Archives for October 2012

On September 28-30th, ten grassroots community groups from across the city came together for the Movement Building Training, hosted by MSPJC. This exciting training was facilitated by two national organizations, Center for Community Change and Green for All.

The MSPJC training team worked hard collaborating with them in designing the curriculum to fit the needs of the groups present, and what transpired was a dynamic weekend in which new, powerful connections were made and lots of important internal work was done within each attending organization as well.

Groups had the chance to develop powerful narratives to tell others who they are and why they’re doing the work. They also had an opportunity to do campaign planning and develop an action plan of tactics to reach a specific goal they’re working towards. We also did lots of important big group learning and connecting. Many people present said they had never been in a training before where they felt so much support, like we were a family. Groups present included: Memphis Center for Independent Living/ADAPT, Tennessee Equality Project, Memphis Bus Riders Union, H.O.P.E., Comunidades Unidas, Women’s Action Coalition, Grow Memphis, M3, Change Memphis, Vance Avenue Collaborative, and S.O.L.I.D.S. This was a huge power building opportunity, and we are thrilled that we’re already seeing new collaborations and engagement from many of the groups which were present.

H.O.P.E. is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people who are currently or have formerly experienced homelessness. For over a year now, H.O.P.E. has been organizing and agitating around the issues that are a priority to the homeless community.

---

DIGNITY:
H.O.P.E. members hit the pavement running this month, volunteering  with the Community Alliance for the Homeless for the 100k Homes campaign: Memphis 100, which will get 100 of the most vulnerable individuals of the street and into permanent supportive housing before Christmas.

---

H.O.P.E. was instrumental in securing the funding for this campaign back in May, and to seal the deal, H.O.P.E. members spent three days getting up at four o’clock in the morning to do outreach and conduct surveys to connect 100 of our brothers and sisters with the housing and supportive services that they so desperately need.

“Of the 259 interviewed, more than half will be near death within the next two years.
Almost all of them sleep outside year round and over half of them have serious medical conditions.”

H.O.P.E. will continue to fight for funding that makes campaigns like this possible!

---

Mutual Emotional Support:

H.O.P.E. wants to thanks the Krav Maga Center of Memphis for joining forces with H.O.P.E. to produce a series of monthly self defense classes for women experiencing homelessness!

92% of women on the street have experienced the victimization of physical or sexual assault. This will provide our members who are women with a way to develop their survival skills and strengthen the interpersonal bonds they have with one another in a safe andsupportive environment.  This, along with the added component of mutual emotional support and group counseling  will lead us to the creation of a H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus, to specifically address the issues of women on our streets. We already know that the women in our group are some of our strongest leaders. We are looking forward to the next steps of strengthening these skills and building the internal capacity of H.O.P.E. to continue to win real tangible victories for our members.

---

Solidarity:

This month, H.O.P.E. men and women stood together with our LGBT brothers and sisters to support the the Non- Discrimination Ordinance, which the Memphis City Council passed with a 9-4 vote on October 16, 2012.  This ordinance now provides city employees with equal protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as well as disability, age, sex, national origin, and ethnicity.

H.O.P.E. knows that homelessness is a rainbow issue; there is no issue that we can’t find common ground with in the struggle for civil rights and equality. During a past H.O.P.E. meeting, members voted to support the work of TEP and will continue to support our LGBT members.

---

Self Determination:

H.O.P.E. members have met every Monday at the Memphis Center for Independent Living, over the past several months to develop a business plan for a worker owned and operated tee-shirt printing co-op. This month, H.O.P.E. members finalized and voted to approve the business plan and bylaws for Street Wise ink CO-OP!

H.O.P.E. would like to thank Dan Levin, our business advisor for his tireless commitment and involvement in this project.  Here is an excerpt from our business plan:

“Street Wise Ink is a collaborative group of homeless and formerly homeless men and women joined together sharing knowledge to create a silk-screening business.  Based on the principle of “Teach a man to fish,” Street Wise Ink members are empowering themselves to break the chains of homelessness.
This will not only provide a sustainable income to Street Wise Ink members, it will also raise awareness of issues surrounding homelessness and provide additional revenues back to the community.
Additionally, extraordinary member creative talents and reinvestment from wholesale sales, will allow for the development of a retail revenue stream from member-designed items.”

