 Check out the PJC’s new job openings! -Jorja Lamb, Events and Programing Coordinator Click here to visit our fair trade, local, and educational store! September 8thViews represented in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of the PJC.   Line 3 is only weeks from completion. Please come together to march and rally against Line 3 on Friday, September 24th at City Hall Park to Battery Park Enbridge Line 3 is a tar sands pipeline that carries oil from Alberta Canada down through Minnesota. After it’s current expansion it will be 300 miles long and carry 800,000 barrels per day of tar sands: the dirtiest, most highly corrosive and carbon intensive of fuels. It will cut a new trench, crossing dozens of waterways, Anishinaabe treaty lands, and sacred wild rice areas. Line 3 will add 193 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere each year, equivalent to adding 38 million cars to the roads. Completion of Line 3 would be equal to adding 50 new coal plants running for 50 years. This $2.1 billion project will create $287 billion in climate costs over 30 years. Register for the march and rally here. Here are some current actions you can take to help prevent the competition of Line 3: 1) Come to the march and rally on September 24th 2) Click here to sign this petition to stop the pipeline 3) Click here to write to President Biden asking him to stop Pipeline 4) Click here to donate to support the water protectors 5) Continue to educate yourselves and others using resources 6) Learn how you can take action about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women who have been targeted by pipeline workers here All information is from www.stopline3.org   If you’ve been into our store during the last few months, you may have noticed a magical scent in the air. I would tell you that it isn’t an actual enchantment that you’re smelling, and is instead a mere candle, but that wouldn’t really be true either. Our Tip of the Moon candles certainly cast a spell with their alluring aroma, but the magic runs a bit deeper as well. Tip of the Moon candles are handmade by Bre, a former volunteer here at the Peace & Justice Store, and each one is designed to assist you in meditation, spellcasting, or setting intentions. On the Tip of the Moon website, Bre has supplied nearly every candle with a corresponding spell, from abundance spells to divination spells. Each candle is also supplied with a crystal that you can keep as a totem after the candle has burned away. “I find great joy in learning about and exploring the inner worlds of consciousness,” says Bre. “I am humbled by how much you can learn when you open your heart to the universe. I truly hope that these creations can help you on your own spiritual path.” These Tip of the Moon candles have already sparked a lot of joy among our customers in the last few months. Feel free to come down to our store at 60 Lake Street in Burlington, VT, and experience the magic for yourself or we also have a selection of Tip of the Moon candles on our website for you to peruse.   Green Mountain Self-Advocates is a statewide disability rights organization for people with developmental disabilities. One of the top priorities for our more than 600 members is to have a job. One barrier to employment for people with developmental disabilities is accessing support to find and keep a job. Many people with disabilities rely on a job coach to work. We have a system that has amazing Vermonters who love their jobs providing support and care to people with disabilities. They are the backbone of the service system and everyday heroes going out of their way to make a difference in people’s lives. But support workers do not make a livable wage! Sometimes, they have no choice but to quit a job they love, working with people with disabilities, to take another job just for better pay. A livable wage will go a long way toward reducing staff turnover. It is not easy for people with disabilities to constantly adapt to staff changes. Often, we go without services when waiting for new staff to be hired. It requires us to start all over again with relationship building, training, and orientation. Providers have estimated that it may cost as much as $5,000 or more to train a new support worker. That is a lot of wasted time and money. The pandemic has made it even more difficult to find and keep support workers. All of this has ripple effects on our emotional and mental wellbeing. When job coaches support people with disabilities to work, society sees what we have to offer. It builds our confidence to live more independently. This is a win-win situation. Vermont is leading the nation because the provider agencies excel at hiring and training a workforce that finds people with developmental disabilities jobs and supports them to stay employed. Of course, there are dozens of other reasons why a person with a developmental disability would face a life and death situation without services. People count on support workers to get them to medical appointments and more importantly, carry out the directions of healthcare providers so they can stay healthy and save the system money in the long run. Other sectors of the healthcare system receive regular Cost of Living Increases. Not so for staff working for Developmental Disabilities Services. Ensuring that our essential workers have enough money to provide for themselves and their families will make all our families and communities healthier. This is a real way Vermont can put people first!   