Changing Our Act in “Acts of Change”

By Pamela Klier-Weidner
Director of Development and Organizational Advancement, JCUA

Why mess with the fundraising dinner? JCUA, like so many organizations, has been doing them successfully for years.

Big fundraising galas have a warm place in my heart, in my history. I’ve experienced great joy (and several additional gray hairs) in producing large scale fundraising dinners. I have, however, fantasized about taking the “gala” out of JCUA’s fundraising galas.

“Acts of Change” will honor Kalman Resnick and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, with guest speaker Tamar Manasseh and performances from “Soul Sisters–A Multicultural Musical.” Learn more and buy tickets.

This tried-and-true formula never quite hit the mark for me at JCUA. We’ve had heroic honorees. We’ve worked with devoted dinner chairs. We’ve had our events at wonderful downtown hotels where the staff dedicated themselves to making our lives easier and our event virtually seamless.

So, why mess with the fundraising dinner?

I’m not speaking on behalf of everyone at JCUA, but for nearly four years, I’ve heard so many people ask us not to do “those big dinners.” I’ve also struggled with the expense of a large dinner and the ticket prices we had to set in order to reach our fundraising goals.

At each fundraising dinner, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Are we including ALL of our communities at this gala?” I wonder if the event is true to who we really are as an organization. Is it communicating the importance of our relationships and the bridges we create across racial, ethnic and religious lines? Are we having fun?

Lathrop Homes Advocates Set Teach-In and Action for April 24

Residents at a Lathrop Homes protest last year.

By Holly Krig
JCUA Community Organizer

Supporting the residents of Lathrop Homes, JCUA will host a teach-in and action in collaboration with the Chicago Housing Initiative. Lathrop Homes is a Chicago Housing Authority site in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

We are working directly with residents at Lathrop Homes, where CHA hopes to enact a plan similar to the mixed-income development at Cabrini’s Parkside, which has forcibly displaced hundreds of families and cost the city $11.4 million in bail-out for mostly market rate housing.

Lathrop Homes Teach-In and Action
(A collaboration of Chicago Housing Initiative, Common Ground and JCUA)
Tuesday, April 24, 10 am-noon (registration begins at 9:30)
Spertus Building, 630 S Michigan Ave., 9th floor
Contact Holly Krig: holly@jcua.org or 312-663-0960, ext 111

The Teach-In, which will help us understand the policy issues from the perspective of those who live with their impact will be followed by a public action. Folks will gather outside Spertus at noon for that portion of the day; details will be announced at the Teach-In. Contact me at JCUA before Friday if you are interested in helping to organize the action.

JCUA first came together with Lathrop Homes residents when we joined the Coalition to Protect Public Housing as CHA announced its Plan for Transformation.

Recently JCUA has joined the table again with a new formation of resident leaders called Common Ground. Once again, the timing is critical. CHA plans to announce its “recalibration” of the Plan for Transformation in June.

Or Tzedek’s Winter Leadership Retreat

Last week, 15 amazing high school and college students came together as a community to visit community partner organizations, learn leadership and organizing skills, explore Chicago, and take action. These youth leaders, activists and organizers gathered for the first annual Winter Leadership Retreat, created by Or Tzedek, JCUA’s Jewish teen institute for social justice. 

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Workshops, actions and fun, oh my!

By Rebecca Katz
Winter Leadership Retreat Program Director  

What’s in a mission?

Or Tzedek leadership member Sophie Leff planned our first workshop of the retreat. To get to the bottom of what it means to be a part of JCUA’s Jewish teen institute for social justice, Sophie guided us in the deconstruction of the words that comprise the organization’s name. Using Post-it notes, we wrote our own definitions for “Jewish,” “Council,” “Urban,” and “Affairs.” Through this exercise, we spoke about JCUA’s mission: to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago’s diverse communities.

Muslims and Jews Explore Traditional Texts on Economic Justice Issues

Note: The next Discussion over Coffee will take place Wednesday, January 18th. Topic: Women in Judaism and Islam. Stay tuned for details.

In the comfortable and warm Bourgeois Pig Cafe, Jews and Muslims gathered on a cold but sunny December afternoon. In times of foreclosure, unemployment, poverty and homelessness, they came to explore what their traditions say about economic justice.

Participants, facilitators and organizers put together chairs in a big circle with a few tables on the side for their coffee. Approximately 15 people came, eager to learn more about the topic and each other’s stories.

The event organizer from the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs welcomed everyone and introduced the facilitators – Rabbi Alison Abrams from Temple Chai and Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan from DePaul University – and gave a quick overview of the structure of the text study. Everybody then shared their names and why they were interested in the issue.

Attorney Lowell Sachnoff Receives Social Justice Award from JCUA

The honoree addressing the audience; and with his wife, Fay Clayton. (Photo: Marc Harris)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky said: “Next to the word “mensch” in the Yiddish dictionary, the word for a good and decent person, there should be a picture of Lowell Sachnoff.”

Sen. Dick Durbin said: “Lowell has lifted up the voices of people who are often overlooked “

Hon. Abner Mikva said: “Lowell Sachnoff is a contributor to good causes and a worker of good works.

