Editor: Phyllis Hockley Phyllish@efn.org Inside: Word from our President Page 2 Actions we Support Page 2 Civility Page 3 Summer Fun Fund Page 3 A Look at Upcoming Measures Page 4 NW Regional Application Page 5 That s My Farmer Page 6 CHURCH WOMEN UNITED NW Regional Event Reaching for Wholeness Our Passion is moving us Forward Friday, Sept 14, 2018 Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 All women are invited to attend. Our CWU National President, Patti Polk, will be joining us and will give a keynote address on Saturday morning. Registration form is on page 5. For information on hotels, contact Katharine Hunt, NW Regional Coordinator keehhunt@gmail.com or call 541-607-0106. cwulanecounty.org UPCOMING EVENTS September, 2018 September 7 Unitarian Universalist Friday 1685 W. 13th St. 9-11:15 Housing as a Human Right September 11 Breakfast at Brails Tuesday 1983 Willamette St. 7:30 a.m. A Look at our September forum October 5 St. Jude Friday 4330 Willamette St. 9-11:15 Policy and Privilege October 9 Breakfast at Brails Tuesday 1983 Willamette St. 7:30 a.m. A Look at our October forum SEPTEMBER FORUM Join us on September 7th. Our topic is Housing as a Human Right. Our speaker, Heather Sielicki, has a long history of grass roots actions, neighborhood leadership, and respect by our elected officials. Let us learn how the faith community can be more effective in securing housing for all our families. LOOKING AHEAD TO OCTOBER Are there policies taken by local, state, and national government agencies that work to give privilege to a few and economic stress to many? Come and hear some new ideas that can effect more compassionate communities. 1
A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT Anne O Brien Our program for September 7 at the Unitarian Church will be on the topic of Housing as a Human Right. I think we are all touched by the sight of our homeless sisters and brothers sleeping on the street. I for one feel helpless and frustrated when I see these folks and realize they are all children of God and we seem unable to solve the problem of homelessness in our community and throughout the country. We had a British visitor who was surprised to see apparently homeless women and children on our downtown streets. He said In our country we take care of our women and children. You would only see men living on the streets. Not perfect but our British friends do seem to at least see that women and children don t belong on the street. Interesting that men are not always protected. Janis Leslie Evans, a homeless advocate in Washington DC, suggests that the next time you pass a homeless person on the street, try to remove all assumptions, values, beliefs and stereotypes from your mind and just see the person as one who was born a child of God with humanity and dignity. Pope Francis, speaking to Catholic Charities in Washington DC when he visited the USA in 2015 said, We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatever, for lack of housing. More reasons for us to quickly find a solution to this problem that many of us are old enough to remember, did not exist, for the most part, when we were youngsters. We pray that we will find a solution or solutions, to the problem and we work to change systems so that this does not happen again. Please join us on September 7 and become inspired to change the situation on our streets. UPDATES ON ACTIONS WE SUPPORT Cindy Kokis Bread for the World: Thanks to you, Global Nutrition Gets a Big Boost. Keep up the calls to Congress: urge them to pass a bipartisan farm bill that keeps SNAP (food stamps) available to those who need it. 350.org: Be there Saturday, September 8th, 1-3 pm, Campbell Center, 155 High Street. Choose your event: 1:00 rally, 1:30 teach ins, 2:30 break, 2:40 march 2 blocks. Message? Clean energy solutions, off fossil fuels. Oregon CareWorks: Change the way we care, get public investment. Annual caregiver wages $20,580,below the poverty level. Turnover at group homes - 90%. Annual cost for a toddler $12,600, more than college tuition. Be ready to stand together when asked. MORE UPDATES Majeska Seese-Green Have you been wondering what s happening with Eugene city officials and the possibility of a Construction Excise Tax (CET)? State law now allows a municipality to enact a CET. Other cities, including Portland and Bend, are already using a CET to raise funds for building affordable/ low-income housing. From Mayor Lucy Vinis s blog on July 27: I provided [Council] an update from staff about their ongoing work to address housing tools and strategies. This discussion