Minutes of SJ meetings

DRAFT of minutes of Social Justice Committee Tuesday, June 12, 6:00 p.m.

Present: Tom Budnik, Dave Dirks, Paula Friederich, Chris Rehmann, Francis Todey, Kathy Trahanovsky, Mary Ellen Wishart

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by chair Chris. Minutes of May 8 were approved.

Social justice grants

Tom reported that all monies have been dispersed. He has received several thank you notes, which he will gradually insert in the Sunday bulletin, the weekly reminders, and post on the website. Francis will provide details to Pastoral Council about the grants. Tom will provide the information to Bobby LeBlanc, who is preparing a summary of the year’s stewardship activities.

Wine and Wisdom: racial equality

Sr. Anne Clifford’s presentation on Martin Luther King was well received by a group of about two dozen people.

Mental health

Mary Ellen reported that the AMOS Mental Health and Affordable Housing research teams are collaborating to assess resources available in Ames and Story County. Tom reported that Lisa Turner, Catholic Charities, proposed to STA staff a training program “Mental Health First Aid.” The purpose would be to assist staff and other parish leaders to appropriately identify and react to situations involving mental illness. Several on the SJ committee described instances where such training would have been helpful. Mary Ellen volunteered to contact Lisa for more information.

Refugees

Diane Birt, president of the Ames Interfaith Refugee Alliance, sent Chris a copy of a PowerPoint presentation on refugees. The AIRA is eager to give programs about this topic. SJ committee is asked to review the PowerPoint and provide feedback at our next meeting. Meanwhile Chris will let Diane know we are considering this.

Teen programming: trafficking, DACA, refugees?

In the past year, the SJ Committee organized three events: an adult/teen program on trafficking, a DACA dinner, and the Wine and Wisdom talk on racial equality. We have planned to present trafficking information to middle schoolers, who were not included last year. Suggestions for an event for high school students and families include testimonials from DACA recipients and information on refugees. Chris will talk with Chuck about working with Anna Kaminski and Joe Weyers on topics and a schedule.

Next meeting: Tuesday, August 21, 6 pm

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

8 May 2018

Attendees: Mary Ellen Wishart, Francis Todey, Felicity Douglas, Paula Friederich, Chris Rehmann, Kathy Trahanovsky, Tom Budnik

Interfaith March for Peace and Justice

Felicity Douglas reported that the Interfaith March for Peace and Justice had about 85 people and speakers from various faith traditions. St. Thomas Aquinas Church was well represented.

Immigration

Chris Rehmann reported that the County Coordinating Committee on immigration is continuing to explore the idea of a community ID with law enforcement, local services (e.g., schools, hospitals, libraries, etc.), and the immigrant community. At some point congregations and others will be asked for financial support, and STA can be expected to be among those asked.

Social Justice Grants

The subcommittee recommended a total of $21,000 in Social Justice Grants. Currently $18,000 is available, but the rest is expected in May and June. Tom Budnik reported on efforts to make the process smoother—in particular, by transferring funds to international organizations by wire. The SJ Committee will review the guidelines for the grants. Specific points that were raised include the following:

Current guidelines stipulate that 90% of the funds is to be awarded to applicants and 10% is to be retained for emergencies. That guideline may have been set when we knew the total available funding available ahead of time.
SJ Grants can be submitted by active parishioners. What determines who is active? Registration? Regular attendance at Mass? It’s possible that long-time parishioners might miss the annual registration once.
The line on the application for specifying the requested amount could be clearer. Some applicants might purposefully leave the amount blank, though some might miss it.

Action: Tom Budnik will draft alternative guidelines and send them to the committee before the next meeting.

Racial equality

Kathy Trahanovsky has scheduled Sr. Ann to speak on Martin Luther King and Catholic social teaching regarding racial equality on May 18. The event will be 6:30 to 8:30; Sr. Ann will speak at 7:00 for about 45 minutes and discussion will follow. Advertising for the event has been handled already.

Mental health

Kathy Trahanovsky and Mary Ellen Wishart reported that the AMOS Mental Health Team met with Amy Welch, who answered questions about mental health care in Ames. The meeting was fruitful in connecting Ms. Welch with Jason Paull of the AMOS Affordable Housing Team, and it highlighted the need to increase communication between people working on mental health, housing, and related issues. A particular need that arose is supporting those with a poor history regarding housing—say, by assuming some of the risk while the people prove themselves in the new housing.

AMOS

Chris Rehmann met with Liz Hall, lead organizer of AMOS, to discuss ways to increase involvement at STA. She recommended conducting house meetings to identify people likely to be engaged. Committee members expressed some reservations about a house meeting campaign and the enthusiasm it might generate; they acknowledged that events such as the meeting on mental health at Bethesda Lutheran are more effective. Chris suggested inviting Liz Hall to address some of the concerns and reservations so that any house meetings are done effectively. Another suggestion was to invite Joe Weyers to explain how the faith sharing groups are engaging in social justice activities.

