WeROC Meeting June 2018 and Public Meeting Follow-Up

WeROC June Meeting of the Whole — Thursday June 7, 5:30-7:30, First Congregational UCC (new location), 111 S. Wallace Blvd, Ypsi (best to park around back of the old school, off Jones St).

So, whether or not you were able to attend our May 20 WeROC Public Meeting, we hope you’ll share in a sense of accomplishment! With the help of so many of you and your congregations and organizations, we made a great showing of our numbers and unity to several key community decision-makers as we rolled out WeROC’s Moral Values Agenda (See Below). And, we’re so pleased that they, in turn, said a clear YES to every one of important “asks” that members of our Mental Health Equity Action Team and our Education Action Team had prepared and presented to them that afternoon.
VIDEO: Consider giving yourself a much-needed 90-minute break, and watch (or at least sample) the professionally-made video of the Public Meeting, to appreciate (or appreciate again if you were there) what healthy community-led work with our public officials can look like.

In our evaluation immediately after the Meeting, the WeROC committee of about 30 people who organized and participated in the Public Meeting were clearly proud of what we accomplished together, by blending the voices of neighbors most affected by the immoral failures of our governments at all levels with the voices of more privileged allies to creatively push for a more positive future for all of us. AND there was universal appreciation for the attendance and public commitments of our public officials on a busy weekend afternoon — those growing two-way relationships are a great sign of future successes.

In addition to Thursday’s important collective follow-up meeting, leaders of our Action Teams will be announcing smaller Team meetings to plan next steps. Consider supporting their leadership by asking to be kept informed about ongoing actions by one or more of our Action Teams (contact Tad Wysor ):
Mental Health Equity Action Team (Cindy Bodewes)
Education Action Team (Pastor Jeff Harrold)
Veterans Action Team (Jim Anderson)
REDY (Rising for Economic Democracy in Ypsi — working on real community involvement in major economic development decisions) (Erica Moody)

NOTE also: Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival — WeROC members and supporters have participated in the first 3 weekly PPC actions in Lansing as we explore how this growing new national and statewide voice by and for “the least of these” can help us leverage our local WeROC Moral Values Agenda — while reviving Dr. King’s “unsettling” vision from the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.
Follow and register to participate at michiganppc.org and facebook.com/michigansppc

WeROC Public Meeting – Sunday May 20, 2018

WeROC Public Meeting:
3 PM Sunday May 20
Ekkliesia Fellowship Ministries
123 N Adams St, Ypsilanti MI

“For such a time as this…” (Esther: 4:14)

Do you want:

  • Equitable access to mental health treatment?
  • School districts to respond better to studen trauma?
  • Fair wages for mental health workers?

Join us at the WeROC Public Meeting as we seek answers from key local decision makers.

 

Last Steps Before Public Meeting

** First, a correction to the address in our last post for this week’s final Planning Committee meeting — First Congregational is at 218 N Adams in Ypsi (NOT River St) at 5:30 Thursday Nov 12. EVERYONE PLEASE PLAN TO COME!

** Also, a reminder about the dry run rehearsal Saturday Nov 14 starting at noon at our host church building, Emmanuel Lutheran ELCA at 201 N. River St (yes, River St!) — all WeROC participants need to be there if at all possible.

With our big Public Meeting coming up in just over a week, the WeROC Planning Committee has identified several “Day-of-Event” Tasks — easy but important things that you and/or members of your congregation or organization could take on to help make Nov 15 an even bigger success.  Please email Pat Jackson at msullivanlady@yahoo.com with any slots you can help fill…and please stay flexible in case a task is already filled — there are others!

One more thing…Our Planning Committee is excited — and also nervous — about reaching our target of 300+ in attendance.  So….in addition to the day-of-event tasks, your ability to get commitments from as many people as possible in your congregation/organization, networks, neighborhoods, and families to be a part of the Public Meeting — will help tilt the balance for our leaders away from nervousness and toward excitement.  (And please take a moment to report your progress or any concerns to Pat.)  The flyer and letter are here to help you help us all!

Day-of Event Tasks:

  • Registration Table (and prior preparation of materials, sign in sheets, etc)
  • Floor Team
  • Runners for Stage Manager (Kandia)
  • Ushers
  • Technology Team (projector, sound, etc)
  • Setup
  • Take-Down
  • Timekeeper
  • Microphone Holder
  • Offering basket holders
  • Earned Sick Time Petitioners
  • Identify/Usher Public Officials
  • Parking attendants

Just two More Planning Meetings before November 15 — All Hands Requested For the Final Push!

