There are lots of wonderful things happening with ISAIAH here in Rochester and St. Luke’s , as more and more people in faith communities are getting involved in ways that impact laws passed in the Minnesota Legislature. ISAIAH works hard with Minnesota faith communities, providing learning sessions, roundtables, classes on how to write letters to the editor, tips on how to easily call or email your senators and representatives, giving encouragement and reminding all of us, as Paul Wellstone said, “We all do better when we all do better”. ISAIAH works hard so that Rochester and all Minnesota can be a more inclusive community, where all people can thrive and when all people thrive, the economy flourishes. ISAIAH helps us to realize that for so many years, many of us turned away from the folks who were having a tough time, as we rationalized that it wasn’t our responsibility. But now, more and more people are joining and working together and realizing that together, we can make a big difference.

 Last week Restore the Vote, which had been worked on for over 20 years, finally passed. As the League of Women Voters said, “Minnesotans lost the right to vote when they were convicted of a felony, and did not have that right restored until they had completed their sentence(which could be 20 years). This means that not only did they have to be released from prison, but also released from any probation, parole, or supervised release. Many Minnesotans were denied the right to vote while they were living in their community, caring for their families, working jobs and paying taxes — even if they had never spent any time in prison or only served a short jail sentence.“

Last week Drivers Licenses for all also passed. This was taken away in 2003. Read here why Law Enforcement worked with ISAIAH and our legislators to help this pass.

Last week some of you attending a learning session on Paid Family Leave. Friday night some of you attending a learning session on Paid Child Care. There is a child care crisis in Minnesota which is leading to a worker shortage crisis. The average wage of a child care worker is $13.75 yet the average cost of child care is $16,000 per year. Today some of us are going to the capitol to visit with our legislators about the importance of Paid Child Care.

We encourage all of you to get involved and learn how you can help. Now is the time for all of us to help just a little bit. Your involvement can be as simple as attending a meeting with our legislators, getting a short lesson on how to email your legislators with pre-written text and the push of a button, or a little more fun by joining a group on a bus to the capitol and many things in between.

Please contact Olivia Bergen obergen@isaiahmn.org or Diane O'Mara at dianeomara@charter.net for ways in how you can become involved here at St. Luke’s Episcopal.

Diane O’Mara is requesting your help, so she can more easily update St. Luke’s Website and post to St. Luke’s Facebook page. If you took any pictures of the Candlemas Service or reception, could you please send them to Diane. If you have pictures of any other St. Luke’s events, such as blessing of the animals, Doug’s wiener roast during the Bishop’s visit, or any events at all, please send pictures via email to dianeomara@charter.net. Just label the subject line St. Luke's – event and replace the word event with whatever the event was. Most importantly , let’s all start taking pictures, since many of us carry our phones everywhere, so that our Website and Facebook page starts reflecting all the beautiful and caring activities St. Luke’s congregation is involved in, outside of St. Luke’s and inside of St. Luke’s. This type of activity will cause people to Like and Share, which will spread the word that St. Luke’s Episcopal is out in the community!

When you are volunteering, let us know what organization you are involved in. Have someone snap a picture so that it can be shared on our Facebook page. From Mayo Clinic, “Research also has shown that volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety. . . Volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine.” This publicity will also help spark new volunteers for your favorite organization as St. Luke’s Facebook posts are liked and shared. In each post we can mention the organization you are volunteering for and link to their website.  Imagine the possibilities through sharing your volunteer activities!

Catholic Charities at 507-287-2047 will arrange pickup from your house and accepts all the above. Donations are used for refugee families.

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Resource Room at 507-288-7313 works with St. Vincent De Paul for helping Rochester homeless families and adults or for families in crisis with relocation needs to start their new apartments. They accept non-furniture items. They will arrange a time when you can drop off your items. 

St. Vincent De Paul (507-250-5715) directly accepts beds, tables, dressers and household items, (not couches), but will usually ask you to hold onto the items until move in day, as they do not have a storage place. They appreciate a drop off, but will pick up if needed.

The Landing (507-884-0423) and The Warming Shelter (507-458-1223) accept new or gently used adult socks and jeans, which are given to homeless adults. Feel free to drop these off at St. Luke’s and we’ll get them delivered.

If you have any questions about any of these ministries or would like to help volunteer, please email dianeomara@charter.net.