Emergency Residence Project

Felicity Douglas asked for more people to cook at ERP in the summer—e.g., 2-3 people at a time. Action: Chris Rehmann will remind Felicity to ask Bobby LeBlanc to advertise for more people to cook.

Committee business

Chris Rehmann is willing to chair the committee for another year.

Next meeting

Tuesday, 12 June, 6 pm

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

10 April 2018

Attendees: Fr. Herzog, Mary Ellen Wishart, Francis Todey, Felicity Douglas, Paula Friederich, Chris Rehmann, Clare Nolan, Ashley Treadwell, Kathy Trahanovsky, Tom Budnik

Interfaith March for Peace and Justice

Chuck Glatz reported that the Interfaith March for Peace and Justice will occur on Sunday April 29 at 3:00 in Brookside Park. Action: Tom Budnik will work with Bobby Leblanc on advertising the march.

Immigration

Chris Rehmann reported on an information session involving FaithAction on a community ID card for those who cannot obtain a government-issued ID (as well as others). The success of the program in North Carolina and elsewhere at improving relations between immigrants and others in the community led the County Coordinating Committee on immigration to explore the idea further. A follow-up meeting was scheduled for 10 April (immediately following the Social Justice Committee meeting).

Social Justice Grants

Tom Budnik reported that 19 applications for Social Justice Grants were received. The total request likely exceeds the available funds. A subcommittee of Felicity Douglas (chair), Chris Rehmann, Paula Friederich, Francis Todey, Clare Nolan, and Ashley Treadwell will meet on 18 April at 7 pm to evaluate the applications. We aim notify recipients by 1 May.

Activities of the Student Service and Justice Team

Ashley Treadwell reported that (1) Reggie’s Sleepout was canceled. The students will hold their own sleepout in the parking structure on Friday 13 April. (2) Students continue to help at Emergency Residence Project. (3) Clare Nolan will lead the Student S&J Team next academic year.

Racial equality

Kathy Trahanovsky is still working with Sr. Ann to schedule a talk on Martin Luther King and Catholic social teaching regarding racial equality. Action: Kathy will call Don Alexander to check the schedule.

Mental health

Mary Ellen Wishart reported that the AMOS Mental Health Team traveled to Iowa City to see the Iowa City Shelter House, which has 24 rooms of various levels for the mentally ill. The shelter and a winter program have decreased vagrancy arrests significantly. Transitional housing in Ames will be incorporated into a new regional mental health facility, jointly operated by Mary Greeley Medical Center and Story County.

Committee business

Anna Kaminski suggested two high school students for the committee. We welcome them but suggest they check with Tim Mooney and the Student Service and Justice Team first for opportunities involving more students. Action: Tom Budnik will talk with Anna.
Chris Rehmann asked the committee members to consider whether they would like to chair the committee.
Action: Chris Rehmann will send minutes to Tom Budnik, who will post them.

Next meeting

Tuesday, 8 May, 6 pm

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

Tuesday, March 6, 2018 6:00, Our Lady of Guadalupe Room

Present: Paula Friederich, Chuck Glatz, Fr. John Herzog, Clare Nolan, Chris Rehmann, Francis Todey, Kathy Trahanovsky, Ashley Treadwell, Mary Ellen Wishart (notetaker)

Approval of minutes

Minutes of the Feb. 13 meeting were approved.

Service and Justice Committee

They distributed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on campus as a Lenten observance. Clare is chairing the Reggie’s Sleepout, which will be March 24 at Jack Trice Stadium.

DACA dinner

Very successful on several counts: 70 attendees, plenty of food, excellent testimonials and sharing by others, $260 collected for use by DACA projects. SJ committee supports doing other dinners in the future to expose more people to the facts. It was suggested that Ashley or Karen prepare a short summary for the bulletin and the weekly parish reminders. Chris will send a short report to our senators and representatives. A wine and wisdom event might be appropriate on this topic.

County sheriff invitation

Chris will ask the sheriff to attend our next meeting…April 10. Fr. Herzog had suggestions for possible questions, such as jail conditions, plans for release, how the community can be involved in assisting transitions. Chris may want to provide Paul with questions prior to our meeting.

Social justice grants

Applications are due April 1. Chris will notify Bobby to insert this into the bulletin and parish email reminders.

Review of the year

Chris referred to a list of our goals for the year. He commented briefly on progress and suggested that next meeting we might see if there are any actions that we might want to plan to conclude the year.

Next meeting 6:00, April 10

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

Social Justice Committee Meeting: February 12, 2018

Attendees: Tom, Fr. Herzog, Chris, Dave, Paula, Kathy, Francis, Ashley Treadwell, Felicity

Approval of Jan2018 meeting minutes: approved

· Trafficking: Ashley will incorporate a Trafficking section in the 7^th grade STA and this is set. We will plan to do a subsequent session for next fall (but probably at STC and will encourage STA 7^th graders to attend STC that session). Action: Tom will set a date with Joe for next fall.

