Archives for June 2012

Memphis Convoy of Hope will be holding a community outreach event to honor and help those in need. You can make a difference by helping out with health services, food services, grocery distribution, guest services, kid zone, haircuts, family portraits, and more. There will be free live music and entertainment, as well as free BBQ lunch for everyone in attendance. All are welcome!!!

When : Saturday June 30, 2012. Gates open at 10 am, rain or shine.
Where : Mid-South Fairgrounds

Those interested in volunteering at the outreach should attend our rally, which will be held on Friday, June 29, 2012 at 7:00 P.M. At the rally volunteers will receive a free t-shirt and instructions for the day of the outreach.

For more information on the event:

http://memphis.convoyofhope.org/
http://memphis.convoyofhope.org/volunteer

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The Community Alliance for the Homeless, Inc. will be hosting Project Homeless Connect 2, a massive one-day event targeting unsheltered homeless individuals in Memphis and Shelby County – through which all the resources and services needed to leave homelessness are provided under one roof. An inspiring and meaningful project that puts the Mayors’ Action Plan to End Homelessness to work! There are many services anticipated and volunteer duties/assignments.

When : Thursday July 12, 2012.
Where : Cook Convention Center

Volunteers will be trained on their assignment and safety protocols on July 11^th at 4 p.m.

For more information on the event:

(901)-527-1302

www.communityallianceforthehomeless.com
http://www.communityallianceforthehomeless.com/?p=1273

*Hasta luego, plain translation would be ‘till later’  

A couple of weeks ago, I started my transition from the Office Coordinator at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center to becoming a Training Coordinator.  This excited me, to know that I can give more if I put my self into motion.

I experimented with the “Training” issue for first time in my theater career. I formerly hosted theater trainings for youth and adults in Costa Rica.  There I studied Scenic Arts and decided to continue that practice by holding theater trainings for the Centro Cultural Latino de Memphis (Memphis Latino Cultural Center).

Theater is not something that you can necessarily teach someone how to do. Obviously, there are several techniques for learning theater. For me, theater is experiencing different situations while being completely aware of yourself (mind and body).  We learn from ourselves first and also from others that are in the same process.  If one will notice, most of life’s learning is based on self experience.

I had not thought about how all trainings share the essence regardless of the content, until I went to Minneapolis for the training called ‘Talleristas por la Justicia’ (Trainers for Social Justice) or Training for Trainers, as it’s known in English. This training is one of several phenomenal trainings by the organization, Training for Change. I’d already completed a training-for-trainers experience before becoming involved in this training; yet I found it crucial for me, not only because this training was completely in Spanish, but was also completely in the Hispanic Culture.  It is one thing to speak in Spanish only and another thing to personally be Hispanic with all the understanding – that puts it all into proper perspective.

I could experience the difference between the English Training and the Spanish Training even when the training format is the same because of the people involved with it. This could be very obvious, but for me was a great discovery.

Without generalizing, there are 36 countries throughout “America” of which most (20) are Spanish speaking countries with very different cultures represented among them. The United States, furthermore, is the country with the biggest population of Spanish speaking people as second language (as first language in many cases) and Hispanics living inside its borders, hosting a mix of diverse cultures, and yet sharing many similarities too.

While between Hispanic people there are some differences regarding their language (slangs) and culture, similarly the differences in diversity with the Memphis culture is even bigger.  A training for Memphis culture therefore has to have some kind of Hispanic dynamic as well.

Specifically, this area of emphasis on Memphis culture will be my first goal to accomplish in this new position. In order to make a cultural interpretation for our Core Organizing Training that was initially designed for English speaking people, there will now be an updated Spanish version: GOT Power (Grassroots Organizing Training for Power).

This cultural interpretation is not only meant to interpret the words originally prepared in English, but is also interpreting the essence of its intended applications.  What we really have to do is actually provide an Hispanic feeling with some Salsa and Rancheras!

I will admit, it has been challenging to do this cultural translation work simply because I’m not a professional interpreter and English is my (almost) second language.  I have however, had the experience to be part of some trainings with amazing trainers. It is so rewarding to know my people, and I am deeply enjoying what I’m doing.

Continuing on in this amazing experience is allowing me to merge community theater with social justice. I will attend the Advance Training for Trainers in Philadelphia, next July (thanks to Mid-South Peace and Justice Center supporters). It will be a 5-day experience of  learning  perhaps a more effective way to help our Mid-South Peace and Justice Center team in making the greater Memphis culture better for all.

Talleristas por la Justicia – Minneapolis 2012

If you want to know more about The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center trainings, please contact us at 901-725-4990 or by email at:

Allison Glass, Training Director – allison@midsouthpeace.org or

Gio López, Training Coordinator – gio@midsouthpeace.org 

*Nuestros entrenamientos también están disponibles en Español

Our trainings are also available in Spanish.

Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality (H.O.P.E.) is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center sponsored organization who’s members are exclusively people who are currently or have formerly experienced homelessness.

 H.O.P.E. wants to thank all of our members and allies for their hard work, phone calls,emails and letters which allowed H.O.P.E. to win a historic victory in THE ROAD HOME campaign.

We especially want to thank Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy for his tireless support.

