For NWSOFA June is the Start of Summer and HOT ACTION:
June Signals Summer and Action at NWSOFA,
June 20th heralds the beginning of Summer for 2016 and at NWSOFA the best way to describe our NWSOFA Teams is ACTION, as we hold our Fiscal & Economics meeting June 14th, and GVP Team on the June 16th., and will have Multi-Coalition Parter Meetings for our Climate Change (CC), Stand With Women (SWW), Immigration Reform (CIR), College Outreach Team and the Minority Outreach Teams during the month – Watch for the Weekly Announcements. There will be Meetings on Facts and Issues, Films to understand, and Rallies.. As we said, ACTION!!
When you RSVP, you will receive an acknowledgement and location for the meeting upon our receiving your RSVP.
The GVP Issues Team has been working for the past three+ years to keep the conversation going about gun violence prevention and to take action to change our laws with the goal of creating safer communities for everyone in our state and our nation. We hold 90 minute planning meetings typically (some exceptions) on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm. If you are interested in working to reduce gun violence in America, we invite you to join us at our next meeting.
It’s time to get involved .. as a nation we have been to silent .. for too long.
Join Us .. Learn what you can do.
Agenda:
Recent “Wear Orange” National Impact (over 400 Rallies)
Record Breaking Efforts on the IL Gun Dealer Licensing Bill
Update on the IL Gun Dealer Licensing Bill
What’s next for Gun Violence Prevention??
This is an invitation only event… You will need to have an RSVP Acknowledgment to enter.
Additional information regarding Supreme Court Vacancies:
* The President has a constitutional obligation to put forward a nominee, a duty that he has fulfilled;
* The Senate has a constitutional obligation to “Advise and Consent” to provide that nominee with a fair hearing and a timely up or down vote, which some Senators have said they plan to ignore.
* On average, it has taken 67 days for a modern Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed by the Senate after being nominated – the longest has been 125 days.
* The President still has over 300 days remaining in office. There is plenty of time for the Senate to confirm a nominee, and any suggestion otherwise is just cynical, partisan obstructionism [and shows disrespect for the President].
Call your representative now to say threatening public health is wrong
Vote “no” on H.R. 4775:
If Passed it would Weaken the “Clean Air Act”
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Right now, the House of Representatives is poised to vote on a bill that could seriously affect air pollution and threaten public health — and your representative needs to hear from you.
At high enough levels, ozone in the air can cause breathing problems, asthma attacks, and even premature deaths. That’s why in 2015, the EPA issued new standards to reduce levels of ozone, and it’s why current law requires that they’re reviewed every five years to make sure they’re up to date with the newest scientific evidence.
The bill going through the House now — H.R. 4775 — would permanently weaken the Clean Air Act and impose serious delays on ozone pollution protections, putting millions of Americans at risk.
This legislation is the kind of step backward we can’t afford. We’ve made progress in tackling climate change and public health, even forming global agreements to address the issue. It’s unacceptable that some members of Congress aren’t just refusing to be a part of the solution, they’re actively trying to pass legislation that would weaken protections against ozone and other harmful pollutants — and dismantling efforts to safeguard the health of our families and communities in doing so.
The vote could happen soon. Call your representative now to say threatening public health is wrong — vote “no” on H.R. 4775:
NWSOFA CIR (Immigration Reform) through the NWSOFA Immigration Roundtable is Attending … and you should too:
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DACA and DAPA Training
Living Faith Methodist Church in Waukegan
June 18th from 9:00am to 5:00pm
As the Surpreme Court decision date for DAPA/DACA+ is nearly 1 month away, the NWSOFA CIR & Diversity Outreach teams will be joining the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to provide Community Navigator training in the northern and northwestern suburbs.
We are planning to hold a 1-day training to be held
June 18th from 9AM
For further reference, please see a description of the training module as it relates to the navigator training to follow:
Module 6: Screening
Teach importance and role of navigator in the screening process, review DACA/DAPA, provide practical scripts to avoid UPL, practice screening, and begin discussion on screening for other forms of relief.
Module 7: Preparing Documentation
Introduce effective practices and strategies for document preparation of DACA/DAPA.
Module 8: Assisting with Applications
This module trains Community Navigators to assist in applications such as DACA 2012, N-400, etc. when under the supervision of a lawyer or an accredited BIA representative.
NWSOFA Diversity Outreach (DO) Along with all NWSOFA Issue Teams & OFA chapters across the country are hosting:
a “Crossing Bridges” Event
Saturday June 25th Location:TBA
(a Fulfilling the Promise Day of Action)
As We did in Selma .. “Crossing Bridges Event”
On Saturday, June 25th, NWSOFA will join forces with OFA chapters across the country for a Fulfilling the Promise Day of Action. We will host an event focusing on the theme of “Crossing Bridges.” As a team, we have several bridges to cross, Gun Violence Prevention, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Criminal Justice Reform, Climate Change, Fiscal Issues, Women’s Issues, College/Campus Issues etc. This will be an all team event. We want to highlight the accomplishments of all of our Issue Teams as well as support efforts that the teams are currently working on.
During this time, we will hold up our issue signs and actually March Across A Bridge with our signs just as citizens marched in Selma.
Last year, we held a “Taste of Diversity” event where we listened to the issues and concerns from people of diverse cultures and religions in underserved communities and helped them to get connected with various resources. We then shared food dishes with each other from our various cultures and listened to music. We had a wonderful time and we learned to appreciate the various cultures and diversity of our communities.