· Student SJ Activities: After TNL next Thursday they plan to make sack lunches with info about being Catholic and Lenten practices. These will be handed out on campus on Friday. Also planning on doing Reggie’s Sleep Out.

· Kathy has not heard back from Sister Ann relative to a date for presenting on racial inequality/MLK. Still pursuing.

· Chris is hoping to schedule the Story County Sheriff to come talk with us at our April SJ meeting.

· Tom removed and archived numerous older SJ minutes from the STA website (plan to leave approximately one year of minutes still available on-line).

· DACA dinner planned for Feb 24 after 4:45pm mass. Still pursuing speakers. Ashley is checking with one lady to speak. Karen contacting Rick Brimeyer about STC attendee encouragement. Ashley making announcements at TNL and in the college group postings. Chris will see if Bobby can make up some posters, Chris will also get with Shari to announce this at this weekends mass. Budget for providing dinner through Mr. Burrito looks to be okay. Action: All SJ committee members to encourage people to attend. Other Daca actions as indicated above.

· Tom doesn’t expect the SJ budget to grow or decrease for the coming year. A monthly projection of in-flows and out-flows is expected from SJ by the financial committee.

· Next meeting is March 6, at 6pm. 12 December 2017

Attendees: Tom Budnik, Fr. John Herzog, Felicity Douglas, Chris Rehmann, Paula Friederich, Chuck Glatz, Ashley Treadwell, Chelsea Ferrie, Kathy Trahanovsky, David Dirks (minutes)

Minutes of the 14 November meeting were approved.

Actions from last meeting

Chelsea researched some human trafficking resources. An e-mail was sent out to the committee. STA middle schoolers missed the STC presentation due to a schedule conflict, but other grades were able to make it. Movie testimonial seemed to resonate with this age-group, and the Powerpoint presentation seemed less effective. The program exceeded the time limits and didn’t allow time for discussion. ISU has a group that focuses on trafficking.

o Action: Chuck will contact Jen Weyers and see about a potential time slot and what we would present. Ashley will also follow up as well.

o Action: Chuck will check with Anna to get feedback on how the presentation went from her and her group leaders perspective.

DACA Dinner – No update
Sister Ann teaching on Catholic Teaching on racial equality / MLK – Kathy contacted Sr. Ann and she was willing to do it, but needed some flexibility on the scheduling (after the Semester ends for sure).
- Action: Kathy will continue to follow up and try to get something scheduled for Spring

Report from the Student Service and Justice Committee

They caroled at NorthCrest and helped with the Worldly Goods sale.
There is good interest for cooking at ERP. They will look at the sign-up sheet

Report on Immigration Issues

Chris went to a community meeting on immigration issues. 2 DACA dinners have been hosted by 2 different groups.

o Action: Chris will contact Karen Stein to try to set up our own DACA dinner for STA/STC/SP&P

ISU DACA students are setting up a 5K run to generate awareness/support.
Several needs are out there

o How to protect DACA students at public schools from ICE intervention

o Continuing need for organizations to determine what sanctuary level they would support.

o Need to educate immigrants about their rights when being asked to interview with ICE

Action: Chris will draft a potential invitation to Sheriff Fitzgerald to share with our committee at a future meeting. Could consider a joint meeting with STC SJ and STA Student SJ

Clothing Drive

Scheduled for Jan 27 and 28^th. CAYAC has volunteered to help. May need some additional volunteers especially for the 7pm mass. Drive will happen before mass to collect clothes. A group from Waterloo will pick up the clothes for St Vincent DePaul Store. STC and SP&P will use.

o Action: Ashley will send out a note to her committee.

Love Your Neighbor

Committee made a temporary process change to allow somewhat higher pay outs for certain conditions as we do have a good available balance. Committee will revisit how this is working in February.

Next meeting

Tuesday, 9 January 2018, 6 PM

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

January 9, 2018

Attendees: Tom Budnik, Felicity Douglas, Paul Friederich, Chuck Glatz, Fr. John Herzog, Chris Rehmann, Francis Todey, Kathy Trahanovsky, Ashley Treadwell, Mary Ellen Wishart

Guest: Karen Stein, to discuss DACA dinner

Chris began the meeting with a prayer composed by Martin Luther King.

Brief discussion of how to make minutes more accessible more quickly:

Chris: Secretary send minutes to Chris entitled DRAFT of minutes. (Chris may distribute to members for any quick corrections.) Chris will send the draft to Don Alexander for inclusion in the next Pastoral Council packet. Minutes will be corrected and approved at the next meeting, and “DRAFT” will be removed from the web document.

Tom: Remove old minutes from the website (possibly leave up one year) and post DRAFT copy of recent meeting as possible. Organize so that most recent are seen first.

Minutes of Dec. 12, 2017 were approved after correction of spelling of Kayak to CAYAC.

Trafficking presentation for STA middle school students

Ashley will continue to work to schedule that program, perhaps inviting Sts. Peter and Paul youth to attend. Chuck will provide Ashley with copies of the Franciscan program on a flash drive.