This effort involved actively lobbying and advocating our local elected officials during the Shelby County Commission budget hearings and thanks to your efforts we won much needed funding at historic levels to provide housing and care to those least fortunate within our community.

Thanks to you…

1. H.O.P.E. won  $250,000 of County funding for the Mayors’ Plan to End Homelessness. These funds will be used to provide early outreach and In home case management and wrap around services for 100 of the most vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness in our city. These are individuals who are projected under current conditions to die within the next two years without housing and services. These funds will bridge the gap for these individuals moving into permanent supportive housing until their Medicare benefits are processed. This will aid the Community Alliance for the Homeless in reaching the goal of housing 100 unsheltered individuals by Christmas of 2012.

2. H.O.P.E. won a one time expenditure of $200,000 of capital improvement funds to convert blighted and MHA properties into permanent supportive housing. This will result in new units of permanent supportive housing for 25 homeless families with disabilities and 43 units of permanent affordable housing for low income families over the course of the next 36 months.

3. H.O.P.E. won $60,000 in operational funding in support of Judge Bill Anderson’s proposal of a Veteran’s Court within General Sessions Division 7.  This Court will help veterans who suffer from the trauma or war to be diverted out of the Criminal justice system and into programs suited to address their needs with dignity beginning July 15th of 2012.  As 20%-30% of those experiencing homelessness are veterans, this is a core issue of concern to H.O.P.E.

This victory and the previous victories from our May 1st day of action has allowed H.O.P.E. to grow into Memphis’ premiere organization representing the needs and concerns of people experiencing homelessness….and we are far from done.

UPCOMING ACTIONS

1. H.O.P.E is diligently investigating allegations of criminal wrong doing at two local homeless service providers at the request of our members. H.O.P.E. is getting a lot of reports from women experiencinghomelessness that employees at a local shelter are having inappropriate sexual conduct with female clients in exchange for shelter or “PLAY TO STAY” as it has been called. H.O.P.E. will be performing street outreach now and over the course of the next few weeks and months to reach out to unsheltered women to document these cases to pass on to the DA and Police to DEMAND a full investigation and prosecution of any and all offenders. If these allegations are true then H.O.P.E will not stop until that organization and all those involved with “PLAY TO STAY” are publicly and legally punished.

2. H.O.P.E. is also pursuing the creation of a Worker’s Co-op to facilitate part time income sources for it’s members. This venture, led by H.O.P.E. organizer, Paul Garner, would involve members of H.O.P.E. being trained in silk screen printing for the creation of t-shirts for organizations, church youth organizations, political campaigns and grassroots organizing groups. This service will be fully owned and operated by the members themselves.

H.O.P.E. is working to create an internal business plan and marketing strategy as well as fundraising to purchase equipment for start up with a goal of being open for business by early August.

If you have a background in business or are a business student who is interested in aiding our members in how to write a business plan,bylaws, and the basics of operating a business please contact Organizing Director, Brad Watkins at 901-725-4990 or by email at brad@midsouthpeace.org

In May of this year, a group of community members came together to hear about Community and Police Reconciliation.  We discussed how this project will be lead by the communities that are suffering the most from negative interactions with the police. We reviewed the history of why the community and law enforcement have come to the point of needing reconciliation.

Over the years there have been incidents such as:

1.) The mistreatment (beating) of Duanna Johnson, a transgender woman.  

2.) Members of the Latino community feel that even if they are documented citizens their voices aren’t being heard fairly. Leaving them to feel they can’t report crimes of injustice such as robberies, mistreatment by landlords, domestic violence and other crimes.

3.) African Americans feel an injustice when they are stopped for minor traffic violations or just for being Black.  

4.) There has been a wholesale move away from community policing towards the BlueCRUSH model of data-driven policing. This has resulted in community members only having interactions with police officers when there is an emergency and/or something bad happens.

5.) Almost weekly reports in the media of criminal activities committed by law enforcement officers themselves.

The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has worked in communities across the city for more than 30 years. A consistent problem that is brought to our attention is the negative relationship that exists between law enforcement and the community. We believe that since policing is a tax-payer funded operation, that the entire community should be involved in setting the agenda of how we deal with crime. Right now many feel as if they are victims in the process of addressing crime and handling police misconduct. We hope to engage the community to become leaders on this issue, so that the community can set the agenda.

In Memphis and Shelby County, citizens have real concerns where the hurt and pain will need to be addressed, in order to move forward in a reconciliation process.  The citizens of Memphis should know that conditions and concerns have an opportunity to change with their voices.  We are hopeful in the new leadership of the Memphis Police Department. Director Armstrong is a native Memphian and has signaled that he would like to move forward towards a positive working relationship with the community. When a community is healthy and safe we all benefit.

As the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County lead the process toward moving forward to reconciliation, we will be a continued support for the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County that wish to take control over all aspects of their lives. Including in this instance, how we handle crime in our community. Will we handle it with brute force? Or will we focus on community based solutions? That is the conversation this project seeks to engage in.

So, what is reconciliation? That is something that we all have to decide and it is a conversation that is starting now. Join us by contacting Melissa at 901.725.4990 or melissa@midsouthpeace.org.