From Church of the Red Rocks UCC:

Update on our project to address homelessness.

Vision – Provide temporary housing for homeless children and their families.

• Name – Hope House of Sedona

• Grant – CDBG through HUD for $300K; working on formal application to HUD, due at the end of May; will receive grant funds at end of year

• Hope House of Sedona will eventually become a 501(c)(3), similar to Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition.

Thank you for your generosity.  An anonymous donor gave $20K, with the idea of it being used as matching funds.  Per HUD rules, all the money to be used property acquisition and construction must be committed by May 31st when the application is due. 

The bipartisan Equality Act would provide federal nondiscrimination protection across key areas of daily life, including employment, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally-funded programs and jury service. It is a much-needed fix for the current uneven patchwork of state nondiscrimination protections.

The Rincon Migrant Shelter will be hosting informational training sessions on:

Tuesday, May 14th & Saturday, May 18th

On May 6th, Dr. Scott Warren will go to trial for charges related to his humanitarian work on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Join us at 8:30 AM on Monday, May 6th for a press conference outside the Deconcini Federal Courthouse (405 W Congress). The trial will begin at 10 AM and we ask supporters to join us in the courtroom as well as help us hold down a presence outside the building.  The trial is expected to last either through end of the day on May 7th or possibly into May 8th.

JPANet (Justice and Peace Action Network) asked UCC advocates to help us unpack the complex justice issues that we’re working on. This month Rebekah Choate, Associate for Global Advocacy and Education, looks at Sri Lanka after its civil war and the Easter bombings.

Rev. Pamela Shepherd wants to invite you into something deeply important:

A Crucial Conversation about Taos' Water Future

6pm Wednesday May 1, Bataan Hall, Civic Plaza Drive 

[right near Taos UCC]

From the Rincon Migrant Shelter:

Do you know a student who will be home this summer and looking for something to do? We've got a fabulous new Internship opportunity available! This 10-week summer internship will provide high school (ages 16+) and college students with 16-20 hours a week of hands-on experience, supervision and training on immigration and migrant issues. This is an unpaid internship, but the experience will be priceless!

Email Sarah if interested.

Our community is in continued need of support to help migrant families. It's important for activists and volunteers to know their rights to ensure the safety and comfort of the people we serve. Join the ACLU of Arizona and First Church UCC for a night of Know Your Rights trainings, art-making activities, and discussion about the plight of migrant families and asylum-seekers in Phoenix. 

Our migrant shelter has been bustling, offering a welcome and necessary respite for asylum seeking families. Volunteers are preparing three nutritious meals a day in the kitchen, children are laughing and running on the playground, parents are able to assure their loved ones far away that they are safe and find the support they need to continue on their journeys.

In the midst of a humanitarian crisis and divisive political rhetoric, we are grateful to be a sanctuary. Thank you for all you've done to make this possible!  

From Interfaith Power and Light:

On April 22nd at 12 noon your time we will join our voices together for a National Prayer for our Climate. Join us from wherever you are – your home, your place of worship, your office, your school, or outside under the sun. 

Go here to sign up.

The Prayer will be emailed to you and you can download the Prayer on the Faith Climate Action Week website.

Ray and Martha Phillips, of First Congregational UCC Albuquerque, will be traveling this week to South Africa, where Ray’s grandparents, Ray and Dora Phillips, are being given the silver award of the Order of the Baobab by the President of South Africa. The Order is the highest honor given to a civilian SA citizen. Ray and Dora were US citizens.

Southwest Conference was well-represented at Phoenix Pride!

From Church of the Red Rocks:

This is an update on our Hope House project, temporary housing for families with children and, when space is available, homeless elderly women.  We are working hard recruiting volunteers to help with our various task groups. 

The Wellness Ministries of the UCC Newsletter | April 2019, Volume 4, Issue 3

(formerly The Faith Community Nurse Health Ministry Newsletter)

Thursday, May 2, 12–4 p.m., Anshei Israel, 5550 E. 5th Street, Tucson

Interfaith Community Services and the Southwest Folklife Alliance are putting together a symposium for leaders in congregations around helping the people they serve to consider their life, their mortality, and their planning for the kind of care they would want near the end of their life.  We’re doing this as part of the Arizona End of Life Care Partnership (www.azendoflifecare.org).  It’s open to anyone interested in building awareness and confidence in addressing this aspect of life. 

As people of faith, we believe every person has the God-given right to self-determination. One of the founding principles of our country is the ability to participate in our democracy, and yet we continue to see the right of self-determination threatened by significant barriers to voting accessibility. The prevalence of gerrymandering, archaic and antiquated voter registration polices and unconstitutional voter purges make it harder for many individuals to vote. These barriers are especially harmful to low income individuals and persons of color. Additionally, the current system of unchecked money in campaigns means that many voices are being ignored and denied.

In early March, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the “For the People Act of 2019,” a sweeping bill aimed at protecting the rights of American voters and getting money out of politics.

Over the past two years, a coalition of peacebuilding, humanitarian, and faith-based organizations have drafted a bill that would address the root causes of violence and fragility. The resulting legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate as the Global Fragility Act (H.R. 1580/S.727). This bill would require the U.S. government – in collaboration with civil society – to develop a 10 year strategy to enhance stability and to reduce violence and fragility around the world.