HUU Social Justice Committee

Let yourself and not your words preach for you. ~ Henri Frédéric Amiel ~

The Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Committee facilitates the congregation’s work toward the two aspects of our mission: benevolence and activism; acts of kindness and movements to build a better world.

We’re scheduled to meet after the service on the 2nd Sunday of every other month … or when needs arise. We also conduct business by informal discussion and email. The committee welcomes new members!  We are happy to network with any in the congregation on their social justice-related work.

Recent Social Justice Committee activities

We have connected HUU with Faith in Action and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and have facilitated Sunday services about each of these organizations as well as the Gemeinschaft Home.

The Worship Committee has assisted our goals by arranging several other recent Sunday services about programs including climate change (Climate Action Alliance of the Valley), Skyline Literacy, Blue Ridge Legal Services and the Collins Center.

Partnerships

Faith in Action:

Faith in Action is a coalition of 26 congregations, including HUU, working together to effect systemic change in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community. Congregations include the Islamic Association of the Shenandoah Valley and Beth El Congregation. Bound together in strong relationships within and among the Covenant Congregations, associated groups, and beyond, Faith in Action has the “people power” necessary to open minds and demonstrate significant public support for change on a given issue. Each year or two, Faith in Action representatives vote to take on a new campaign for change in the community.  The current issue is Criminal Justice Reform.

HUU members have participated by attending Harrisonburg City Council, county commission sessions meetings and other public meetings. We have contacted elected officials and staffed the Faith in Action booth at several festivals.

Each member congregation has two representatives on Faith in Action’s Covenant Assembly.  Jo Anne St. Clair and Elizabeth Brister Franks are the representatives for HUU. 

Interfaith Association of Harrisonburg/Rockingham County:

HUU lends support to the IFA, which dates to the 1960s and officially became “interfaith” in 1997. In addition to many Christian churches, its membership has included the Islamic Association of the Shenandoah Valley, Temple Beth El, and ourselves. Recently, through outreach, the Interfaith Association began inviting various houses of worship to host its monthly luncheons, with HUU hosting a luncheon organized by our committee and assisted by several other congregations in May 2018. IFA’s mission: "By their common origin in God, all peoples are one. Seeking to better understand our interrelatedness and to manifest love and justice, we covenant together to embody in our community God's peace through our faith traditions."  

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy: 

HUU has become a dues-paying “Advocacy Partner” with VICPP. The center, based in Richmond, is an active interfaith group that advocates effectively on many social justice issues which agree with UU principles. Its outreach includes sending volunteers to Richmond while the General Assembly is in session. Details: see www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org/. VICPP Executive Director Kim Bobo recently delivered a Sunday service here and led us in a letter-writing session aimed at legislators.  

Ongoing Social Justice Activities include:

Dana Offerings for 2020:

On the third Sunday of every month, we designate a local service organization to be the recipient of a collection called the Dana offering. The Buddhist term Dana (DAH-nuh) signifies the practice of giving. Beneficiaries for 2019 are as follows:

• Our Community Place (Jan.-Feb.)
• Skyline Literacy (March-April)
• NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center (May-June)*
• Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project (July-August)
• Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley (September-October)
• Shenandoah LGBTQ Center in Staunton (November-December)

Dana Offerings over a decade: The following have been Dana Collection recipients over the years since the practice began in 2009:

• Blue Ridge Legal Services
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
• Cat’s Cradle
• Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV)
• Collins Center (preventing sexual assault and assisting victims)
• Explore More Discovery Museum (formerly Harrisonburg Children’s Museum)
• First Step: a response to domestic violence
• Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
• Gemeinschaft Home (a therapeutic community assisting former prisoners)
• Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley (Sept.), a new beneficiary that empowers elementary and middle school girls; recommended to us by Nory Fletcher. https://www.girlsontherunsv.org
• Harrisonburg International Festival
• Harrisonburg-Rockingham Free Clinic and “Bernie’s Purse Fund” (in memory of Bernie Mathes)
• Massanutten Regional Library
• Mercy House (a shelter for families)
• New Bridges Immigrant Resource Center
• Northeast Neighborhood Association
• Open Doors (formerly HARTS) shelter
• Our Community Place (OCP)
• Reading Road Show 
• Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir Foundation
• Skyline Literacy
• SPCA
• Special Olympics
• Valley AIDS Network
• Valley Association for Independent Living (VAIL)
• Valley Program for Aging Services (VPAS)
• WMRA (local public radio)

Do you know of an organization that should be on this list – or one that deserves a second DANA donation? Please let us know!

In addition to the DANA collections, we recently contributed one-time funds to supply solar panels in Puerto Rico, in partnership with CAAV, and to an organization for youth education and community development in Cameroon, where HUU member Ally Fisher recently interned and informed us about the needs. 

Feeding the Community

On the first Sunday of each month, while traditionally feeding ourselves with a potluck lunch, we also bring food to donate to our local food pantry, the Patchwork Pantry, for persons in need who live in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The pantry has operated for more than 25 years, and supplied food to 3,077 persons over a recent five-month period. This all-volunteer, interfaith organization is housed at Community Mennonite Church.

Donations can be left in our grocery cart at any time. Some suggestions: canned fruit (especially needed), beans, peanut butter, jelly or jam, cereal, fruit, beef stew, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti and spaghetti sauce, and soup. However, any non-perishable foods are welcomed. Certain nonfood items are also accepted (paper towels, disposable diapers, especially size 5, toilet paper, facial tissue, bar soap). Donations are delivered after each potluck Sunday. Cash donations and checks made out to Patchwork Pantry will also be welcomed – and you may bring garden produce directly to the pantry in summer.

Want to volunteer for Patchwork Pantry? Look for opportunities to serve in the Pantry newsletter, which you can find in HUU’s grocery cart or search online for Patchwork Pantry Harrisonburg.

Also, most years, many members of our congregation have helped by preparing and serving meals at Friendship House (including on Feb. 7, 2019), and the rotating Open Doors homeless shelter. We hope to be able to do so more often.

Execution Vigils

The Unitarian Universalist Association has officially opposed capital punishment for nearly 60 years. Like many churches and communities across Virginia, HUU began holding vigils during each execution after our state resumed use of the death penalty following a court ruling in 2008. We gather on the southeast corner of the courthouse lawn in Harrisonburg beginning between 8:30 and 8:45 pm (half an hour before the 9 p.m. scheduled execution time) to mourn the violence: the killings both of murder victims and of those people who are, in turn, killed by our state government. All are invited to join us in these vigils. They have drawn members and leaders of other faith communities, received substantial local media coverage, and led to thought and dialogue. Thanks to declining public support for capital punishment, we have been glad to see some decline in executions in Virginia since this outreach began.

For details on anti-death penalty advocacy, see Virginians for Alternatives to Death Penalty, http://vadp.org/ and the website for Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, www.uuadp.org/.

Welcoming Congregation

The UUA Welcoming Congregation program is designed for congregations that desire to become more inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender people, educating themselves through a series of workshops. (See http://www.uua.org/leaders/idbm/lgbt/welcomingcongregation.) HUU is proud to be a welcoming congregation.

Fair Trade Program

The Fair Trade sales program is a long-established activity that grew out of our committee. Fair Trade products, sold through a nonprofit organization, earn Third-World farmers a living wage. After church approximately every other Sunday, we now sell coffee, tea, chocolate bars, and other fair trade products. Martha Sider manages the fair trade store at HUU.

Community Involvement 

We like to get UU’s together volunteering for community projects. We also encourage members to join the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), which serves a global population. (Visit https://www.uusc.org/ for information about becoming a UUSC member.)

Last updated February, 2019