Women in Vermont who wish to make a lasting impact in the lives of other women are invited to become a mentor in the Vermont Women’s Mentoring Program, a restorative reentry project at Mercy Connections. Along with the Department of Corrections and other community partners, the program matches trained volunteer women with women who are in prison, under supervision in the community, or participating in pre-trial services. Mercy Connections provides a 5-week training program–Wednesdays, September 15, 22 & 29 and October 6 & 13 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.–as well as ongoing support including mentor support group meetings, education on issues which affect the re-entry process, and healthy social events. Pairs of women are carefully matched for a successful experience. Women interested in the training do not need to have prior knowledge of the criminal justice system or mentoring experience to participate. Since 1985, Vermont’s population has grown 35 percent while its incarcerated population has grown 300 percent. In the same period, Vermont’s female inmate population has grown tenfold. Annually, more than 1,400 women cycle through the Women’s Correctional Facility in South Burlington. According to the VT Department of Corrections, over 50% of women released in Vermont return to jail for a new crime in their first year, post-incarceration. These alarming trends speak to the urgent need for successful interventions to assist women in completing programs as alternatives to incarceration as well as in supporting them to reenter community and not reoffend. The Vermont Women’s Mentoring Program has a proven track record of helping women to successfully reestablish their lives, post incarceration. The support of a mentor promotes systemic and permanent change to the rate of incarcerated women by reducing risk behaviors associated with recidivism. For more information, please contact Joanne Nelson, Director of Justice and Mentoring Programs, at jnelson@mercyconnections.org or (802) 846-7164, or visit their website. All information is from Mercy Connections  All of the events listed below are happening online unless otherwise stated. This is a partial listing of event. See more in our public calendar. The PJC is not directly involved in all of these events. If you have questions about a non-PJC event, please reach out to the organization listed. Saturday, September 11th 10am-12:00pm Caroline Fund Pro Se Legal Clinic (weekly) 802-355-4965 Sunday, September 12th 1-1:30pm Silent Vigil/Witness (weekly) to end racism Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington 3-5:00pm Soul Food Sunday Online (weekly on Sunday) Monday, September 13th 6-7:30pm Vermonters for Justice in Palestine (Monthly on 2nd Monday )7-8:30pm Online 350VT Burlington Node Meeting (2nd and 4th Mondays) Tuesday, September 14th 6-8:30pm Peace and Justice Center Board Meeting (Monthly on 2nd Tuesday) Wednesday, September 15th 9:30-12:30pm New to Medicare Classes- Online Registration is required. To learn more and sign up call 1-800-642-5119 or e-mail info@agewellvt.org 5-7:30pm Mercy Connections Training Program begins (for more information view the press release) 7:15-9pm Castleton Indivisible Monthly Meeting Please email us events for our google calendar and e-news. Want to see more of the PJC more often? Follow us to see pictures, read articles, and be in the know about what we’re up to, community issues, events, and more. PJC Google CalendarDonate to the PJC PJC Job Listing  The Education and Workshops Manager leads the development and execution of the Peace and Justice Center’s educational trainings, discussion groups, and workshops. Our programs are intended to support justice in Vermont and beyond, especially for People of Color. As part of our small team, the Manager will supervise a coordinator and several facilitators and contribute to the overhaul of the Peace & Justice Center’s overall vison and strategy during an exciting growth period. Click here for more information and to apply VDSPD  September 14, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Join us to honor and thank the Direct Service Professionals of Vermont and raise our voices for a livable wage. Slideshows, speakers, and a Governor’s Proclamation presented by Monica White, Commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living Full Plates Vermont  The Vermont Foodbank is excited to announce the launch of Full Plates VT. Full Plates VT will distribute food boxes at drive-thru style distributions throughout all 14 counties in Vermont. The program is currently scheduled to run from June – September, 2021. New dates will continue to be added to the registration website, so please continue to check-back for new distributions. Each household can register for 1-3 food boxes. This allows households that need more food to sign up for it Click here to learn more and register BCA Submissions  Calling artists! The City of Burlington has placed great emphasis on the declaration of racism as a public health emergency. To further underscore its commitment to racial equity, inclusion and belonging, the City is commissioning a new public artwork. The RFP can be found here and please submit your proposals here  It’s that time of year again when students head back to school! Are you ready? Visit us today on Lake Street or online here and let us help you get ready for that big day. |