Chuck reported that Anna K. had very positive comments about the STA, St. Cecilia program on trafficking. Only suggestion was the need to update visuals (e.g., use Instagram instead of Facebook). She proposed doing cooperative programs once or twice a year as either parish comes up with compelling topics.

Catholic teaching on racial equality

Kathy T. reported that Sr. Ann Clifford would be open to discussing a presentation on racial equality but was currently swamped with beginning of semester demands.

DACA potluck

Group concluded that St. Thomas would like to host an event that would help people become acquainted with issues facing DACA. It was proposed that the evening would involve 3-4 presenters who would tell their stories and that there would be time for both discussion and socializing. Chris, Ashley, and Karen will meet to move this forward. Karen will check the STA calendar for possible dates.

Student service and justice

Ashley reported that they continue to work on ERP dinners and Reggie’s Sleepout on campus, and will assist with the January clothing drive.

Invitation to Sheriff Fitzgerald

Chris provided a letter of invitation to Sheriff Fitzgerald to help us understand issues of criminal justice in Story County. Chris will either visit Sheriff Fitzgerald or send the letter, broadening our question to include what services might be needed to all who are incarcerated (not just immigrants).

Love Your Neighbor

Kathy reported that the committee will be meeting on Feb. 6 to discuss such issues as what to do when a person’s needs drastically exceed our typical assistance. They will also be considering changing the limit per family/person.

Clothing drive for parish in Waterloo

Ashley will provide two persons to receive donations at each Mass on Jan. 27-28.

Mental health

Kathy and Mary Ellen continue to attend AMOS meetings on this issue and will keep the committee informed of progress.

Next meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 6:00 p.m.

Social Justice Committee Meeting: December 12, 2017

Attendees: Tom, Fr. Herzog, Chris, Dave, Felicity, Paula, Kathy, Chuck, Ashley Treadwell, Chelsea Ferrie

Approval of 14Nov2017 meeting minutes: approved

Actions from last meeting

· Chelsea researched some human trafficking resources. An e-mail was sent out to the committee. STA middle schoolers missed the STC presentation due to a schedule conflict. But other grades were able to make it. Movie testimonial seemed to resonate with this age-group. The power point seemed less effective. The program exceeded the time limits and didn’t allow time for discussion. ISU has a group that focuses on trafficking.

o Action: Chuck will contact Jen Weiers and see about a potential time slot and what we would present. Ashley will also follow up as well.

o Action: Chuck will check with Anna to get feedback on how the presentation went from her and her group leaders perspective.

· DACA Dinner – No update

· Sister Ann teaching on Catholic Teaching on racial equality / MLK, – Kathy contacted Sr. Ann and she was willing to do it, but needed some flexibility on the scheduling (after the Semester ends for sure).

o Action: Kathy will continue to follow up and try to get something scheduled for Spring

Student SJ Activities

· Caroled at NorthCrest and helped with the Worldly Goods sale.

· Good interest for cooking at ERP. They will look at the sign-up sheet

Report on Immigration Issues

· Chris went to a community meeting on immigration issues. 2 DACA dinners have been hosted by 2 different groups.

o Action: Chris will contact Karen Stein to try to set up our own DACA dinner for STA/STC/SP&P

· ISU DACA students are setting up a 5K run to generate awareness/support.

· Several needs are out there

o How to protect DACA students at public schools from ICE intervention

o Continuing need for organizations to determine what sanctuary level they would support.

o Need to educate immigrants about their rights when being asked to interview with ICE

· Action: Chris will draft a potential invitation to Sheriff Fitzgerald to share with our committee at a future meeting. Could consider a joint meeting with STC SJ and STA Student SJ

Clothing Drive

o Scheduled for Jan 27 and 28^th. Kayak has volunteered to help. May need some additional volunteers especially for the 7pm mass. Drive will happen before mass to collect clothes. A group from Waterloo will pick up the clothes for St Vincent DePaul Store. STC and SP&P will use.

o Action: Ashley will send out a note to her committee.

Love Your Neighbor

o Committee made a temporary process change to allow somewhat higher pay outs for certain conditions as we do have a good available balance. Committee will revisit how this is working in February.

Next Meeting: Tuesday January 9, 2018

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

November 14, 2017

Attendees: Chris Rehmann, Paula Friederich, Chuck Glatz, Ashley Treadwell, Chelsea Ferrie, Mary Ellen Wishart, Kathy Trahanovsky (minutes)

Minutes of the October 17 meeting were approved with the correction of Ashley’s name.

Pastoral Council Report

Chris, Dave, Paula and Tom attended the November 6 meeting of the Pastoral Council. Dave reported on the activities and status of the Love Your Neighbor program. Chris presented information about Social Justice grants, Belongings, and efforts regarding immigration. He expressed the hope for more parishioner involvement and more interaction with the Student Social Justice committee. Some members of the Council were not aware of LYN or other SJ efforts. Paula pointed out that it is important to keep up a flow of information to the Council and to the rest of the parish.

