looking back....looking forward!

Dear Friends,
 
This long, strange, year, with all its many challenges, sorrows, and frustrations, is nearly at an end. Through it all, we have persevered, we have found ways to create joy, and we have discovered new ways to stay connected with friends and family. 
 
As with most organizations, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice faced the challenge of moving all our programs and events online and keeping all of you, our friends and supporters, engaged and activated.  We are deeply grateful to all of you for staying involved, volunteering with us, taking action when alerted to pressing issues, participating in webinars and other online events, and supporting our work through your generous donations. We are proud of the work we have done this year, and we could not have done it without you!
 
We want to give a special Thank You to the Peter and Drusilla Mazur Fund, PACE (Philanthropy in Civic Engagement), the Evjue Foundation, and all of you, for your generous support which makes our work possible!
 
With your help, in 2020 we:

• Organized nearly 500 volunteers around the state and 20 partner organizations and congregations to educate, register, and empower people to vote through our WI Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign, in partnership with the Wisconsin Council of Churches. See some of our webinars and other videos here:
• Brought together a coalition of clergy and faith leaders for Faithful Actions for a Healthy Wisconsin, to educate our communities on keeping safe during this pandemic and to urge our elected officials to enact meaningful policies to stop the spread of the virus and help struggling Wisconsin families during this health and economic crisis. 
• Presented an online interfaith service of healing: Together in Mourning and Hope: Faith in the Time of COVID-19 .
• Advocated with Dane County leaders and health officials to create a poster designed to inform workers of their rights in the workplace during the pandemic through our Dignity at Work Coalition
• Worked with Dignity at Work Coalition members Worker Justice Wisconsin and Voces de la Frontera to create videos in Spanish and English to spread information on workers’ rights across the state. 
• Spoke out against racism in our policing system and provided resources for white allies to begin the work of becoming anti-racist .
• Sponsored a series of webinars through the Dane Sanctuary Coalition to educate our community on the devastating impact of our country’s immigration policies on our immigrant friends and neighbors. .
• Partnered with the US Census Bureau to promote the 2020 Census.
• And so much more! 

 
We are excited to continue to partner with you in 2021, where some of our priorities will include:
 

• Advocating for a just biennium state budget that will include: expanding Badger Care; legal drivers licenses for undocumented people; in-state tuition for DACA students; affordable housing; increased funding for early childhood education for low-income families and increased pay for childcare workers; raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and eliminating tipped wages; paid sick leave and paid family leave; a fund for legal services for undocumented immigrants to prevent deportation; transferring funding from police and prisons to education and mental health service and other community-based initiatives; expanded access to SNAP and other nutrition programs; and moving funding from highway expansion to public transportation, walkable and bike-able cities, and transportation between cities.
• Continuing the work of the WI Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign, to focus on promoting trust in the election process, protecting access to the ballot, expanding access to DMVs for voter IDs, promoting better access to jail voting and voting after incarceration, advocating for fair maps, and voter registration and get out the vote efforts
• Continuing our advocacy on behalf of our undocumented siblings in Dane County and throughout the state
• Educating our communities that racism is a public health care crisis
• Providing trainings and educational opportunities on anti-racism and community organizing
• Building on our successful Sacred Site Visit program and revamping this and other interfaith education and community-building programs for an online world
• Building faith and confidence in the COVID vaccine in our communities .
• And more….

 
2021 will be a year of new challenges and new opportunities.  Whatever happens, we know we will be stronger and more resilient than ever and that we will be able to face whatever comes, because we are all of us facing it together.
 
Happy holidays and a joyous and hopeful New Year to all!