Corp for National and Community Service...Americorp serves the people!

The National League of Cities recently highlighted the important work of Americorp volunteers in our Cities. As this program continues to be under scrutiny during budget debates it is important for us to understand the significant local impact of the work that is done. Region 6 Voices for Action relies heavily on the Americorp staff at the Kalamazoo PRI to help maintain our network of communication!

Calling All Michigan Leaders for an Important Call on June 2nd!

The Coalition on Human Needs, in partnership with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, present this important drill-down call for influential Michigan leaders on Thursday, June 2nd at 12:00PM EST. Please read on for more information about this call and please forward this notice to others in your state who should be included:
Dear Michigan Advocacy Leader,

To help social service providers, non-profit organizations and religious leaders engage in advocacy around the Federal budget, the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Coalition on Human Needs, as part of the SAVE for All Campaign, are coordinating a conference call with advocacy leaders in Michigan on June 2nd (Thursday) at 12:00pm (eastern time).  The Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Coalition on Human Needs are led and supported by affiliates, constituents, and volunteers across the country who are committed to protecting programs that support low-income families. 

The call will last for less than one hour and will focus on the following:

* Update on the current situation (current budget negotiations for FY 2012, and proposals for dealing with the debt ceiling,  including a balanced budget amendment, and various kinds of spending caps)
* What’s at stake for Michigan in these negotiations?
* What’s happening in Michigan?
* What else can we do together? (Sign-on Letter, Calls, In-District Meetings, Editorials, etc.)
 * Q & A

It is important that members of your organization in Michigan be represented on this call, and we hope you will be able to join us.  If you would like to participate, please RSVP to Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org.  

In addition to the call on Tuesday, we would like to work with Michigan advocates to set up broad coalition meetings with Senator Stabenow to discuss budget issues. The meetings will likely take place in regional offices or over the phone. We’ll discuss how to organize these meetings on the June 2 call.  Before the Senate meetings, we would be happy to host a prep call with all participants. If you are unable to participate in next week’s call, but would be interested in participating in the meetings with Senator Stabenow or other opportunities, please e-mail Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org / (202) 903-2524.

Thank you very much, and we look forward to talking with you next week.
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Why should your organization be involved?

As you know, Michigan is still suffering greatly from the effects of the recession.  Michigan’s state budget includes deep funding cuts that affect many of the programs we all work on and rely on, including education, employment, health care, and income supports.

But another shoe is waiting to drop -- the impact of cuts in the federal budget.

The SAVE for All Campaign has been organizing conference calls with networks of leaders in key states, to get their advice on dealing with their Senators, to hear about their in-state advocacy efforts, and to see if our national coalitions can strengthen that work in any way.  The goal is to strengthen the resolve of key senators to advocate for and protect programs for low-income people and families.

As a member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Stabenow is a key player in the budget negotiations.  The Finance Committee, in particular, will decide whether there will be cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and various income security programs, and whether there will be additional revenues on the table.  Under the House budget, Families USA estimates that Michigan would lose almost $64 billion in federal funding over the next 10 years, just for health care programs:  Medicare, Medicaid, and the new premium tax credits to help people by insurance.  Senator Stabenow is generally supportive of these and other programs that help low income families, but is also very concerned about the federal debt.

We in the SAVE for All Campaign believe that deficit spending can be brought under control, with a combination of judicious spending cuts that protect low-income programs and a fair revenue plan that closes tax loopholes favoring wealthy individuals and corporations.  But to get to that result, we need a stronger commitment from Senator Stabenow to protect low income families and individuals.

Healthy Babies Healthy Start May 2011 Events

A FREE WORKSHOP: “WHAT ARE BROWNFIELDS OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR COMMUNITY!”

The VanBuren County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will be presenting A FREE WORKSHOP: “WHAT ARE BROWNFIELDS OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR COMMUNITY!”