Trafficking

The program on trafficking that the committee had cosponsored at St Cecilia’s was discussed. It was suggested that some type of follow-up program be considered for the spring. Chelsea noted that she is taking a relevant course at Iowa State and is aware of some activities and information on campus. Mary Ellen pointed out that she had led a discussion about LGBT issues at a youth small group leaders meeting and suggested that as a group for a discussion about trafficking.

ACTION Chelsea will explore ISU resources. The SJ committee will try to plan another program in the spring for STA youth.

AMOS

Chris, Mary Ellen, Kathy and Paula attended the AMOS “house meeting” at Bethesda Lutheran church on mental health issues in Story County. There will be follow up meetings for specific areas of interest in the next month.

Immigration

Chris will be attending a meeting of the local committee at UUFA tonight after this meeting. He attended the DACA dinner at UUFA. There is no plan yet for a DACA dinner at STA, but students are still interested in helping with one.

ACTION Chris will contact Ashley and Chelsea after break about planning a DACA dinner.

Report from Student Social Justice group

Leaf raking has been completed. Students will help with the Worldly Goods sale, and plan to do caroling at Northcrest.

Engaging more parishioners

Chuck has sent two emails to the list of those who expressed interest in AMOS on Time and Talent. He has had no response.

Other business

Kathy had attended Sr Ann Clifford’s Supple lecture on Martin Luther King and Catholic teachings on racial equality. She suggested that the SJ committee could sponsor a similar presentation by Sr Ann at STA possibly as a Wisdom and Wine event in the spring.

ACTION Kathy will contact Sr Ann to see if she would be willing to give a talk on MLK and Catholic teaching on racial equality at STA in the spring

Next meeting

Tuesday, 12 December, 6 PM

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee

17 October 2017

Attendees: Fr. Herzog, Francis Todey, Paula Friederich, Felicity Douglas, Chuck Glatz, Chris Rehmann, Angela Treadwell, Chelsea Ferrie, Tom Budnik, Kathy Trahanovsky (minutes)

Approval of minutes

Minutes of the 19 September 2017 meeting were accepted with a clarification requested by Paula of the statement concerning renting of jail space by ICE.

The committee proceeded to review the status of actions items from the September meeting.

Connecting with the student SJ committee

Ashley Treadwell from the student committee reported that members participated in the CROP Hunger Walk, they will go to ERP for pumpkin carving with children of families in transition housing, and they plan to offer leaf raking. They are interested in possible involvement with a DACA dinner. Chris announced that a DACA dinner was being held at the UUFA on Sunday October 22 at 12:30 PM. There is still interest in St Cecilia, St Peter and Paul, and St Thomas Aquinas jointly sponsoring a DACA dinner.

Educating about trafficking

The presentation by the Franciscan Sisters from Dubuque has been scheduled for November 8 at 7:30 at St Cecilia. Chuck presented mockups for bulletin announcements and flyers sent by Mary Ellen. Chuck will contact Mary Ellen and they will finalize the copy. The Glatzes will host the presenters. A motion was approved to offer a $300. honorarium plus mileage reimbursement to the sisters.

Participating with AMOS

AMOS would like to have 100 attendees at a delegate assembly on Monday October 23 at Bethesda Lutheran church. There will be a forum with the Ames municipal election candidates for mayor and city council. Chuck sent out this information to the list of people from Time and Talent who expressed an interest in AMOS.

Tom read a statement he had received from the School Administrators of Iowa when he inquired about their policy with regard to ICE access to students. Paula asked that Tom send a copy of the statement to SJ committee members.

Supporting immigrants

As noted above, there is interest in planning a DACA dinner jointly with St Cecilia and St Peter and Paul. Chris will speak with their representatives

Connecting with parishioners who indicated interest in SJ

Lists from Time and Talent have been distributed for those who expressed interest in AMOS, in ERP/Food at First, and in Emergency Assistance Interviewer/LYN. Tom will request the list for SJ Issues/Education and send it to Chris.

LYN/SJ report to Pastoral Council

Chris, Dave and Tom will plan to do this for the PC meeting on November 2..

Next meeting

Tuesday, 14 November, 6 PM

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee 19 September 2017

Attendees: Fr. Herzog, Mary Ellen Wishart, Francis Todey, Felicity Douglas, Paula Friederich, Tom Budnik, Chris Rehmann, David Dirks (minutes)

