October 31,  2018
Dear Friends,

We stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

After a week of violence and bloodshed, Rev. Alvin Toussaint Herring shared a lament. ( Read the full statement here

"We are full of grief, pain and dismay, AND that is how it should be. Our losses feel too great to bear. Eleven slain in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, two lives lost in a senseless murder in Louisville and the potential loss of life had the bombs of a deranged man, full of hate, gone off - they were all acts of violence motivated by hate.

Allow me to remind you that we are people of resilient faiths. When practiced with fidelity, our faiths are only about love. So, in this moment we are to pick each other up and help each other stand. Stand in defiance of hate for sure, but stand in the name of love. It is our love that cannot be conquered."




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Fall Canvasses:  Join Us!!

Youth from Voice of the Youth, Roberts Family Development Center & ACT leaders prepare to engage voters last weekend.  Supporting 
#MEASUREU  &  #PROP10 and OPPOSING  #PROP5 .

Come out to ACT's last Get Out the Vote Canvass on November 3rd at Mutual Housing River View.

We will also have phone banks at the office all day on November 6th (last day of the election). 

Support for Measure U
We stand in support of Measure U as an opportunity to invest and reinvest in neighborhood services and programs. Many impacted neighborhoods of Sacramento suffer greatly from severe gaps in social services of employment, housing and accessible programs for youth and the elderly. Sacramento ACT believes that Measure U offers a reasonable revenue approach for our city to address service gaps and uplift the living status of the most vulnerable among us.
SCUSD School Board Candidates' Forum
On Tuesday, October 23rd, Sacramento ACT hosted a Candidates Forum for the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) School Board. All 7 candidates running in Areas 1, 2, and 6 were invited and attended the event. Questions were drafted by ACT leaders and shared with the candidates the day before and all candidates answered these questions at the forum in addition to other questions presented by community members at the event. After the forum, all of the candidates were sent an email inviting them to submit their responses in writing so that we may share them with other community residents that could not attend. The two candidates in Area 1: Anna Molander and Lisa Murawski as well as Area 2 candidate Cecile Nunley sent their responses. The remaining candidates either didn't respond or chose not to send written responses. Sacramento ACT is a non-partisan organization and we do not endorse or oppose candidates.
The Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff
BOS
"The ethos in any county department should be transparency and dedication to the public welfare and safety. It is your responsibility as supervisors to ensure that all county officials are held to this standard and that you and the public have the information we need to hold them accountable. We understand and we honor the role deputy sheriffs play in keeping our county safe, but they cannot be exempt from this public accountability especially since their actions have deadly consequences. This sheriff has shown time and time again that he will blithely disregard any attempt to hold him and his department accountable for their decisions or even to allow information to get out that you and we need and demand. The creation of the IG position was an attempt to provide this transparency but it only works if the inspector general has the access and the independent institutional power to perform the job that he is hired to do. There is no need to compromise with the Sheriff on his own oversight. You can choose the terms and the Inspector General - the sheriff does not need to agree. Therefore ... I strongly urge you to reject this contract language and institute the old contract language so that the OIG can retain the original powers that you granted that position. The OIG should have full independent access to facilities that should be written into the contract so that there is no question about it. The OIG should be able to investigate every incident and be able to speak publicly on every incident" 
Jason Weiner, ACT leader, testifying at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisor's meeting

 
Yesterday at the County Board of Supervisor's meeting, a follow-up vote was to take place on Sheriff Jones' own recommendations on independent oversight of his department by the Inspector General. While members of the Board voiced problems over the first draft presented by County Executive Navdeep Gil there seemed to be an initial acceptance of the adjustments.
 
Sheriff Jones left before public comment or the Board's vote to on the contract recommendations or not.
 
After testimony by community members including Jason Weiner representing Sacramento ACT, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors shifted their position and voted to have a Workshop on the legal standing of Sheriff Jones' decision to lock out the Inspector General as well as to have a review of best practices for Independent Oversight to include in the revision of the contract.
 
What is next?
1) Your voice and your presence matters. ( You can watch the video of the meeting on the county's website.)
2) We need to call and Email our County Supervisors and urge them to include community in the review of best practices.
3) Show up to the December 4th Board of Supervisors' Meeting to hear a report on best practices and lift your voice in support of or opposition to the recommendations they bring forth.

A Prayer for Our Nation
reval
It is times such as these, when the twin specters of hate and violence rise to once again remind us that they can still wound us. They can still reach us where we are most vulnerable and cast us into fear and doubt, causing us immeasurable pain and grief along the way. In the midst of our pain, even at the height of our grief, we should be comforted to know that our faiths can sustain us and our creator is still by our side.

I have come to understand that violence - particularly violence aimed at the center of what we believe and hold dear -is designed to take away the very thing - our faith - that gives us hope and strength. Its aim is to challenge us so severely that we will shrink, our faith will wane and our connection to the Divine and to one another will loosen and ultimately fade away.

