Informed and Involved - October/November
These updates provide your organization opportunities to be increasingly involved and engaged with your community and educated about important issues facing our city, country and world
You can use this information any way you want but here are some tips...
- Repost this on your Organization's Facebook page
- Paste it into an email to your leaders and supporters
- Send targeted emails to specific people, highlighting the particular events you know would be of interest
- Announce the information at your next public gathering
- Put the information on your calendar
Please also know, if you have events that you want highlighted in future updates, send your information HERE
Help Decide Where Political Dollars Go in Your Neighborhood - Due tomorrow
“At this moment in our political history, it’s pretty easy to see that we have done a poor job as stewards of our democracy as a vehicle for coming together with our neighbors, across lines of difference, to solve common problems. Participatory Budgeting (PBNYC) is one great answer — and your chance to vote on $1.5 million for capital projects and $50,000 for expense projects.”
Last year, a record 7,145 voters came out to help decide how money will be spent in the community. The top vote-getting project, with the most votes any PBNYC project has ever received, was a two-stall mobile shower trailer, proposed by the CHiPS soup kitchen, to allow their homeless guests a little dignity. That vote shows a community united in compassion as a core value of our local democracy. You can see the other winning projects funded here.
Right now, UNTIL TOMORROW they collecting ideas online. If you can’t make it to one of our neighborhood assemblies, submit your PBNYC idea here.
This Sunday [October 15th] Help Make Park Slope Cleaner and Greener Together
This event that happens twice a year is a great opportunity get your hands dirty with your neighbors, involve your children and make a simple investment in your community. The Park Civic Council’s Sustainability Committee Fall Civic Sweep on Sunday, October 15, 10:00am to 2:00pm, free and open to all. Put on your old clothes and come to the sidewalk in front of Old Stone House/J.J. Byrne Park, 5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets from 10 am to 2 pm (rain or shine)! Join other volunteers in sweeping up litter, weeding and mulching tree pits and painting out graffiti on lamp posts and mailboxes. The result will be a cleaner and more beautiful community for all who live, work, visit and do business in Park Slope.
Meet the Officers patrolling your neighborhood
October 17th and October 25th
Through the new Neighborhood Coordinator Program, officers have signed up to be specifically stationed in neighborhoods with the hope of building better relationships with the community. These meetings are important opportunities to build relationships with the NYPD that can help spur better communication and bridge building.
Wednesday October 25th at 7PM the 76th Precinct will also have a meet and greet and Q and A at St. Agnes Church.
Find out if which precinct you're in and if it has a NCO program HERE [and advocate for one if they don't]
Supporting Puerto Rico
Many organizations are offering to help collect donations and supplies to help those affected and devastated by the hurricanes in the Caribbean, but it's important to do your homework. In the wake of relief efforts in Haiti, we are learning that sadly much of the help never gets to the people. The faith community, with strong relational ties and presence, are an important ally in these relief efforts. With that, below is a one way to give in a way that can lead to the resources getting to those who need it. Financial support for this effort can also help support churches in the US that will also be on the frontlines of welcoming many who are fleeing the devastation in Puerto Rico.
LPAC (Latino Pastoral Action Center) is accepting monetary donations by way of check, money order or cash (receipts will be given) to help the victims of this natural disaster. They are coordinating with the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) and its chapters throughout the country.
Alone - Mass Incarceration and Single Mothers
October 19th - 7:30PM
Bring your mothers group for this powerful film and discussion
With her fiancé in jail, single mother Alone Watts must decide whether to go through with their wedding. This documentary short film, put on in partnership with Brooklyn Community Foundation and The Alex House Project investigating the layers of mass incarceration and its shaping of the modern black American family is seen through the eyes of a single mother in New Orleans, Louisiana. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Garrett Bradley, panelists from the Alex House Project and Alex House Project Executive Director, Samora Coles. Find out more HERE
Understanding Global Poverty
October 19th - 7:30PM
Global Poverty combines two words that for the majority of us describes something abstract that impacts people somewhere else. But to millions of people, both near and far these words describe the daily realities of violence, disease, hunger, injustice and despair.
To that end, The ONE Campaign and Agora are hosting Michael Gerson and Tim Keller to discuss some of the issues contributing to global poverty, ways we can engage in the fight against it, and the moral vision necessary to unite our collective efforts. Find out more and get your tickets HERE
This event is a safe space for encouragement, support and conversation for those affected by domestic violence. There is also opportunity to serve and bless the ladies in attendance by
- Provide services for hair care, simple styles that can be done without washing or setting the hair
- Photos of the ladies after their makeover
If you are interested in serving, contact Michelle Crutchfield
Facilitating Difficult Conversations about Race and Racism
November 2nd - 8:30AM
The CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice in partnership with the Association of Conflict Resolution provides these FREE, monthly roundtable breakfasts and discussions around issues of reconciliation and justice.
Facilitating difficult conversations requires courage and prepartion. Lecia Brooks will discuss the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project. She'll examine a variety of strategies designed to support safe and courageous conversations about social inequities.
Sign up HERE
LECIA BROOKS leads the Southern Poverty Law Center’s outreach efforts on key initiatives and social justice issues. As outreach director, she frequently gives presentations around the country to promote tolerance and diversity. She also serves as director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Ala., an interpretive center designed to provide visitors to the Civil Rights Memorial with a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement. She joined the SPLC staff in 2004 as director of Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a Teaching Tolerance program designed to help break down racial, cultural and social barriers in schools. Previously, she worked for 12 years in a number of capacities for the National Conference for Community and Justice in its Los Angeles office. She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University.
NOVEMBER 3rd - 7:00PM
Redeemer's Grace & Race Ministry invites you on Friday, November 3rd at 7 PM for an evening with Hip-Hop artists Sho Baraka and Propaganda. Through the use of performance, visual arts, and dialogue they hope to dive deep into the topics of compassion, unity, ethics, race, faith, and the church. A cross between a TED talk and SNL, the conversation will center on the dignity of all humans, compassion vs. power, and unity vs. uniformity. A Q&A Panel with Sho and Prop will follow.
Get your tickets EARLY, HERE