On June 17th, I attended the Social Action Grassroots Seminar at the Jewish Federation. Present for this event were the following agencies: Temple Sinai, the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, the Louis and Goldie Chester Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry, Temple Emanuel, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Interfaith Coalition to Fight Poverty, the Watson Institute of Brown University, and the Jewish AIDS Coalition. It was facilitated by a young woman from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs who had a remarkable talent for engaging others, leadership, encouragement, prioritizing and generally teaching. I was very glad to have attended because it reminded me of what the goal of coming together as a community can be ideally.
The purpose for our coming together was to define the goals of the CRC the Community Relations Council, part of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. The issue we were to address was to be poverty. Now, this sounds like an insurmountable issue. I mean, there've always been poor people. What could any group, never mind us and the agencies we represent, hope to accomplish in addressing an issue that's never going to go away? And why should we? Unless we embrace [challenges] as a community, [and] move away from stigma, [challenges] become exacerbated (D. Byrnes, Jewish AIDS Coalition). In short, as a community, it benefits us as Jews to perceive issues that are universal as affecting us as well we don't live in a vacuum. Some of us, even now in the 21st century, are affected by homelessness, by not having enough to eat or not having qualitative food resources, by health issues, and by living in a stressed economy. With this realization, we begin to see the people we know, other Jews surviving under stressful circumstances. We begin to empathize. With empathy, we remember that we're human and are therefore part of humanity. Because poverty is never going to go away, we become defined by what we have and what we don't have because of how we let these circumstances teach us.
I didn't have a home last year. I was in a state that I never heard anything about except for Family Guy (so I had a pretty bad impression). But I got a job here, so I came ... And then I had to let the gig go because I got injured so many times. Could have gone back to New York City, but I'd met the gal of my dreams and decided to stay. And then that & ran its course. Still could have gone back to New York, but I found that would have been a step backwards there was no work easily found there and everything I was going through here I would have been going through there; besides, I had always intended to leave New York anyway. During this time, my faith was a very useful tool in that it was a constant reminder of my own humanity and ability to be productive. I also learned how to let others be there for me, and that this did not in any way devalue my humanity. Such is one of the powers of faith communities coming together to address something that is never going to go away.
If people are not affected, they may not act (S. Benesch). Now how do we get this organizing done? When confronted with the problems that plague us economically and socially, which reflect everything from our insecurities regarding our basic survival to the validity of the American dream, what can be done that is effective without being destructive? How will we know if the people we vote for really do hear us? Speaking on systemic concerns, a representatives from the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless presenting at this event recounted story of what can actually be accomplished by organizing on a grassroots level. Earlier in the year, the Rhode Island state house had intended to cut funding to much needed programs, and RICH facilitated a campaign of outreach, letter writing, calling, attendance at state meetings, peaceful and creative protests to keep our state from making decisions that would, basically, make things worse for an already disenfranchised population. In particular, the funding for the Neighborhood Opportunities Program (or NOP), which ... subsidizes affordable rental housing very low income families and individuals with disabilities ... (RICH info sheet) was at risk. The effort was rewarded when NOP received its funding $44,012,499.12. Was poverty made extinct? No. Was a tool to encourage self sustaining actions saved? Yes. What struck me about the speaker's lesson of what the very patient and very consistent campaign accomplished was this: our state government needed to see who we are; we had to become people and not numbers; if we don't tell people who we are, we will not be seen.
We then had to determine the most effective means of bringing us together as Jews. But first, we needed to know who our community really is, who is our audience? We know we're Jews, but we, like all other people, have a myriad set of roles that present us with a myriad set of circumstances that prompt us to wear different hats and bring us in contact with all kinds of people. Therefore life itself leads us to arenas that are not typically associated with Jews and yet there we are. So, as a group, we'd ascertained that our community is comprised of the obvious from: elders, youth, women, men, boys, girls, students, congregants at our respective synagogues...; to the not always so obvious: LGBT, Jews of Color, unaffiliated, business owners and operators, arts organizations, Interfaith organizations, urban, rural, homeless& The point of the exercise? To prompt us, when considering how to implement grassroots actions, to consider to whom and where we would pursue outreach.
Did we invent charity? No, but we are called to be mindful of the needy (even if some among us are needy). We are expected to because it connects us to humanity, especially our own; it keeps us grounded; it reminds us to connect with others; and (my favorite) it gives us a say in life's quirky sense of humor. Are Christians, Muslims, Witches/Pagans, Buddhists, Hindus, ad infinitum incapable of such things? No, everyone is capable of charity and working collectively toward communal self sustaining practices ... teach people how to fish and they'll live forever how they do it is up to them.
The CRC is particularly interested in establishing an Interfaith collective. Why? Because for those of us who choose to be honed spiritually by following a system of faith, we implicitly agree to the standards of our respective faiths the most basic standard being to love one another.
When it was over, along with others, I helped clean up (cuz my mama raised me right), got a ride to Kennedy Plaza and went home. As I went there initially representing myself, just & wanting to volunteer, I was still confused as to how I could be effective. A few days later, I was at Pride in Providence, representing VegOutRI, cuz... I said I would. Eventually, I walked around the festivities and the vendors and found several faith based groups present. Then a light bulb went off, and, to anyone who would listen to me, I extolled the virtues of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. Got a few business cards made a mental note to contact the director of the CRC regarding these prospects. The next day and for a few days later I was obsessed with a FAT paper that I got in just in the last minute it was due. Then I was lazy for the next two days. Then I saw in my to do list that I promised to write this article that you're reading now. When I send it out to those whom I said would, I will list the contacts that I made at Pride within the message box yes a week later. Because, you see, all that matters is that we do something some small thing, along with others' small things, which becomes proof to our powers that be that, yes indeed, we do have a pulse and yes, we are mindful of their activities. Even if we're behind, we can all do some small thing it does matter.