Just Lecture Begins.

Nicholas Wolterstorff will be speaking at Hope Reformed Church for The Micah Center. His lecture is entitled, "The Moral Significance of Poverty."

Come join other Christians passionate about justice on Tuesday, September 7th at 7pm. This evening is free and open to the public.

Turning dreams into reality

Community celebrates International Labor Day by rallying around immigration reform and the DREAM Act

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN (May 1, 2009)--Change is born out of dreams and those willing to risk all to dream them.

But those gathering this afternoon at Saint Joseph Catholic Church shared a common dream for change that for far too long has been deferred. “La Esperanza de Nuestros Sueños”--“The Hope of Our Dreams”--attracted a diverse crowd of roughly one hundred-fifty people from the community to rally around comprehensive immigration reform and, more specifically, the DREAM Act.

The event, co-sponsored by the Michigan Organizing Project (M.O.P.), ISAAC, and the Hispanic American Center, aimed to educate the community about immigration issues and mobilize a growing political base to speak up and advocate for justice on behalf of a growing generation of immigrants.

If it were to pass through both House and Senate votes, the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act would allow students without documentation to apply for and potentially receive federal aid to cover tuition costs for higher education. As it now stands, immigrant children lacking proof of legal residency are deemed ineligible for such assistance.

“The Hispanic community has to come together--documented and undocumented--around this issue,” explained Lori Mercedes, program director for the Hispanic American Center. “It is important for us that we are there helping our kids gain access to education.”

Mercedes, a Nicaraguan-born immigrant, spent two years of her childhood living as an undocumented immigrant in Mexico while waiting for her family’s political asylum appeal to clear. She knows firsthand the difficulties of living in fear and uncertainty.

Each person in attendance at the rally received a graduation cap with a tassel, giving the evening a commencement-like spirit.

And education was at the heart of the agenda. A full slate of individuals addressed the crowd in both Spanish and English, discoursing on the history of the labor movement, the complexity of immigration issues, and access to education.

“We need to educate each other,” said Santiago Valles, professor of African Studies at Western Michigan and one of the evening's keynote speakers. 

From the podium, Valles encouraged those in attendance to learn more about labor and immigrants’ role in the US work force. “We came to the US because of the economic conditions imposed upon us in our home countries--conditions that were created by many of the same businesses we are forced to work for in the state. We need to make that connection,” an animated Valles told the crowd.

He also spoke about Lucia Parsons, a Latina survivor of the labor movement’s Haymarket Uprising that took place in 1887 in Chicago. “Google her,” he implored. “She was one of the most important educators in the movement.”

Huber Cabrerra, a recent immigrant to the states from Guatemala, was eager to learn more. “I’m Hispanic,” he said in Spanish, indicating he felt more comfortable expressing himself in his native language. “I knew there was going to be a rally. I came because I want to become more informed about the issues,” he said.

The DREAM Act

Diana Hernandez spoke specifically to the DREAM Act. Director of Multicultural Affairs at Western Michigan, Hernandez has observed firsthand the consequences suffered by immigrant children due to current U.S. policy. “Es una lástima--it’s a shame,” she said. “(Undocumented students) can’t register and become part of the university.”

Testifying to this fact, Obdulia Morales spoke about her experiences as a high school student in Kalamazoo. “The are many undocumented students here who really want to get an education and make a difference. The DREAM Act is the hope of our dreams, to make that possibility a reality.”

“I hope they do pass it,” said Lizbette Armijo, a staffer with the Hispanic American Center. “There are lots of Hispanics who would like to go to school and move on to good careers.”

LInda Cook-MacDonald spoke as a representative of ISAAC, a local advocacy and action group. She expressed more than hope. “It must pass,” she emphasized, urging attendees to actively respond. “We want a different United States than what we have now, one where everyone has access to education.”

“But it won’t happen with us sitting on our hands.”

Nathan Dannison, Cook-MacDonald's colleague at ISAAC, confirmed the importance of the critical mass. "We're close to the requisite number of votes to pass the DREAM Act," he said. "It's a matter of making our representatives know what we believe."

Not without celebration

As any effective social movement should be, the evening was not without song and dance. Justice-infused hip hop artist El Diez was present with carefully crafted lyrics inspiring hope for change. He performed “Querida Mamá,” a song about a mother in the U.S. who received letters from her children back in her home country, separated by an impermeable border and economic necessity. 