Approval of minutes

Minutes of 15 August 2017 minutes were approved unanimously.
Connecting with the student SJ committee
 Felicity sent e-mail to the student SJ group to see if any students want to participate in our meetings, but no response yet.
 Chris will contact the two students (Jennifer Sigmon, Bernadette Poduska) who helped with SJ grants as well
Educating about trafficking
 Chuck contacted the Franciscan Sisters in Dubuque on trafficking education. We will do this 7:30 November 8th at Saint Cecilia. Plan is to do this during normal religious ed Wednesday.
 Plan to invite all middle and high school students and parents and an open invite to congregations at STC, STA, and SP&P.
 Chuck is planning to organize the publicity (bulletin and posters in all 3 parishes). Chris to follow up since Chuck not in attendance.
 Mary Ellen will contact Jan Beran (chair of Ames Trafficking committee) to let her know as well.
 Mary Ellen to check with Chuck about hosting the sisters (where they will stay, etc.) and also if there is any remuneration required for their travel and materials.
 Mary Ellen also to check with Anna Steele and Zeke Mientkiewicz about if refreshments are required.
Participating with AMOS
 There will be a delegate’s assembly for AMOS on Monday October 23rd. This can be a Q&A with City Council candidates and mayor candidates.
 Sixteen people expressed interest in AMOS. Chuck has made contact via e-mail with them.
 ICE is renting beds in the Story County jail; this approach apparently aims to facilitate holding immigrants for longer than 48 hours. Previously the Sheriff has said he would only hold immigrants for 48 hours. AMOS is following up to see if this is still the Sheriff’s intention. Also AMOS is trying to develop/influence guidance for the school districts on what to do in the event of an ICE raid. Action: Tom will connect with some of his former Iowa Education colleagues to see what guidance they might have
Supporting immigrants
UCC is considering a DACA (Dreamer) dinner for education on the situation. The dinner will be a potluck, and it will have Dreamers tell their stories. Chris will talk to John McCully to see what kind of response we might expect if we did a similar event.
Connection with parishioners who indicated interest in SJ
Chuck got the responses for AMOS. However, we haven’t gotten data for SJ yet. Action – Tom will request for SJ Issues/Education and for ERP/Food at First and Emergency Assistance Interviewer/LYN.
LYN/SJ Report to Pastoral Council
Francis feels that it is time to do another report out to Pastoral Council on LYN. Action: Francis will work with Fr. Jon about the right timing and will communicate back to Dave, Tom, and Chris.
Next meeting
Tuesday, 17 October, 6 pm

Social Justice Committee Meeting: 15Aug2017

Attendees: Francis, Chris, Chuck, Dave, Felicity, Fr. Herzog, Mary Ellen, Paula

Approval of minutes from 13Jun2017: Approved.

Brainstorm idea list for SJ activities for the next year

1. Build a better connection with the student SJ committee – Felicity will make contact with the student SJ group (and two students who helped with SJ grants) via Shari possibly

2. Build a better connection with the STC SJ committee

3. Pick a topic and host a speaker (w/ STC or with ISU lectures…trafficking?)

4. Work with AMOS in some way or discontinue membership (look at the 7 who chose Amos last year and contact)

5. Educate about trafficking in coordination with faith formation effort (sisters of DBQ). Bring further SJ topics to the high school program – Mary Ellen will follow up with Anna Steele on where we are at on trafficking

6. Get more parishioners involved (ERP, etc…)

7. Delegates to represent external groups and have them report in (AMOS, AIFRA, STC, etc…)

8. Yard sign on diversity/inclusivity for congregation

9. Book for the congregation or small groups to read

10. Brochure for SJ (who we are, what we do, how to get involved)

11. Contact all people who indicated an interest in SJ in the parish registration – Chuck will get the data from the survey and see if it will be available for the next SJ meeting. At a future meeting will divide up the names and call people.

Next Meeting will be Tuesday September 19^th at 6pm.

Social Justice Committee Meeting: 13Jun2017

Attendees: Francis, Chris, Mary Ellen, Tom, Dave, Paula, Jackuie, Kathy, Joseph (Paula’s son)

23May2017 Notes – motion made and approved unanimously to accept the notes as written.

Creation Care Teams (Laudato Si)

· Fr. Emmett Farrell will present on Creation Care teams at Saint Cecelia on July 19.

SJ Grants

· Grants have been sent out.

Human Trafficking

· Joseph works at the US State Department and has done investigation into human trafficking in many locations around the world.

· Iowa is the 5^th leading state in the US relative to trafficking. The interstate highway system with trucks from all over the nation is a big contributor to this. Council Bluffs is an especially troubled area.

· Joseph believes that the best place for STA SJ team to start on this is “at home”. Through education and awareness. He emphasized that church groups are doing more and being more effective than the government on this issue both in the US and abroad.

· Trafficking is more prevalent with young females, but young males are also at risk.

· In the US trafficking is done more through coercion (targeting susceptible kids, offering things like fake scholarships, and often through social media like Facebook). In poorer more troubled areas outside the US, trafficking deception is also prevalent (impersonating UN personnel) but also through kidnapping. In one refugee camp alone, Joseph said he found more than 18,000 people missing due to trafficking.

· Jackuie has spoken with Anna Steele on the idea of using the Trafficking Educational materials (focused on Iowa) from the Dubuque Sisters as part of the religious education curriculum for middle and high school. Anna is open to this. Jackuie will finalize the discussion with Anna in a few weeks.

