Ken Johnson, JOC Member, <41omaha73@gmail.com>
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Climate Change and Environment Action Circle
Please join us for a screening of Broke, the film by Santa Barbara's own Gail Osherenko about the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. The event will be Thursday, Feb. 13 from 6:30-8:30 PM at CEC's Environmental Hub, 1219 State Street.
A panel discussion will follow, with moderator Katie Davis, focused on the current proposal to restart the defective pipeline that caused the 2015 spill. Panelists include Environmental Defense Center attorneys Linda Krop and Jeremy Frankel, along with Gunnar Langenhuisen and Katherine Carmichael from the offices of Asm Hart and Sen.Limon.
Please register for free tickets at this link: eventbrite.com
We will discuss the current status of the restart proposal, as well as ways our community can take action in opposition. Please register and join us! Deborah Wells Ah-Tye, JOC, dwat805@gmail.com
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Los Angeles Diocesan Council, clergy, lay leaders
affirm best practices for fire disaster response.
The communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades were particularly devastated, although the combined wind and fire storms have affected the entire diocese.
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About 75% or more of the members of St. Matthew’s Church in Pacific Palisades had lost homes and at least 5,000 structures were believed burned.
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As many as 40 families from St. Mark’s Church in Altadena lost homes, Taylor said. The church was destroyed, but a preschool building was untouched.
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At St. Barnabas Church in Pasadena as many as 25% of congregants lost homes, he said. All Saints Church in Pasadena was housing about two hundred people, many of whom had also lost homes.
Cash donations are most effective at this time–offering recipients flexibility in using funds for emergency priorities–and may be made through the diocesan One Body, One Spirit annual fund. Several Council members concurred with ERD’s reminder that gathering of such items as clothes, blankets, and household goods is impractical and not advisable at this time. Annual Appeal | Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
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Sacred Resistance ‘2.0’
supporting vulnerable communities
Episcopalians across the Diocese of Los Angeles are mobilizing networks of "Sacred Resistance" to support vulnerable communities targeted by the new federal administration’s threats of mass deportations and rollback of other rights. Read more here.
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, he said. 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 January
Anna Campbell, Jeannie Christensen, Sarah Fenstermaker
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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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