El Diez, born in El Salvador, encountered hip hop in Los Angeles in 1983, near the genre’s conception. For him, music is a vehicle of change. “It’s a voice. I choose my lyrics wisely--I can only listen to something talking about social justice.”

Also among performers were thirteen-year-old soloist Karla Ruiz-Velasco and her father,  Javier Ruiz.

Afterwards, attendees were treated to a home-cooked meal prepared by Maria Gomez and Lydia McNamara. Both active in immigrant issues, Gomez works for M.O.P. while McNamara owns La Hispánica International Market, a local grocery store catering to Kalamazoo’s Latino community.

Jordan Bruxvoort was encouraged by the unity on display at the event. "It's great to see the various organizations and individuals working together," said Bruxvoort, an organizer for M.O.P.

As people ate, music played over the loud speaker. A father danced with his daughter amidst others proudly wearing their graduation caps. One was left to hope that the dream of education and prosperity will become reality, and that girls and boys like the one dancing this evening will one day be found moving their tassels from one side to the other.

Brian Paff, The Micah Center

Service learning brings Comenius Scholars to Lansing

Calvin students participate in fresh approach to lobbying legislators 

LANSING, MICHIGAN (April 28, 2009)--Two Calvin students descended on the state capitol on Tuesday as part of a delegation with ACCESS of West Michigan, a faith-based collaborative that coordinates service, education, and advocacy efforts on behalf of the area’s poor and needy.

Senior Corrie Krol (Jenison) and sophomore Jin-Ha Kim (South Korea), both interns with ACCESS, participated in a poverty simulation workshop with legislators in Lansing.

The event, co-sponsored by Senators Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Twp) and Bill Hardiman (R-Kent County), turned the tables for a while as participants assumed the financial burdens--and the many accompanying pitfalls and hardships--of life below the poverty line.

Both Krol and Kim had observed and partaken in workshops previously, but this marked their first time assuming the roles of individuals living in poverty.

Krol played the role of Nancy Nuttin, a single mother of three working part-time at a hospital for minimum wage. Kim acted as her son, Ned, a precocious nine-year-old. 

“Oh man,” commented Krol afterwards, reflecting on her participation in the workshop. “I had seen how frustrated everyone gets (when they participate in the simulation) and I didn’t want to do it.” 

Krol found herself held up at gunpoint, harassed by debt collectors, and appealing to child protective services--Kim had been taken into custody when left home unattended-- over the course of the workshop. Toward the end of the hour-long simulation, her frustration mounted.

“It was really difficult,” she said.

Each simulation scenario was unique. 

Senator Jansen played the role of a four-year-old child living in a family impoverished as a result of mass lay-offs in their community. His family was eventually evicted from their home.

Another Lansing diplomat, Amanda Comment, endured the simulation as an eighty-five-year-old woman relying on social security checks and Medicare.

Bob Kefgen, Chief of Staff for Representative Dudley Spade (D-Lenawee), participated as a forty-three year old father seeking employment after lo

sing his job to downsizing. He managed to find work as a custodian for $200 a week. His children in the simulation also found work.

In the end, however, it didn’t help much. “We still lost the house,” he explained.

Krol and Kim have worked with ACCESS of West Michigan as participants in the Comenius Scholarship program at Calvin, a McGregor Foundation-funded grant that places students in a variety of service settings in the community.

“I’ve been doing some case management work in food pantries,” Krol said. “Getting out and talking with people living in poverty and helping them out has been a great experience.”

Krol will graduate from Calvin this spring. Toward the end of the summer, she will join Mennonite Central Committee to do service work for a year in Bolivia.

Kim has likewise enjoyed his participation with ACCESS. “It’s very cool,” he said, smiling. An international student from South Korea, Kim is interested in doing development work in Asia.

They have been able to observe the complexity of poverty and the many manifestations of the experience. “Sometimes helping is just giving a hand so that (people in poverty) can get out of their situation,” observed Krol.

The event in Lansing concluded with some ACCESS representatives sharing stories of life in poverty. The aim was to put a face on the statistics and simulation scenarios with which legislators were confronted.

“"When you look in the mirror,” Gloria Dunbar, a single mother of two living on roughly $400 a month, told the group, “I hope that face becomes real--that face of poverty that you had to wear today."

With the continued efforts of ACCESS and the people who comprise the collaborative, that face is sure to become clearer and clearer.