Review of the Past 12 Months/Planning for the Next 12 Months

· Things that went well for the SJC

o Love Your Neighbor efforts and committee development

o Chris’ leadership of SJC: timely meeting, good facilitation, more people willing to join

o SJ Grants

o Good communication (meeting notes, discussions with finance committee and Pastoral Council)

o SJC got some things done – action oriented team, not just discussion

· Things that SJC could do better

o More consistent student participation

o Getting more parishioners involved in SJC actions and outreach

o Would like to have a listing of all STA committee leads and members for better connections across committees (this is something that was compiled and shared in previous years

o Should connect more frequently with the STC social justice committee.

o Should do some follow up with the Honduras committee

o Communication that connects SJC activities to more parishioners

· Next Steps for Planning

o Chris will send out a survey to committee members to vote on what they would like to focus on

Next Meeting

· Tuesday August 15^th, 6pm

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee 21 March 2017

Attendees: Mary Ellen Wishart, Tom Budnik, Kathy Trahanovsky, Francis Todey, Chris Rehmann, David Dirks (minutes)
Approval of minutes
Motion for approval of 21 Feb. 2017 minutes: Kathy, Francis (second). Approved unanimously.
Social Justice Grants
Tom put an announcement in last week’s bulletin and will do that again this week. The grant application deadline is Monday April 24. We need to review the applications sometime in May because Net needs a week or two to process and get the checks out in June. The review subcommittee last year was Paula, Felicity, Chris, Francis, and Liz H. (student). The committee will include the same resident parishioners, but since Liz is graduating and will likely not attend, we will need another student.
Action—Tom: Work with Shari to find a student parishioner to join the subcommittee. Action—Chris: Ask Felicity whether she is willing to chair the subcommittee and call a meeting in May.
Budget
Chris reviewed answers to the questions from last meeting. John Moore said that we don’t need to worry about the difference between income and expenditures because it is monitored at an overall budget level and not at the level shown on our budget sheet. John has also advised that LYN and SJ budgets are approved separately. Both the Pastoral Council and Finance Council are aware of our request for Love Your Neighbor. No further actions appear to be required at this time for the budget process.

Actions to support marginalized groups
1. Discernment for sanctuary: Chris shared details on meeting at Ames United Church of Christ on March 26, 9:15-10:15 am. 2. “Know your rights” meeting” on April 2 at St. Cecilia. They may need help with the meal. Action—Chris: Check to see if they need more volunteers for the meal 3. Request from Erica Johnson of AFSC relative to being a fiscal agent for donations for families affected by ICE raids: We have a concern that this may not fit well within the regulations for our 501(c)(3) status. We have had requests from Mustard Seed Farm, but we have declined due to the concern over regulations. We might be able to support our own parishioners (parishioner assistance fund).

Belonging
Chris has edited the webpage. Chuck and others reviewed other church sites. There were a number of e-mails on this through the past month. We decided to leave the Belonging funds unspent for now, and Chris will ask about a meeting with Fr. Jon and members of the Belonging group.

Bread for the World
Russ Melby offered to conduct a free training on a letter campaign to ask members of Congress to “make funding decisions that put our country and the world on track to end hunger by 2030.”

Action—Mary Ellen: Ask Russ Melby for more information on the training.

Next meeting: 18 April @ 6PM

Social Justice Committee Meeting: 23May2017

Attendees: Francis,Chris, Mary Ellen, Tom, Dave, Paula, Jackuie, Fr. Herzog, Chuck

18Apr2017 Notes – motion made and approved unanimously toaccept the notes as written. Tom willcontinue to add notes to the website, but will pull down the oldest one at thesame time. We don’t see value in havingall of them on the website.

Human Trafficking
·       Chuck reviewed the materials we were given (seelast meeting).   Action: Chuck to update Joan Grabenstetter on the SJ review and planfor the materials. Our initialintent would be to educate our parishioners/children on trafficking in Iowa. Action: Chuck to contact Zeke (middle schooleducation for both parishioners) and Anna Steele about getting the materials intonext year’s curriculum. Paula alsohas a very good resource who could speak to international trafficking.
·       Suggestion was made that we need to prioritizeinternational trafficking education/action with our other SJ priorities. Perhaps we can do that in an upcomingmeeting.

SJ Grants
·       Grants awarded for a value of approximately 24,000$.   8 applications were repeats from organizationsfrom a previous year, but most had a different emphasis. 2 Newapplicants, total number of grants accepted was 11.

Ramp Sale
·       No response to our ad in the bulletin asking forhelp on the ramp sale. Committee hasdecided to end the ramp sale. Action: Tom to put a notice in the bulletin alerting parishioners of thisdecision.

Sanctuary
·       There was a May meeting on Sanctuary, but no onein attendance at this meeting made it to the Sanctuary meeting – so no update.

Creation Care Teams (Laudato Si)
·       Tom got us some materials for a potentialworkshop on Creation Care Teams.   The SJcommittee at STC has an interest in this potentially as well.

Fr. Emmett Farrell leads these. He will be available July 19-21.
·       Our committee feels like this would not be wellattended during the summer. But believewe should see if STC would carry it further.  Action:   Tom to contact Mary Ross (STC SJleader). We would be willing toadvertise it to STA parishioners.