emerged out of the Construction Excise Tax deliberation. Last spring, Council was unprepared to enact a CET without knowing how this tax to support housing projects might impact developers and builders of housing. Staff is preparing for a series of stakeholder conversations in the fall, engaging an economist to analyze impacts; and undertaking a code audit. This work will come back to council in December. Watch for the housing Tools and Strategies discussions this Fall. This will be complicated, but it will include opportunities for community input supporting more affordable/low-income housing, including a CET. Anne O Brien has contacted each city councilor about CWU s support for a CET ASAP. Councilors seem generally supportive of enacting a CET, but they are under great pressure from developers and builders who oppose it. Meanwhile we see the growing crisis in this area, with the lack of affordable housing for all. 2
CIVILITY: INCONVENIENT, BUT ASKED OF US NONETHELESS Mary Sharon Moore In any of those prickly conversations, which can crop up at any moment, I easily vacillate between defending a space for the other and desiring to free them from the error of their views. I might even silently dismiss their views as mere opinions, to which they are entitled, of course, but which I regard as void of truthy substance. Dismissing people who do not think like me is much easier than actually respecting their humanity, listening to what they are saying, and risking having my heart changed. So I am grateful for an article in the July 9, 2018, issue of America magazine (a Jesuit publication) titled Nine Rules to Promote Civility, by David A. Zubik (Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh). He draws from the wisdom of Catholic social tradition. I will share here only the lead lines of his nine points. (I have added a few notes.) Email me (see below) if you would like a pdf of the three-page article. Rule 1: In a healthy, civil dialogue, we listen to one another. Listening is more than hearing. Rule 2: Civil conversation presumes that we are each working for the common good. (My note: And even if I think you aren t, I must.) Rule 3: Any civil public discussion recognizes the validity of contending groups in society. (My note: This is still a democracy.) Rule 4: Civility shows respect for the person with whom I differ. Rule 5: Civility works for the inclusion of all members of society, especially minorities and marginalized persons. Rule 6: Civility distinguishes between facts and opinions. (Note: You and I are entitled to our own opinions, but not entitled to our own facts.) Rule 7: Facts can take us only so far. Rule 8: We should not assume or impugn the other s motives. Rule 9: We must be willing to be self-critical. These nine rules sound like a lot to remember. But they are all of a piece. They are both the guidelines for, and the fruit of, a disciplined heart, the heart of a disciple one who has learned well from the Master, and, conversation by conversation, is taking the midterm exam. How you and I do on our midterm exams prepares us or not for our final test. Jesus loved his opponents, his persecutors, and his executioners up to his final breath. Terribly inconvenient, but he shows us what s asked of us in our time. Mary Sharon Moore (marysharonmoore.com), an active member of St. Thomas More University Church, is a writer and speaker on matters of Christian faith in public life. To request a copy of the full article, email her at marysharonmoore@gmail.com. SUMMER FUN FUND Phyllis Hockley Thank you, thank you, thank you! You helped us give $600 to 8 different organizations that organized lots of creative fun for our homeless and at-risk kids. Many lives were touched. Much happiness given. You made a difference! Many thanks! 3
A LOOK AT OUR UPCOMING MEASURES. GET THE FACTS. VOTE! Measure 103 would prohibit the state or any local government from taxing the sale, purchase, distribution or transfer of groceries. Though proponents claim Constitutional Amendment 103 would block taxes on groceries, (which we don t tax) Legal analysis shows that it s misleading and that the measure would apply to far more than just conventional grocery retailers it would include food processors, slaughterhouses, trucking companies, restaurants and fast food chains. The constitutional amendment is also retroactive in nature, so the measure would repeal parts of two provider assessments approved in early 2018 to fund Medicaid for low-income families, children, and seniors. Despite how broadly the measure was written, proponents have also