Brian Paff, The Micah Center

Not just another game

ACCESS of West Michigan descends on Lansing to engage lawmakers in poverty simulation

LANSING, MICHIGAN (April 28, 2009)--The twelve-passenger van that rolled up to the state capitol this morning did not transport your typical group of lobbyists.

Out filed a young woman, 8 1/2 months pregnant; a diabetic man confined to a wheel chair; a woman suffering from a variety of emotional disorders; a single mother slightly preoccupied with her stroke-surviving daughter's well-being.

No, not your typical group of lobbyists at all.

Then again, this wasn't your typical lobbying appointment, either.

This morning at the capitol, a group of twenty individuals affiliated with ACCESS of West Michigan teamed up to conduct a poverty simulation workshop with some of the state's lawmakers. The result was a powerful demonstration of the effects of poverty.

The event, co-sponsored by Senators Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Twp) and Bill Hardiman (R-Kent County), turned the tables for a while as participants assumed the financial burdens--and the many accompanying pitfalls and hardships--of life below the poverty line.

"This is not a game," Betsy Thompson warned before the simulation began. "Poverty is not a game for the 38 million Americans who live in such conditions."

Thompson is the Poverty Education Coordinator for ACCESS, a faith-based collaborative operating out of Kent County that aims to coordinate services directed toward the region's most needy individuals and families.

She encouraged participants to deeply engage in their roles as people coping with poverty.

The simulation assigned scenarios to the individuals present, designating family make-ups and economic conditions that are rooted in real stories that have crossed ACCESS case managers' desks over the past two and a half decades.

The Nuttin family, for example, was comprised of a single mother and three children aged 17, 13, and 9. Divorce had

 pushed the family into poverty as Nancy Nuttin was left to care for her three children and to provide the necessary income to house, clothe, and feed them. 

Over the course of the simulation, Nancy was held up at gun point; Ned Nuttin was taken into custody of the state; Nikki was released from juvenille detention; and Nathan, a high school graduate, could not obtain employment and turned to illegal activity to help support the family. 

Another family found itself impoverished due to unemployment as a result of downsizing and mass layoffs--a scenario quite relevant to thousands Michigan residents.

Amanda Comment, a staff member in Senator Jansen's office, assumed the role of an eighty-five year-old woman living alone.

Participants were given assignments--obtaining employment, purchasing groceries, visiting the health clinic, paying bills--and, naturally, few resources with which to complete them. The results mirrored real life in poverty, as frustration, fear, desperation, and downright frustration overwhelmed those in the room.

The hope for this morning's workshop in particular was to open the eyes of people with power to the plight of the powerless in their midst. The dynamic was quite interesting to observe.

Senator Jansen played the role of a four-year-old child. He found himself begging for food and complaining of his hunger as simulated days went by without food on the table.

"It's amazing how this is just a simulation," commented Bob Kefgen, Chief of Staff for Rep. Dudley Spade (D-Lenawee). 

"How frustrating this was," he exclaimed, flabbergasted. "People live this everyday."

Kefgen acted as a forty-three-year-old man who had been laid off. In the simulation he managed to find a job as a janitor, earning $200 each week.

"We still lost the house," he lamented.

The simulation was especially relevant to Kefgen: Representative Spade presides over the Department of Human Services committee in Lansing.

Another participant complained, "We didn't have the time to check out the resources (available to us.)"

Welcome to the world of so many Americans.

ACCESS of West Michigan has sponsored over 100 such workshops over the years, hoping to enlighten the community to the complexity of poverty. The simulation, borrowed from similar workshops conducted by a poverty action group in Missouri, has been adapted to address needs specific to Kent County.

Marsha DeHollander, program director for ACCESS, addressed the group at the workshop's conclusion. She first implored participants to observe a moment of silence. "This is to honor the millions of Americans who do not get to stop living in poverty when the whistle blows," she said.

After a breakout session in which participants were invited to share their initial responses to the experience, DeHollander invited the perspective of the many staffers who enacted the simulation.

Among those was Gloria Dunbar. She related the story of her daughter's health conditions which eventually forced her to quit her job to perform the duties of caretaker. "I live in poverty every day," she told the group. "Pass the word on. Every circumstance is different," she said, encouraging them to consider policy decisions with compassion.