Hello, WeROC Leaders and Supporters…

This month’s WeROC Meeting of the Whole is serving as one of our two final “all hands” planning meetings this Thursday (Nov 5), as well as next Thursday (Nov 12).  Both are at First Congregational UCC at 218 N Adams River in Ypsi at 5:30 pm.  (Construction is over, parking is easy, hooray!)

If all of us can find a bit of focused time over the next 12 days, especially to be at these two meetings, we’ll stay on track to fill Emmanuel Lutheran with hundreds of Washtenaw residents, and have a tight, powerful action program waiting for them.  Please come and be a part of the many hands that will make our 2015 Public Meeting a big success, winning real, meaningful improvements for everyone — everyone — across our region.

And now, more than ever, whether you can make the meetings or not, your word-of-mouth personal invitations are our secret weapon — for the all-important turnout of hundreds of unified, caring folks to help our public officials make the right decisions.  In person.  And in public.  Use the flyer and the recruitment letter as you talk to other organizational leaders and individuals and help fill the room to overflowing.

Again, the 2015 WeROC Public Meeting is Sunday afternoon, November 15, 3:00-5:00 pm, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church ELCA, 201 N. River St, just off Michigan Avenue in downtown Ypsilanti. (Our “dry-run” rehearsal will be noon-3pm Saturday, November 14, at Emmanuel — all participants please plan to attend.)

We hope you are as excited as we are about what we’re doing together!
Pat and Carissa for the WeROC Public Meeting Planning Committee

For more information, contact Tad Wysor at tadwysor@gmail.com or 734 883 3225.

WeROC Update

Hello, WeROC Leaders and Supporters…

You may have gotten the letter below from Pat and Carissa, the chairs of WeROC’s Public Meeting Planning Committee.  There’s a lot of excitement as a large group of us keep building momentum for filling Emmanuel Lutheran on Sunday afternoon, November 15 and achieving together some real steps forward for all Washtenaw County area residents.  See attached flyer [PDF].Image from 2013 WeROC Public Meeting

Please read and use the the letter below.  But first, consider putting all or any of the next 3 Thursdays on your calendar for our all-important final planning meetings.  (Note that our monthly Meeting of the Whole for November 5 has morphed into one of the large planning meetings.)

Each of the Thursday meetings are at 5:30 pm at First Congregational UCC in Ypsi, 218 N. Adams…

October 29
November 5
November 12

….plus Saturday November 14 for our “dry run” rehearsal at Emmanuel.

In addition to attending the planning meetings, please join the Planning Committee in constantly talking to other organzations and individuals about the most important thing for this kind of Public Meeting — TURNOUT!  Please use the following to help you help us fill that room!

On behalf of the local faith, labor, and community organizations of WeROC (Washtenaw Regional Organizing Coalition), we warmly invite you to a very special event Sunday afternoon, November 15, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, in Ypsilanti.

By helping us fill the beautiful sanctuary of Emmanuel Lutheran Church ELCA (210 N River St.) with a broad range of caring people and organizations who are united around the basic shared value that “we’re all in this together,” you will directly contribute to achieving a rare thing in today’s fragmented world…real changes that improve the lives of everyone in our area.

With a commitment of less than 2 hours that day, hundreds of us will be able to signal by our actual presence that we expect our public officials and other decision-makers to take concrete actions on several meaningful issues that the WeROC Action Teams have been busy working on:

  • Reducing school suspensions and breaking the school-to prison pipeline.
  • Broadening the number of businesses in our area that offer employees earned sick time for themselves or to care for a family member, instead of losing a paycheck or their job.
  • Expanding public transit options, locally and between Washtenaw and Detroit.
  • Building on the very real public health consequences of our unacceptable level of incarceration, especially as communities of color have been affected.

Tying all of these issues together — and the theme of the Public Meeting — is the need for all of us to work more powerfully together to dismantle the structures that preserve and expand racial and economic disparities right here in Washtenaw County.  Whether we are called by our faith traditions, time-honored labor values, or a commitment to stronger community, the need to find new ways of using our precious democracy to break down institutional racism and other divisions may be more urgent than ever.

We respectfully ask that you try to organize your busy life to personally be a part of the Public Meeting November 15, and to bring others from your congregation, organizations, families, and networks to what promises to be a meaningful, productive, educational – and fun — event.

Our latest flyer is attached, which we hope you will help distribute.  And please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your participation – and thus our ability to show our numbers and win together — more possible.

Sincerely,
Patricia Jackson (msullivanlady@yahoo.com), Carissa Collins Watson (queenwatson2@yahoo.com), and Sonya Alvarado (salvarado@aftmichigan.org) for the WeROC Public Meeting Planning Committee