President Obama stood at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and issued a call to action. “For everywhere in this country,” he exclaimed. “There are first steps to be taken, there’s new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed.” With vigor he continued: “Because Selma shows us that America is not the project of any one person. Because the single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We the People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given, to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
In January 2013 we started as a gathering of friends and neighbors from the NW Suburbs who wanted to continue to have impact on the progressive issues we voted for in 2012.This grassroots, bottom up movement spread across the country and sparked the creation of Organizing for Action, OFA National which now has Chapters all over the country. This is a non-partisan, volunteer organization that focuses on progressive issues we are committed to taking Action on to make a difference locally, statewide and nationally.
We now have the GVP, ACA/Obamacare, Climate Change,Fiscal Issues and Stand with Women Issue Teams.Check out their individual pages to see all the events they have scheduled and to join the teams you want to make a difference with. Other teams are developing such as for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
OFA National coordinates “Days of Action” that Chapters across the country will all do on the same day. Each team also has local events and may work with affiliate organizations i.e. Sierra Club, Al Gore Reality Project, etc. to combine like-minded groups on a local, state or national event.
In this type of organization there are numerous ways you can be involved with the teams and in other roles.
Thanks for stopping and hope you’ll stay and join us.
Click on Image for larger Image
A great Video created by:
Khirsti Garnett &
Ameer Muhammad
Check out Ameer and Khirsti’s video at youtube for nwsofa college
NWSOFA Diversity Outreach Working on CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed bipartisan legislation to address much-needed sentencing and prison reform bill. S. 2123 is a bipartisan bill that represents an important first step toward addressing some of the causes of the racially disparate, unsustainable growth in the federal criminal justice system. It has been five months since the bill was put forward and it is long past time for the full Senate to vote on this important bill. Senate Republicans still have not moved forward on the bill, which has widespread, bipartisan support.
ACTION you can take:
Call your senators and tell them the time is now to support the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123) and to urge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring it to the floor for a vote.
To leave a message or Sign up for an Issue Team .. Just click the Sign Up button and fill out the NWSOFA Comment log.
We will be in touch with you shortly .
June Events in the Books!!!
NWSOFA G un Violence Prevention Team Members Attended:
June 2nd “Wear Orange” National Day of Action
Click Above Image to More or Larger Photos
“Our daughter, Hadiya, was shot and killed in Chicago just two weeks after performing at President Obama’s second inauguration.”
After her murder, Hadiya’s friends decided to honor her life and raise awareness about gun violence by wearing orange — a color that symbolizes the value of human life. Now, what started as a way to honor our daughter has sparked a national movement of millions calling for change and honoringall victims and survivors of gun violence.
“Wear Orange Event in Evanston”
June 2nd, Hadiya would be turning 19.
We honored her life by wearing orange because orange is bright. Orange refuses to be ignored. Orange represents the bright future that every child has — and how gun violence tragically cuts that potential short.
Accross The US 400 Events were held .. Two huge events in the Chicago Area, Evanston and Hyde Park and thousands of individuals wore Orange in memory of Hadiya.
There are too many grieving parents like us whose children have been taken from them by gun violence. That’s why we’ve dedicated our lives to this fight so that no other parents have to experience the pain and heartbreak we endure every single day.
NWSOFA Works with Sierra Club on Petitions on Clean Jobs Bill
Petition Team in Hoffman Estates
As a followup to a day in Springfield lobbying for the Clean Jobs Bill on April 21 , Sierra Club members and friends went to Hoffman Estates Saturday, May 7, to canvass with Fred Crisp’s constituents to get petitions to ask him to sponsor the bill. Although over half of the legislature ha s registered in favor of the bill, a few more legislators are needed to have the 66% that would make the bill veto proof.
The four pictured, Tim Milburn, Marge Frens (NWSOFA), Barbara Hill, Peter Gorr, talked with people in Hoffman Estates.
Some 50 people signed the petitions. Tim and Barb presented the signed petitions to Rep. Crespo. He has agreed to support the bill.
NWSOFA Climate Change Team,
Sierra Club & Faith in Place, isea, Climate Action, Elevate Energy Event..
May 14th
At the Peoples Climate Movement:
Making Solar Happen!
Click Image Above for More Photos
Huge Turnout, Exciting/Knowlegeable Speakers, Great Group Discussions afterwards:
We were trying to target “decision makers” but also the general public as the director of Elevate Energy’s (non-profit education and advocacy org) community solar program is speaking about community solarprojects in general that aren’t linked to organizations.
The old paradigm “we can’t afford solar” was dispelled. New lease options for non-profits are really 100% no upfront costs and the org saves money on their bills from day one with no other lease fees as their bill is the lease payment.
We found out that instead if being financially prohibitive, it’s a cost saver for non-profits AND they get their energy from solar!!!
It’s time to Act .. It Is Time To Get Involved
Over the years the American Citizens have lost their voices, believing that we can not make a difference. We have been beat down by the constant droning noise of the conservative right. This onslaught has made us like sheep .. afraid to express our views. Not anymore! OFA gives us back our voices and by working together we are making change one issue at a time. Together we can and will make a difference.
Just Click on the Photo to link the NWSOFA e-magazines daily & archived articles
In January 2013 we started as a gathering of friends and neighbors from the NW Suburbs who wanted to continue to have impact on the progressive issues we voted for in 2012.This grassroots, bottom up movement spread across the country and sparked the creation of Organizing for Action, OFA National which now has Chapters all over the country. This is a non-partisan, volunteer organization that focuses on progressive issues we are committed to taking Action on to make a difference locally, statewide and nationally.