From his wheelchair, Rodger Granger also spoke of the complexity of poverty. "I worked for over thirty years," he said. "But when I contracted diabetes and my health deteriorated, I couldn't work anymore. In the process I lost my job, my income, my sense of worth, my security."

Brenda and Brittany Dalecke shared their story, too. Brenda was a successful mother and supervisor in the nonprofit sector prior to succumbing to substance abuse and making a foolish mistake that landed her in the Michigan Department of Corrections. Her daughter, Brittany, was consequently driven to many self-destructive behaviors. She likewise found herself confronting poverty's difficulties.

They stood as examples of hope--the two have both emerged out of poverty.

Not all are so lucky. "I had education and social support," explained Brenda. She now serves as a community outreach director for a faith congregation in Holland.

"I was fortunate to have gone to college," added Brittany, a senior at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. "So many don't have that opportunity."

And while the complexity and breadth of poverty is vast, the working solutions seem to be all too scarce.

"We hope to change the mentality (of workshop participants) about those who live in poverty," said Thompson. "It's not always about working hard or pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Next time they might think differently about poverty, and we hope they will do something about it."

ACCESS offers resources and opportunities for involvment to individuals interested in responding to the harsh realities of poverty. Its work in the community provides counseling, coordinated services, education, and advocacy on behalf of West Michigan's needy.

"Sometimes helping is just giving a hand so that (people in poverty) can get out of their situation," observed Corrie Krol, a Calvin College senior wrapping up her internship with ACCESS.

But today was about working for systemic change.

"The simulation is always effective, but the stories are what participants find the most compelling," said DeHollander. The perspectives she invited to Lansing put faces on the many statistics and simulated experiences of poverty that were shared at the capitol.

"When you look in the mirror, I hope that face becomes real--that face of poverty that you had to wear today," Gloria Dunbar told the group.

And so the ACCESS van departed Lansing, having turned the tables for a morning, hopeful that the tables will also turn for their neighbors and communities so deeply affected by poverty.

Brian Paff, The Micah Center

Doug Tjapkes set to encourage humanity for prisoners in lecture at the Micah Center

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN (April 27, 2009)--In the latest installment of the Micah Center’s Just Lecture series, Doug Tjapkes  (pronounced CHAP-kes) will speak to the topic of “Humanity for Prisoners” at Hope Reformed Church (2010 Kalamazoo SE, Grand Rapids) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5.

Tjapkes has never served time behind bars himself, but the retired broadcast journalist nevertheless has ample first-hand experience with prison life and the fate of our nation’s incarcerated. His organization, Humanity for Prisoners (formerly named Innocent), has allowed Tjapkes to draw near to many inmates to better understand the criminal justice system and its impact on society and the individuals it incarcerates. 

Out of those experiences Tjapkes authored Sweet Freedom, a narrative detailing his friendship with Maurice Carter, a man convicted of a crime of which he was years later acquitted. Sadly, Carter died only a few months after his release from prison, after unjustly serving two decades in the penitentary.

Humanity for Prisoners aims to advocate for prisoners who might have been wrongly convicted; the agency also pursues more compassionate and restorative policy as well as more dignified and humane services and conditions within the prison setting.

Tjapkes will explore restorative justice principles and propose how the justice system might be reformed to better care for and restore individuals and communities affected by criminal behavior.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Micah Center is a faith-based grassroots justice movement in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information about the Just Lecture Series or The Micah Center, visit www.themicahcenter.com or email (info@themicahcenter.com).

Brian Paff, The Micah Center

Gathering 'round the table

ACCESS of West Michigan calls forums to discuss poverty, hunger

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN (April 21, 2009)--It wasn't actually a round table, and there were no knights seated, but the individuals gathered at Grand Rapids' southeast side's Living Word Ministries exhibited as noble a spirit as found in any Canterbury tale.

The ACCESS Community Roundtable, sponsored this week at five regional locations, aimed to gather various agencies together to discuss how to better coordinate services to the region's homeless, unemployed, and underemployed individuals and families.

In the face of federal and state cutbacks for social welfare programs during the Reagan administration, ACCESS emerged out of a strong desire to help the community's poor and hungry. It was then that the collaborative determined to lend organizing power to services provided by small, independent agencies and church efforts. 

ACCESS does not provide food directly to individuals; rather, it offers case management, hunger advocacy, poverty education

"Our slogan, if you will, is helping congregations help people," commented Marsha DeHollander, program director for ACCESS.