These laudatory comments — and more — were in praise of Chicago attorney Lowell E. Sachnoff at JCUA’s annual Jurisprudence Dinner (Nov. 16, 2011). Sachnoff received the Arthur Goldberg Social Justice Award from JCUA, celebrating a legal career characterized by a commitment to social justice.

Mikva, a law professor, former congressman and retired federal judge, reminded the audience of more than 250 lawyers, friends and JCUA supporters that he and the award’s namesake — Arthur Goldberg — had worked together many years ago.

Lowell Sachnoff of Reed Smith to Receive Social Justice Award from Jewish Council on Urban Affairs

CHICAGO — Lowell E. Sachnoff, of Counsel to Reed Smith, is the 2011 recipient of the Arthur Goldberg Social Justice Award, presented by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.

Well-known for his leadership as a lawyer committed to civil rights, Sachnoff will receive the award at JCUA’s annual Jurisprudence Dinner, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the The Fairmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago. More information is available at www.jcua.org or 312.663.0960.

 

Sachnoff served as General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Mental Health where he spearheaded revisions to the Mental Health Code to enhance protections for the rights of the mentally ill. After returning to private practice and founding Sachnoff & Weaver — which combined with Reed Smith in 2007 — he led a team of lawyers to a landmark jury verdict against the City of Chicago for its shameful strip-search policies. As lead counsel for a national class of women’s health clinics he obtained a nationwide injunction against forcible blockades of clinic entrances.

 

Lathrop Homes Tashlich Action: A Teen’s Reflections

Lauren, Ariel, Or Tzedek Summer '10 and '11 participant, and Miguel Suarez, Lathrop Homes resident and community leader, at Lathrop Homes

By Lauren Bergelson
Or Tzedek Participant, Summer 2010

Over a year had passed since I was last at Lathrop Homes when I went back there for Tashlich this fall. The day was beautiful (it was Sunday) and Rebecca, another student activist and I were meeting with a Lathrop Homes resident, Sandra, before taking part in the traditional Tashlich ceremony and planning our future actions. Sandra shared poetry with us and voiced her opinion regarding the precarious status of Lathrop Homes, the affordable housing community where she lives and raised her family.

Currently the future of Lathrop Homes is up in the air as steps are being taken to transform much of the property into market-priced homes. This poses a huge problem for the many families and individuals who live and have lived in the community for decades. It was shocking to realize how unpredictable the residents’ futures are. However, it was also inspiring to see Sandra’s passion and love for her community.

I met Sandra in the summer of 2010 when I attended Or Tzedek and it was wonderful to see her again. During the brief time we met with her, I was reminded of her enthusiasm and the vivacity of the Lathrop Homes community. Oftentimes the only image of affordable housing people have is of a dangerous, dilapidated place, but Lathrop Homes looked nothing like what people expect. Later during the Tashlich ceremony we discussed the changes we would like to make this year and committed ourselves to continuing social action, specifically with Lathrop Homes in mind.

 

Sukkat Shalom: Between Slavery and Liberation

By Miriam Grossman and Jill Zenoff

Take part in JCUA’s Sukkot Action for Justice, during Sukkot, on Oct. 11. At the Mortgage Bankers Association meeting, we’ll be calling attention to how the foreclosure crisis is affecting Chicago families. Learn more and register for the event.

At the beginning of their journey from slavery to liberation, the Israelites found themselves displaced from their homes with little to no forewarning. Scrounging what supplies that could be found and only enough food and water to last a few days, they constructed sukkot, temporary shelters made from sticks and twigs, in which they would dwell.

Unable to see beyond their past circumstance towards the promised land, when their food and water supplies ran out, many were ready to return to Egypt. The inhumanity and brutality of slavery seemed a fair exchange for what passed as food and housing security.

It wasn’t until the Israelites became a food-secure people with the miraculous appearance of mana at morning’s dew and water from Miriam’s well, were they ready to continue on their 40-year journey towards freedom.

JCUA Joins in DREAM Sabbath Events

DREAM Sabbath is part of a national interfaith effort to draw attention to the DREAM Act. JCUA is helping to publicize two events in the Chicago Jewish community.

Friday, Oct. 14: Congregation Hakafa

• Location: Winnetka Community House
• 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka
• Services begin at 8 pm. A DREAM student will speak during the service.

Saturday, Oct. 15: Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel

• 540 W Melrose St, Chicago
• Services begin at 9 am, followed by a convening in the Sukkah behind the shul to say blessings and listen to a DREAM student tell her story.

Learn more about DREAM Sabbath

170 Jewish Social Justice Leaders to Meet with Obama Administration

Members of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable

July 28, 2011— Today leaders from JCUA are in Washington, D.C. meeting with Sen. Dick Durbin and his staff on the federal DREAM Act and other immigration issues. Tomorrow they join some 160 other representatives of organizations that are part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable (JSJRT) at the White House for a policy briefing to exchange ideas on housing, healthcare, food justice and education. The JSJRT is a group of 21 nonprofit organizations promoting economic and social justice as a core tenet of Jewish life.

“Many people think the Jewish community has only one message to bring to Washington and it’s about Israel,” said Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, director of the Jewish Life and Values Program of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which funds the JSJRT. “In reality, the Jewish community is deeply involved in issues of social justice here and around the globe. We are so pleased to have been invited to discuss these issues with the White House staff as we work to create a more just world.”