Open Minds — Loving Hearts — Helping Hands
UUMH Social Justice
Social Justice
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The outreach for April 2025 will be Building a Bigger Table, a humanitarian community that supports asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. A task force of First Parish Brewster UU works with displaced families needing support. They connect families with appropriate resources, assist them with creating resumes and finding employment, teach English, and provide assistance on an as-needed basis.
With the uncertainties in our country, here are some ways you can stay more connected with activities taking place:
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You can also go to www.uua.org and click the Justice & Inclusion drop-down.
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uumassaction.org - Their mission is to organize and mobilize UUs in Massachusetts to confront oppression.
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uuthevote.org - UU the Vote engages people in voter registration, issue education, get-out-the-vote drives, voter protection, state leadership development, and more.
Issue in brief: As part of the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, an effort APCC supports, Holtec International has proposed discharging over a million gallons of radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a preliminary denial of Holtec’s permit application to discharge the wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. The denial is based on the Oceans Sanctuaries Act state law, which prohibits new industrial discharges of pollutants into Massachusetts waters designated as ocean sanctuaries. APCC is fully committed to forcing Holtec to respect the law and to preventing the use of Cape Cod Bay as a dumping ground.
Our UUMH Social Justice program is an all-congregation effort to bring the principles that guide us into our daily lives. From letter writing to sign-holding stand-outs, from discussion to action, we are living the UU tradition. Meanwhile, the Social Justice Committee acts as a liaison with the community bringing information and links to the Congregation.
The Social Justice Working Group designates an active non-profit group for a separate Congregational collection each month. Usually, the group is active on Cape Cod, but occasionally we contribute to a larger group responding to a serious problem or disaster.
Within the last year, we have discussed and contributed to the following.
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Chatham Children's Fund--Summer lunch program
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Homeless Prevention Council--Homeless Youth Project
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Refugee Support through Nauset Interfaith Association-- two refugee families from Africa.
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St Joseph's House-- Hyannis Homeless Shelter.
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Eastern Mass Women's Health Initiative--Reproductive Services
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Family Food Pantry of Cape Cod.
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Harwich-based program supporting safety for J1 summ3r students---Reflective backpacks and bike gear.
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Grandmothers for Gun Safety Cape Cod
Teaming up with other organizations increases our strength.
These include (links):
Cape Cod Climate Collaborative
Faith Community Environmental Network
Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
Cape Cod Grandmothers Against Gun Violence
In addition, we organize lectures on important issues such as the treatment of immigrant children at the border so that all of us can become more educated about this topic.
My personal commitment as a UU is strongly tied to our 7 Principles and to Social Justice. Living the principles to the best of my ability is my goal. Working together with other UUs and other organizations multiplies our effort. Come join me!
Joan Caputo, Chairperson of the Social Justice Committee