But it is precisely through and for times like these that our faith was built. It was built to last. Built by our foremothers and forefathers who were forced off their land and who were regarded as savages and uncivilized. It was built by our ancestors who withstood the whip and the auction block. Built by our generations who came to these shores to work and to contribute only to be ostracized and regraded as the "other." Built by a generation who survived the concentration camp and the death house. Built by our generations who were interred in times of war because the country could not trust its own. And built by a distant generation who were escaping tyranny in their own land and thought freedom could be created here.

There was violence in those moments as there is violence now. How do we respond to such violence? What is the nature of our prayer today? In this moment, I am moved still by a Bible verse that has both comforted and emboldened me over the years. The verse is found in the book of Joshua in the Christian Old Testament and uttered by the prophet Joshua at a time of intense peril for his people: "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

And so how will we serve our creator at this time? We are full of grief, pain and dismay, AND that is how it should be. Our losses feel too great to bear. Eleven slain in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, two lives lost in a senseless murder in Louisville and the potential loss of life had the bombs of a deranged man, full of hate, gone off - they were all acts of violence motivated by hate.

Allow me to remind you that we are people of resilient faiths. When practiced with fidelity, our faiths are only about love. So, in this moment we are to pick each other up and help each other stand. Stand in defiance of hate for sure, but stand in the name of love. It is our love that cannot be conquered. It is our love that cannot be extinguished by an assassin's bullet or a bomb makers' bomb. It is our love that will ultimately change the laws to get rid of the guns, care for the mentally sick, changes the hearts of those who are overcome with hatred and prejudice. It is our love that bind us back together again. It will be our love that will comfort us now. One day perhaps, when this kind of violence is a merely a sad memory, we will look back and with wonder, marvel that through all of the senseless violence and hate, we nonetheless became the generation of love.

Rev. Alvin Herring, Executive Director
Faith in Action
West Arden Arcade Community Meeting, November 12
Reunión de la comunidad de West Arden Arcade
West Arden Arcade Community Meeting
  • Does anyone in your family suffer from asthma?
  • Is it easy for you to find healthy food in your neighborhood?
  • Is your housing safe and in good condition?
  • How is transportation in your neighborhood?
  • Can you easily get to schools, health care, jobs and parks?
Please join us to talk about the challenges in your neighborhood and your hopes for what it can become. Sacramento County is developing a plan to address environmental justice and hazards in West Arden Arcade. Make your voice heard!
 
When:            Monday, November 12, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Where:           New Creation Church, Arden
2400 Glendale Ln, Suite C, Sacramento, CA 95825
 
Hosted by Sacramento Area Congregations Together
and New Creation Church, Arden.
More information? contact Gabby Trejo at [email protected], 916.955.6264

Reunión de la comunidad de West Arden Arcade
  • ¿Alguien en tu familia sufre de asma? 
  • ¿Es fácil para usted encontrar comida saludable en su vecindario? 
  • ¿Es su vivienda segura y en buenas condiciones?
  • ¿Cómo es el transporte en su vecindario?
  • ¿Puedes llegar fácilmente a las escuelas, a la salud, a los empleos y a los parques?
Únase a nosotros para hablar sobre los desafíos en su vecindario y sus esperanzas de lo que puede llegar a ser . El Condado de Sacramento está desarrollando un plan para abordar la justicia ambiental y los peligros en West Arden Arcade. ¡Haz oír tu voz!
 
Cuándo:         Lunes 12 de noviembre de 6:30 a 8:30 pm
Donde:           Iglesia Nueva Creación,Arden
2400 Glendale Ln, Suite C, Sacramento, CA 95825
 
Organizado por las congregaciones de Sacramento Area Congregations Together y la Iglesia de la Nueva Creación, Arden.
Para mas información: [email protected], 916.955.6264
Upcoming LOC Meetings
Education, C ontact Tere Flores at [email protected] for location and more information on September meeting

Environmental Justice, Second Wednesdays, at 7pm at Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, Newcomers Orientation at 6:30 pm, contact Gabby Trejo at [email protected] for more information

Homelessness & Housing, 3rd Fridays,10 am to 12 pm, contact Carlos Montes-Ponce at
[email protected]  for location and more information

Live Free, Third Thursdays, 6:30 pm, contact Ryan McClinton at [email protected] for location and more information

Reinvestment, 1st and 3rd Thursday  at 2:30,  contact Ryan McClinton at  [email protected]  for location and more information

Youth Justice, every other Thursday, 5 pm to 7 pm, contact Tere Flores at [email protected] for location and more information
Can You Donate $25?
Thank you to all our donors who enable ACT's work to transform our community!

Can you donate $25 to support our work with youth to transform the juvenile justice system?  Donate here.

If you prefer, you can mail a check to Sacramento ACT, 2409 15th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.
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Join us to transform Sacramento!

Sincerely,

Gabby Trejo
Executive Director

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