They will be hosting a special presentation to educate the community at large to share with them about BROWNFIELDS, the affect it has on communities, and the resources that are available to help clean contaminated land, farmland, commercial structures, homes and business that may be deemed BROWNFIELD Sites. While educating consumers of what they can do to assure that their potential investments are secured by working with the local BROWNFIELD Divisions of their areas.

The team of BROWNFIELD Experts will be participating in a FREE community forum that will be conducted in Spanish and English to serve the greater communities of Van Buren County. Anyone interested in attending or wanting more information (Attachments) please contact the Brownfield Division.


DATE: APRIL 30, 2011

TIME: 12:00-2:30 PM
WHERE: VAN BUREN ISD TECHNOLOGY CENTER
250 South Street
Lawrence, Michigan

The Van Buren County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority is requesting your support buy assisting them in filling their workshop with over 200 individuals.


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:


Edward VanderVries - MAAO III, PPE
Van Buren County
Director of Land Services, Planning & Economic Development
219 E. Paw Paw Street
Paw Paw, MI 49079
VandervriesE@vbco.org
WK - (269) 657-8234 x17
FAX - (269) 657-0579
MBL - (269) 720-1928

stand against racism - friday april 29

stand against racism

The YWCA of Kalamazoo cordially invites you to join us in taking a stand against racism.

Friday, April 29, 2011

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

353 E. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007


The stand against racism is an awareness event in which community members gather to stand together to recognize the need to eliminate racism. Participating
community members will stand together covering a four block radius surrounding the YWCA, and will recite the pledge against racism. We ask you to make your voice heard by joining the stand against racism. The stand against racism will take place at the front of the YWCA with a reception to follow.

By participating in this event, you will help raise awareness that racism still exists in our communities and that it can no longer be tolerated.
Our strength will be in numbers. Please Join Us. Take a Stand.


For more information: Contact Chéree Thomas at 269-345-5595 ext. 314 or
racialjustice@ywcakalamazoo.org

Or visit: www.StandAgainstRacism.org

353 E. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
269-345-5595

www.ywcakalamazoo.org


pledge against racism

As an individual committed to social justice, I stand with YWCA against racism and discrimination of any kind.

I will commit to a lifetime of promoting peace, justice,
freedom, and dignity for all people in my community and in the world.

One Community Campaign

One Community refers to the American ideal that we are one people, and that our prosperity and quality of life depend on all residents contributing fully to the economic, social and cultural life of our communities and our state. Unfortunately, the rising poverty rate and associated negative trends in many quality of life indicators show that we have been moving further away from this ideal in recent years. One Community is intended to function simultaneously as a poverty indicators monitoring system, an evaluation system to inform local and state anti-poverty policies and practices, and as a communications campaign intended to ensure that the voices of poor people and the need to eliminate poverty remain in the forefront of public consciousness.


The first component of the One Community model is an information system that includes monitoring trends in poverty and poverty-related quality of life indicators

Voices for Action Region 6 Meeting

(eg., food security, access to adequate health care, education, housing), as well as supply and demand for social, educational, medical and employment services. A second component involves evaluation research by social scientists from Western Michigan University who will assess how adequately community resources and services are working (individually and collectively) to reduce poverty. The third component of One Community is a communications (public information) campaign that juxtaposes information about poverty in our respective communities and statewide with the highest ideals that we Americans embrace and espouse.

We expect that One Community will lead to the creation of a network of citizens energized to work collaboratively to eliminate poverty. In each community and throughout the region, the network will include: service providers from both the non-profit and public sectors; faith-based and other community organizations; university-based researchers; and the people, themselves, including those who are poor.

The economic, social and cultural vitality of our communities depend on all people having the basic resources needed to contribute and participate fully in community life. Our communities and our region cannot prosper when so many of our citizens are encumbered by poverty. By highlighting how far we are from providing so many of our children and families with the most basic building blocks for a prosperous future, One Community seeks to enable residents from all backgrounds to envision a brighter future for our communities and our region, and what it will take to get there.