Social Justice Committee Meeting: 18Apr2017

Attendees: Kathy, Francis, Chris, Mary Ellen, Tom, Dave, Mary Ann, Paula, Felicity

Minutes from the last meeting were approved unanimously.

SJ Grants

Only 6 applications. Deadline is Monday. We know of 3 others that hope to be submitted before the deadline. Felicity will chair the subcommittee. Action: Felicity to call a meeting for the first week of May. Tom has provided 2 student names to join the committee, both have accepted. Action: Chris to send the names to Felicity. Action: Tom will provide 7 packets with the applications on the garden hallway table by April 29.

Actions to Support Marginalized Groups

· Chuck attended for SJ. 90 Adults / 30 Families were in attendance and there may have been more. The program educated attendees on “know your rights” relative to immigration law.

· There is a meeting on “Sanctuary” on April 28^th at Collegiate United Methodist from 7-9pm. Mary Ellen will try to attend.

· There is a Town Hall Meeting, put on by the Ames Refugee Alliance. This is April 25^th at the library from 5:30-7:30pm. Tom has attempted to get the notice into the bulletin (internet issues makes it difficult to know if we met the bulletin deadline).

Bread for the World – Mary Ellen attended the event. -The goal this year is to write letters to Congress supporting eliminating hunger by 2030. Action: Mary Ellen to share the letter drive with Sherry (for the student SJ team) and to Tyler (for the small groups).

Ramp Sale – Mary Ellen has a letter asking for a new leader. Action: Tom will put this into the bulletin. We don’t expect to get a volunteer based on recent history. Assuming no one steps up we will publish a second note in the bulletin advertising where donations can be sent and alerting people to volunteering opportunity at the City large item rummage sale.

24 Hour Adoration Event – April 21/22 – sign up if interested. Not many open slots left.

Human Trafficking – Joan Grabenstetter provided some materials from her daughter who has been working to prevent human trafficking. Action: Chuck will review the materials.

Love Your Neighbor – Council has been discussing the budget allocation and at least are considering to fund LYN at a level that would help balance the short fall. The envelope (one per month) for LYN will be reinstated.

Next meeting: 23 May, 6 pm.

Social Justice Committee Meeting: 18Apr2017

Attendees: Kathy, Francis, Chris, Mary Ellen, Tom, Dave, Mary Ann, Paula, Felicity

Minutes from the last meeting were approved unanimously.

SJ Grants

Actions to Support Marginalized Groups

· Chuck attended for SJ. 90 Adults / 30 Families were in attendance and there may have been more. The program educated attendees on “know your rights” relative to immigration law.

· There is a meeting on “Sanctuary” on April 28^th at Collegiate United Methodist from 7-9pm. Mary Ellen will try to attend.

24 Hour Adoration Event – April 21/22 – sign up if interested. Not many open slots left.

Human Trafficking – Joan Grabenstetter provided some materials from her daughter who has been working to prevent human trafficking. Action: Chuck will review the materials.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Justice Committee 21 February 2017 Attendees: Paula Friederich, Kathy Trahanovsky, Jacquie Novak, Felicity Douglas, Francis Todey, Chris Rehmann, Fr. John Herzog, Chuck Glatz, David Dirks (minutes), Fr. Jon Seda Approval of minutes Motion for approval of 17 Jan 2017 minutes: Chuck, Paula (second). Approved unanimously. Belonging • Purpose was to provide a welcoming face from STA to the LGBT community • Participation has faded and there is only 1 meeting per year and no designated leader. The Wisharts were the last leaders of this group. Website is out of date. • There is some content on the website that Fr. Seda has received complaints about and that does not match Catholic teaching. Specifically, under resources and referrals there are links to some groups that are not aligned with Catholic teaching. One of the testimonials advocates for same-sex marriage. • Action—Chris: Temporarily remove the content that drew complaints but leave the welcome page intact. • Action—Kathy: Reach out to the Wisharts and get their thoughts on Belonging and thoughts on continuing, stopping, etc. • Action—SJ committee: Read website and prepare for discussion at next meeting • Action—Chuck/Jacquie: Search other Catholic websites to see their content on this issue Budget • Changes: No Honduras fund raiser planned due to adequate funds. Slight increase in LYN tithe. • Concerns: Income portion of budget sheet does not show income from tithe (for SJ grants and LYN). Also LYN tithe seems to be 1% higher than previous year, but this doesn’t match with the income numbers shown. • Action—Chris: Talk with Tom/John Moore about the concerns above. Discuss budget again at next month’s meeting Actions to support marginalized groups • A lot of concern in general relative to the fact that fear is increasing for this group • Planning to have a “know your rights” meeting after a Spanish Mass at Saint Cecilia. • Action—Chris: Get info and place in the bulletin at the appropriate time • SJ Committee agreed that we should move forward with trying to set up an educational meeting for our parish and other churches/interested parties in Ames. • Action—Chris: Continue trying to organize. Next meeting: 21 March @ 6PM

Ministry

Minutes of SJ meetings