acknowledged that Constitutional Amendment 103 fails to exempt many of the basic necessities that Oregon families rely on, including medicine, diapers, and feminine hygiene products. No other state has a constitutional amendment like this. Measure 104 would expand, beyond just taxes, the legislature s three-fifths supermajority requirement, making it nearly impossible to rein in runaway tax breaks and creating unnecessary gridlock in Salem. This constitutional amendment would require a three-fifths supermajority to cut wasteful government spending and perks for politicians, and even to modify simple fees like state park and state board of nursing fees. Expanding the supermajority requirement would also put funding for essential social services in jeopardy. If this amendment had been in place earlier this year, Oregon would have faced $1 billion in cuts to services like public schools and Medicaid, which means hundreds of thousands of people would have lost their health care. If Measure 104 passes, reforming the mortgage interest deduction to benefit affordable housing will be much more difficult. Measure 105 would throw out Oregon s sanctuary law, which passed more than 30 years ago with broad support from Republicans and Democrats. The law gives clear guidance to local police on how to handle complex immigration issues. The law has helped reduce racial profiling while keeping local police focused on protecting local communities. If Measure 105 passes, Oregon will be left without any of these important protections and this guidance. CWU has joined Oregonians United Against Profiling to defeat anti-immigrant ballot measure 105 in November. Hundreds of faith, business, labor, civil rights groups, and law enforcement leaders are working together in the inclusive, grassroots, statewide campaign. A No vote on Measure 105 will keep the law in place, ensuring that: Local police personnel, funds, equipment and facilities are not used to pursue and detain people suspected only of violating federal immigration law. Oregonians cannot be stopped, detained or interrogated just because someone thinks they might be an undocumented immigrant. Local police can continue to hold people accountable, including both immigrants and non-immigrants, if they commit crimes and harm our community. Oregon taxpayer money will be kept in our communities and won t be diverted to do the job of federal law enforcement. In July, anti-immigrant groups turned in enough valid signatures to qualify initiative petition 22 for the November ballot. The ballot measure is backed by Oregonians for Immigration Reform (OFIR) and the national group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Both groups have been designated extremist hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center with ties to white supremacist funders. The campaign website is at www.orunited.org. 4
Reaching for Wholeness Our Passion is Moving Us Forward CWU NORTHWEST REGION EVENT Friday, September 14 Saturday, September 15, 2018 Gresham United Methodist Church 620 NE 8th St., Gresham OR 97030 A gathering of NW Church Women United Send your completed registration form made out to CWU with NW Region Event in memo line to: Address: Roz Collins, Eastmont Church Women United P.O. Box 336 Gresham, OR 97030-1730 Email: eastmont.cwu@gmail.com Registration ($50) Due Date: Friday, September 1, 2018 Questions on what to bring, accommodations, etc., Call or email: Katharine Hunt 541-607-0106 keehhunt@gmail.com Roz Collins 503-618-9999 eastmont.cwu@gmail.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NAME UNIT UNIT ROLE ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP PHONE/CELL EMAIL EMERGENCY CONTACT INFO: NAME PHONE DIETARY RESTRICTIONS (specify) Gluten Free Vegetarian (Dinner Friday Night and a light breakfast, snacks and lunch will be served on Saturday) 5
THAT S MY FARMER A Delicious Dinner Fund Raiser for the Low-Income Fund MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 @ 6:00pm PARTY DOWNTOWN 64 W 8th Alley, Eugene St. Paul s Catholic Women s Group St. Paul s Catholic Church Hall, 1201 Satre Street Eugene, Oregon 97401 Wednesday, September 19, 2018 7:00 pm 9:00 pm Join us September 19th at 7:00 pm as we enjoy a faith-filled evening with New York Times best selling author, Jane Kirkpatrick. What makes pioneering women stand out is their abiding faith. Jane will present Frontier Faith and Courage talking about faith and courage in today s world with her humorous and thought provoking manner. Light refreshments will be served. Purchase your tickets at the door for only $10. 6