Nancy Reenders, ACCESS hunger initiative coordinator, echoed that sentiment: "What we do is try to coordinate the work of those who (provide food and services)."

DeHollander, on staff with ACCESS since 1985, was pleased with the outcome of the forums this week. "We learn from each other," she said. "New ideas, new resources. We feel it is very important to regularly get together so that we may respond to the community's needs cooperatively."

The meetings provided attendees with a variety of information and resources to bring back to their respective food pantries, church programs, and social agencies. Among those in attendance at the southeast side meeting were representatives from John Knox Presbyterian Church, First CRC, and South End Community Outreach Ministries. 

The table was also open for individuals to share their experiences of both struggle and success. 

Flo Koster, a member of nearby Neland Avenue CRC, shared success stories of her congregation's food pantry and community programs.

Another attendee, Bob Storteboom, highlighted Covenant CRC's furniture pantry. "We distributed more than 2300 pieces of furniture in 2008," he told the group. He also enlisted other Roundtable participants to direct their served communities to the unique program.

Troy Oglesby sat at the table as a representative of Living Word, the host to Tuesday's event. Living Word has exhibited strong growth in recent years. "With a larger footprint comes a larger presence in the community," expressed Oglesby, youth pastor at Living Word. 

He explained that his congregation hoped to plug further into the network ACCESS has established in order to better serve the community.

Turnout for the meeting at Living Word was strong, as were the other gatherings across Grand Rapids. In fact, the southeast side meeting was so well attended, ACCESS ran out of complimentary coffee mugs promised to participants.

"They were wonderful," commented DeHollander at the week's end, her voice tinged with a hint of weariness.

It can be exhausting, no doubt, coordinating services for people in need in a trying economic time. 

The Grand Rapids community can be thankful that DeHollander and her staff at ACCESS are leading the way.

Brian Paff, The Micah Center

Crying out together

Interfaith prayer vigil will focus on justice for immigrants

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN (April 24, 2009)--In what will be a nationwide effort on the part of people of faith, area Christians and Jews will gather to pray for justice for immigrants near and far. 

The vigil, sponsored by the local, advocacy-based Micah Center and Just Faith, a Catholic justice education and action movement, will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the nation’s largest immigration raid that occurred at a Kosher packaging plant in Postville, Iowa, in which nearly 400 immigrants--most of whom were from Guatemala and Mexico, but a few who were from Israel and other nations as well--were arrested. 

Faith communities across the country will remember the raid this May 12 with vigils similar to the one occurring in West Michigan.

The vigil will take place at 7 p.m. at Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church (225 - 32nd Street SW, Wyoming, MI 49548). It will commence with an outdoor lighting of 389 candles--one for each person arrested in the Postville raid a year ago. Participants will then process into the church’s sanctuary to partake in a litany to be delivered in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. Afterwards, there will be a planned time of fellowship and advocacy in the church basement.

Ron Sabourin, of Kentwood, initiated the vigil. A member of the Catholic movement Just Faith, Sabourin exhibits a sincere passion for immigration issues. “There are a number of immigrants in my church,” he says, “and I’ve seen some of their suffering due to unjust laws and policies.” 

The vigil promises to attract a diverse crowd to St. Joseph’s, as a number of local justice organizations have joined hands to plan and promote the event. Sabourin is working diligently to plan and promote the event alongside members of the Micah Center, distributing fliers and making phone calls to members of the faith community. In addition, Sabourin recently attended a Jewish Seder and forged a relationship with members of Temple Emanuel, who will also contribute to the event.

Kate Kooyman, a leading advocate for immigration reform in the West Michigan community, observes, “People of faith need to come together to raise a collective voice for justice.” 

This just might be their chance.

Kooyman is an organizer for the CRC Office of Social Justice and leader of the Immigration Action Group at the Micah Center. She will collaborate with Laura Rampersad of Justice for Our Neighbors, a Methodist organization offering legal assistance to immigrants, to conduct an advocacy workshop at the conclusion of the vigil. 

Educational information and notices of upcoming social action around immigration issues will be available for distribution. Furthermore, Kooyman and Rampersad will guide attendees in writing letters to legislators to express their convictions about comprehensive immigration reform.

For information on the Postville Vigil, please visit www.themicahcenter.com or email info@themicahcenter.com. 

Brian Paff, the Micah Center