---

Feeding the Movement:
H.O.P.E would like to thank Just for Lunch and Trolley Stop Market for making a commitment to donate meals each month for our weekly H.O.P.E. meetings at The Manna House! There are lots of ways to feed the movement, and we would like to thank all of our allies for their  continued support.

---

If you are interested in how you can support the work of H.O.P.E. members, please contact Paul Garner @ 901.725.4990 or paul@midsouthpeace.org and don’t forget to like us on Facebook for more H.O.P.E. updates!

Join us for the Annual Member Meeting of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. This annual gathering is an important opportunity for all members to participate in setting the direction of our work. We have much to celebrate!

Already this year we have:

• H.O.P.E. has won over $750,000 in funding for vital services for those experiencing homelessness. This seed funding has enabled our city to receive $5 million in additional funding to help those suffering most from the violence of poverty. They have also worked to hold service providers accountable to the people they serve through direct action, making sure that funds allocated to help those experiencing homelessness are used responsibly and effectively.
• Launched a comprehensive Police-Community Relations project that is working to develop a community led vision of how we deal with the crime and violence in our neighborhoods.
• Pushed back against SB2508, an anti-homeless law that makes sleeping on state property a Class A offense carrying more penalties than simple assault or domestic violence.
• G.O.T. Power has trained and supported over a hundred grassroots community organizers. This included Core Organizer Trainings in English and Spanish and a recent Movement Building Training for almost 75 grassroots leaders.
• Supported the development of a culture of organizing through the coordination of a series of movement circles built around local populations and for the first time a statewide movement circle as well.
• Developed GrowMemphis into an independent 501(c)(3) organization that is leading the food justice movement in the mid-south.
• Moved our offices and created a Social Justice Resource Center that we share with GrowMemphis and the TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. We also have space available for other social justice groups to share.

Come join us as we celebrate our successes and plan for future victories. We will share a meal; get updated about our current work and accomplishments over the past year; and elect new Board members and officers.

MSPJC Annual Member Meeting
Saturday October 20
BRIDGES, 477 N. Fifth St.
5pm-7pm

This is your organization. Come help us shape it!

All current members are welcome. Not a member? You can join online at www.midsouthpeace.org/membership Any amount makes you a member. Please join now.

The Annual Member gathering is immediately following the Gandhi-King Community Conference. Please join us all day on Oct. 20^th as we work to build a movement around the critical issues in our community. TheGandhi-King Conference registration fee is on a sliding scale starting at free. But all paying attendees receive a complimentary membership in the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. BUILD A MOVEMENT :: JOIN THE MOVEMENT

We are pleased to announce the 2012 GKC Community Conference, to be held on October 20th at BRIDGES. This year’s conference has a unique local focus on the key issues that are most important to our communities in securing lasting peace for all.

Register now! Registration is based on a sliding scale starting at free. Please sign up and attend to change our community.

This is an annual movement building space for activists, organizers, grassroots leaders and people that just want to improve their community and the world to gather in a unique environment that will leave them better equipped and connected to better our community.

The day long conference will be broken into three sessions that will build on one another so that you will leave inspired, connected and ready for action.

• IgniteAction: A series of short, dynamic and engaging presentations on the issues that are most pressing in our community. Each short presentation will be led by an inspiring grassroots leader from the community focusing on the key issues of equality, poverty and homelessness, community led development, immigration reform, healthcare, education reform, and community-police relations.
• Peoples Assembly Forums: Going deeper into the topics that were just presented to develop our own analysis of the issues and collaborate on ways that we can create change. Each session will be led by a panel of organizers working on these critical issues and will feature an open space discussion.
• G.O.T. Power? (Grassroots Organizer Training): Apply the knowledge and analysis around community issues using new skills. Deepen your skills in participatory workshops designed to build upon your knowledge and experience so that you can take effective action. Workshops will include yoga and meditation, creating and working with media, greening your community, nonviolent direct action, embodied activism with Playback Memphis, nonviolent communication, and more.

Take a moment to register for this amazing opportunity. You will leave connected, inspired and already engaged in action.

The Community Conference will be held at the BRIDGES facility (477 N. Fifth St.) and will feature a sliding scale registration fee with no-one turned away for lack of ability to pay. This is a community conference and we are working to make it as accessible as possible to all people in our community.

We look forward to connecting, learning, and working with you to create the peace and justice vision of Dr. King and Gandhi. You can find updated info including the full schedule on our website, www.gandhikingconference.org