Original Article at:
http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/04/acts.html
Stephen Cannerelli / The Post-Standard
Andres Kwon, lead organizer with ACTS, with Mabel Wilson at the community garden she helped to start years ago on West Newell Street.
The annual ACTS spring banquet will be held next Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Salina. Featured speaker will be the Rev. Dr. James Forbes Jr., founder of The Healing of the Nations Foundation and senior minister emeritus at the Riverside Church in New York City. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr. Lauri Andress’s thesis regarding Health Equity is that the state of a community’s health is determined by much more than access to health care and good personal choices. There are dozens of factors that account for some groups of people having better health than others. For example, things like poverty, unemployment, powerlessness and isolation are bad for your health! If your community does not have much access to fresh fruits and vegetables, recreation and transportation, members of your community will have poorer health. If you live in a “community of opportunity,” odds are much greater that you will have a long and healthy life. So, the work we do to create equity is really work to create a healthier community. And, the very act of organizing (building relationships and taking control of our circumstances) is good for your health!!
For our purposes as organizers, Health Equity is a “lens” we can look through to understand our work and our issues, rather than as an issue unto itself. Consequently, TIP (Treatment Instead of Prison) and Transportation, for example, can be viewed through a Health Equity lens. Health Equity is a way to find new perspectives and tools for the kinds of issues we have always worked on and will continue to work on, not an introduction of a new issue.
As of this writing, Wisconsin Bishop Ricken has made it clear that the actions and positions of JOSHUA, ESTHER, WISDOM and the Gamaliel Foundation are consistent with the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching. His concerns are NOT related to anything WISDOM, the local organizations, or Gamaliel have done.
The Bishop’s concerns seem to have more to do with process and structure, and the form of our relationship with the Diocese. It seems that his concern has to do with accountability in the event that anything were to go wrong in the future.
The Bishop has established a Task Force, which is mostly comprised of Catholic members of ESTHER and JOSHUA, to look at the concern the Bishop has expressed, and to try to find some solutions. In the meantime, Gamaliel Executive Director Greg Galluzzo and WISDOM Organizer David Liners have both offered to meet with the Bishop and other diocesan personnel to help to find some good resolution to the Bishop’s concerns.
We all send our prayers and blessings that this situation will be resolved amicably for all involved.
Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee,Wisconsin
Faith leaders hold vigil at Kenosha jail for immigration reform
The Rev. David Bigsby (center, wearing an orange vestment) leads protesters in a pledge to support immigration reform at the Kenosha County Jail on Thursday. The jail operates a federal detention center for immigrants.
(Photo, Rick Wood)
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
The Rev. David Bigsby (center, wearing an orange vestment) leads protesters in a pledge to support immigration !reform at the Kenosha County Jail on Thursday. The jail operates a federal detention center for immigrants. Read the rest of this entry »
At the last ILA, a number of people asked where the Gamaliel office is located and just who works there, and what they do. You will find profiles (in alphabetic order) of Gamaliel staff members who work in the Chicago office below. It should be noted, however, that Don Burton works primarily from his home office in Racine, WS, a short train ride from Chicago, but since he is in the Chicago office frequently, he is included here as part of the Chicago staff.
The location of the Chicago office is: 203 N. Wabash Avenue, Suite 808, Chicago, IL 60601
Telephone: 312-357-2639 FAX: 312-257-6735
Don Burton is the Director of Communication for the Gamaliel Foundation, which means he has long been responsible for all the print materials emanating from Gamaliel as well as the very existence of the Gamaliel website. In fact, he’s been into computers since he “maxed-out” his credit cards to buy his first personal computer over 20 years ago. He is grateful he is now getting more assistance as the network’s activities continue to grow. He was a founding pastor of Racine Interfaith Coalition and a founder of Wisconsin’s Regional organization, WISDOM, and has been active in the Clergy Caucus. Upon his retirement after 35 years of public ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, he was the recipient of the first Distinguished Service Award to be granted by the Racine Interfaith Coalition. He and his lovely wife Julie are the parents of four children and grandparents of ten grandchildren.
