Justice and Outreach Council
Monthly Digest
June 2021
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Welcome to the Justice and Outreach Council's monthly newsletter: a place to find all the happenings of this active ministry at Trinity. |
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Land Acknowledgement
The JOC committee devised this Land Acknowledgment statement to be read before meetings at Trinity and during services.
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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Opportunities for Involvement
Ways to get involved in our community, at Trinity, and in the world.
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The Foothills Forever Campaign
The Foothills Forever Campaign is very close to the heart of Julia Laraway, a member of our Trinity community.
Update from Julia: "We have $17.9 million dollars raised! We need to raise $699,000 by the extended deadline of June 9th. Little and big miracles abounding!”
For the detailed campaign update from last month's digest, click HERE.
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Meal Ministry in the Park - You are invited!
Are you looking for a way to re-connect with parishioners at Trinity? Have you been curious about getting to know our unhoused neighbors at Alameda Park? Would you like to learn more about homelessness in Santa Barbara? Does cooking in the Trinity kitchen and serving a meal once a month sound fun and meaningful?
Trinity is partnering with Trinity Lutheran in providing and serving one meal a month to our unhoused neighbors in Alameda Park beginning in late July. We will be participating in the Neighborhood Navigation Center that is an ongoing service at the park.
If any of this interests you, please come to a 1 hour information session on Zoom, Monday June 7th, 6:30pm - 7:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 937 3128 5355
This is a required training session for interested volunteers. (It will be recorded).Jeff Shaffer of SB ACT will lead the training with plenty of Q&A, including “Homelessness 101” for our local context.
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Trinity Middle East Ministries, How you can help
Dear Friends,
We are so grateful that the cease fire has been recently agreed to. Unfortunately, the root cause of the re-occurring conflict in Palestine and Israel remains. That root cause is the occupation of Palestine by Israel. Here are 4 ways you can help now:
PRAY for leaders on all sides to seriously pursue a political reorganization to establish peace in the area.
SUPPORT humanitarian organizations serving the people living through this conflict. An example, donations can be made to Ali Hospital in Gaza. Suhaila Tarazi, Ahli Hospital’s director, reports that the destruction in Gaza seems worse than during the 2014 war. She says, “Gaza is disappearing. The destruction is unimaginable.”
LEARN more about conditions on the ground by watching this video of Palestinians telling their story this week. It was recorded by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) on Wednesday morning, May 19 and the speakers are Palestinians who are living through the continuing conflict right now. Watch all at once or in parts…it is about hour…but worth it.
SIGN-UP at CMEP to send action alerts to our President, Vice President and legislators. Knowing that they have your support is important. Sign up at: https://cmep.org
We are happy to answer questions.
Blessings,
Art and Louise Fisher
afisher100@yahoo.com
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Dream-Makers Campaign
With the loss of income due to pandemic as well as the looming end of the eviction moratorium, many of our neighbors in SB County are living on the brink. To date, more than 6,000 requests for rental assistance have been submitted to the United Way of Santa Barbara with more anticipated.
One concrete way to love our neighbors is by empowering them to earn income for their households. To do this, the Interfaith Sanctuary Alliance is collecting DACA application/renewal fees in May/June in partnership with Immigrant Hope Santa Barbara and IMPORTA SB.
DACA, the Defered Actions for Childhood Arrivals program, provides a renewable temporary protected status to undocumented youth (often referred to as DREAMers) who came to the US before their 16th birthday. If the applicant qualifies, they may then apply for a work permit to legally work in the US. DACA application/renewal fees are $495 per applicant. Due to the pandemic, many applicants are unable to pay the fee themselves. You can sponsor an applicant as a faith community/community organization, or by yourself as an individual. This donation is tax-deductible.
To donate or learn more, please visit www.sbact.org/daca. Please give generously so that we can support our neighbors during this difficult time!
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Stop the Expansion of Fossil Fuel Drilling
We can stop the expansion of fossil fuel drilling on public lands by passing the Keep It in the Ground Act of 2021, which is being introduced in both the House and the Senate. Write to Rep. Carbajal and Senators Feinstein and Padilla and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation.
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Crossing Guards Needed
The City of Santa Barbara and Harding School are looking for 2 crossing guards.
The job is for 3 hours a day both before and after school to keep students safe crossing the street of Gillespie and Valerio/Mountain. The job pays $14.00/hour.
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Stories of Shared Ministries
Every month we publish a story about volunteerism from a Trinity parishioner. Here’s an excerpt from this month's story by Betsy Kain.
"The first thing you should know is that Betsy is known as Mama Cow. A cow is a
symbol of love, an affectionate term, often used to show respect for older women
in Rwanda."
Read her full story HERE.
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Update on Relief for Our Neighbors Being Detained at the Border
Interfaith Sanctuary Alliance of SBACT teamed up with Drivers Listos and Santa Barbara faith communities to collect items and monetary donations and deliver them to aid the work and ministry of Border Angels in San Diego and Tijuana. Border Angels seeks to do advocacy by political action and raising awareness of the daily challenges many are facing upon arriving and being held at the border.
Jeffrey Krutzsch and Molly Kellogg from JOC drove loaded vehicles to the encampment in Mexico and Laurinda Marshall helped coordinate this huge effort to help our neighbors. Those that made the trip had an epic experience and were very moved to see the challenging conditions in the encampment for the detainees.
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Thank You from Harding School
Thank you, Trinity Church, for being an active community partner with Harding for all of these years! From your work in tutoring reading and math for our students in need, to supporting our monthly Healthy Food Pantry, your church has been so gracious and generous with your time and outreach. Your most recent contribution of 175 reusable water bottles was so thoughtful and so very needed. With all of our drinking fountains closed due to COVID, all students needed their own water bottle to refill which several did not have. We will invite the students to decorate their new bottles to make them their own! Thank you again for your compassion, empathy and generosity.
With admiration,
Veronica
Veronica Binkley
Principal, Harding University Partnership School
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Celebrate and Support Justice
The Justice and Outreach Council (JOC) has continued its important work while Trinity has been in diaspora. Funding for the JOC comes from your pledges and Celebration offerings. The JOC’s funding is part of our annual Operating Budget where five percent (5%) of all pledges received during the year is put in the JOC account. As pledge income has remained steady this year, these funds continue to be set aside for justice work.
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. You can 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. You can also donate via Trinity’s PayPal account by visiting our website or by clicking HERE and under “special instructions” designate your donation for JOC and provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate.
Thank you for supporting our justice work through your pledges, donations, prayers, and most of all, the work you do in your lives to make this a more loving, peaceful, and just world.
Kathryn Dean, JOC
Michael Dean, Treasurer
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