Racial & Economic Justice
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing Van Jones speak. He co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and is founder and president of Green For All. He spoke convincingly of a future of increased equality and how one of the roads to this future is green jobs. Green-collar jobs are employment in the environmental or agricultural sectors of the economy. [Source: Wikipedia] But they also include any work that will help transform our society into a more environmentally sustainable one.
One way our local government leaders could participate in this national movement is to sign the Green Jobs Pledge. Its goal is to "rebuild American competitiveness and environmental leadership by growing a green economy that fights global warming, pollution and poverty at the same time." Here are the five steps this pledge asks our leaders to agree to:
- Commit to Action
- Create a Green-collar Jobs Taskforce
- Identify Goals and Assess Opportunities
- Create a Local Action Plan
- Evaluate, Leverage and Grow
The following e-mail was forwarded to me by a friend. El Futuro works to help Latinos with mental health issues, it seems like an important program deserving of our support. Please take a moment to contact your favorite commissioner and ask that they restore funding.
Last night, the Orange County commissioners tentatively nixed $60,000
that had been approved by their subcommittee for El Futuro ( http://elfuturo-nc.org
if you're not familiar with the organization).
Please please please send the commissioners an email TODAY --their
meeting is tonight-- protesting this decision. Based on a conversation
one of our board members had with an OC commissioner, there is still a chance to restore at
least part of this funding if we can get people to object.
El Futuro is an amazing non-profit organization that serves a
population that otherwise would be ignored.
From the Chapel Hill Herald:
Juneteenth event set for June 21
CHAPEL HILL -- The second annual Juneteenth Celebration --
commemorating the end of slavery -- will take place from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. on June 21 at the Pine Knolls Community Center and Lincoln Center.
There will be free basketball, a moonwalk, entertainment, food and health screenings as well as volunteer assistance.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Ted Parrish at 929-8000 or tparrish@nccu.edu.
Date:
Saturday, June 21, 2008 - 6:00am to 2:00pm
Location:
Pine Knolls Community Center and Lincoln Center
From the N & O:
Help sought for Project Homeless
CHAPEL HILL -- Volunteers and donors are needed for the second annual
Project Homeless Connect to help people experiencing homelessness in
Orange County.
Project Homeless Connect 2008 will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept.
25, at the Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson St. The event is
a one-day, one-stop center to link people experiencing -- or at risk of
experiencing -- homelessness with a broad range of services.
Guests are offered assistance with such things as housing, employment,
health and dental care, foot care, mental health care, veterans'
benefits, social service benefits and legal services. They also receive
lunch and personal care gift bags, and are offered haircuts, showers,
coats and other clothing.
At the first Project Homeless Connect event held last October, 133
guests were served, nearly 40 agencies provided services, more than 20
businesses donated goods and services, and more than 200 volunteers
participated in a variety of ways including preparing and serving food,
assembling personal care gift bags and escorting guests through the
event.
Volunteers are needed to assemble personal care kits, prepare and serve
food, cut hair, photograph the event, wash feet, escort guests and to
help in many other ways. Monetary donations will be used to purchase
personal care items, water bottles, tote bags and portfolios for the
guests, and to pay for costs associated with services they receive at
the event, such as thrift shop vouchers and the cost of obtaining an
identification card. Donation needs include food, serving items, coats,
underwear, socks, diapers, baby wipes, knapsacks and umbrellas.
To see a complete list of the volunteer positions and donation needs
for Project Homeless Connect 2008, visit the Orange County Partnership
to End Homelessness site at
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/housing/endinghomelessness.asp.
For more information, contact Jamie Rohe at 969-5059 or jrohe@townofchapelhill.org.
Date:
Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 6:00am to 1:00pm
Location:
Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill
For those following the Waste Transfer Station siting process, the next
work session with the BOCC and Olver Corporation will be this Tuesday May
20 at 5:30 pm at the OC Dept. of Social Services at 2501
Homestead Road,Chapel Hill, NC
27516.
This important
work session will be focusing on finalizing the "Exclusionary
Criteria" for selecting the Waste Transfer Station site and is open to
all.
Background materials may be found
at the BOCC web site at: http://www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/080520e.htm
The
regular BOCC meeting follows at 7:30.
Date:
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 1:30pm
Location:
Southern Orange Human Services Center
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