Hannah Clark is the cheery, informed young woman who, in addition to answering the Gamaliel office phone, usually has the answers you’re looking for. She is the Office Manager and is often the first-line in making a positive public relations impression. Her responsibilities include processing expense reimbursement requests, daily accounting, and facilitating logistics related to Gamaliel events, such as registration and check-in. She grew up in an exurb of Boston, Massachusetts, and is a political science graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has travelled extensively in the U.S., Europe and Asia. And she is learning to play guitar and hopes to compete in the Elephant Polo World Cup! Way to go, Hannah!
Gregory A. Galluzzo has been a community organizer since 1971. That fact alone could very well comprise a complete biographical profile. It should be noted, however, that he has been Gamaliel’s Executive Director from 1986 to the present. As such, he has ultimate responsibility for the overall operation of all Gamaliel’s activities and plans for the future. We works directly with the Gamaliel Board, national staff and territory directors. He spends much of his time, however, pursuing his first love—training community organizers. He is invariably a trainer at Gamaliel’s scheduled training events. He also trains at smaller affiliate events, is available for consultations at various network affiliates across the country, in South Africa and the United Kingdom, and is instrumental in getting new organizations started. He is married to Mary Gonzales, Gamaliel’s Western Territory Director and Director of Ntosake.
Mario Gonzalez calls himself Gamaliel’s I.T. guy. Indeed, this newsletter would not reach your in-box were it not for him, to mention only one small aspect of what he does. His responsibilities include maintaining networks, maintaining the integrity of the databases, and all related I.T. functions strictly on the technical and maintenance side. He has worked in this field for about 10 years with a focus on web development. He is fluent in English and Spanish and is knowledgeable in leading web scripting languages. He did online audio streaming back in 2000 before it was a normal everyday thing. For example, he and some friends broadcast the Fiesta del Sol main stage events to their group of listeners during the four days of the festival. He still maintains relationships formed with clients at the beginning of his career.
Deitric Johnson has been with Gamaliel for a little over two years now. He is Gamaliel’s Chief Administrative Officer, a position that was created to accommodate the needs that have arisen as a result of Gamaliel’s growth over the last several years. He oversees all management operations, which include financial, human resources, office administration, and I.T. He hails from Houston, Texas, and is a graduate of the University of Houston as well as Brown University. Previously he was an Investment Banker at Bank One. He likes to travel and is an avid tennis player. He lives in downtown Chicago and enjoys being able to walk to work!
Ann Smith is President of the Gamaliel Foundation, a position she assumed following service as Associate Chancellor and Director of Community Relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was formerly Vice President of Endow, Incorporated, a Trustee of the University of Illinois, and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Northeastern Illinois University. As president, she is the administrator of Gamaliel’s national office, functions as Gamaliel’s public spokesperson, and supervises all external communications, public relations and marketing. She earned a PhD. from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has received an honorary degree Lincoln University, her alma mater. She is a noted lecturer and interpreter of poetry as well as a motivational speaker.
Dear friends,
Since its founding in 1969, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has awarded grants to over 7,800 grassroots organizations to address the root causes of poverty, including many affiliates of the Gamaliel Foundation.
“This ministry for justice is rooted in our baptism and faith commitment,” the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops said about the CCHD.
In recent weeks, the CCHD has come under coordinated attack from partisan groups seeking to de-fund CCHD grant recipients and the CCHD itself. As a result, at least five dioceses have canceled this year’s collection.
The collection takes place this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 21-22. Please show your support for the CCHD with a generous donation, and include the attached coupon to express your support for social justice.
Please add the name of your affiliate, distribute extra coupons to friends, and include one with your offering on Nov. 21-22!
Download and distribute!
ABLE, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment, organized an historic forum in Cobb County, GA on Sunday, September 27, 2009. A diverse group of over 150 community members and 17 organizations gathered at Welcome All Baptist Church in Smyrna, GA to share personal testimonies of racial profiling and the negative results of the 287(g) agreement in Cobb County.
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Author traces a spiritual odyssey
to a personal encounter with God
New York, September 24, 2009 — A member of the National Council of Churches Interfaith Relations Commission — a convert from Islam to Christianity — has concluded that a personal encounter with God can be powerful enough to transcend any one faith tradition.