On Tuesday, May 27th, PEACE will hold its 4th big Assembly of the year – our Justice Ministry Celebration! It is the time of year to work to own our own power. We are each determining the financial investments we can make in PEACE to assure that it is a healthy organization that is independent, and able to address issues of justice in Palm Beach County. All Network Members should be in attendance, as this is the 4th of the 4 big Assemblies you committed to attend when you agreed to be Network Members. The Assembly is being held at 7 pm @ Holy Name of Jesus: 345 S Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL, US, 33415. As in previous years, a wonderful dinner will be provided.
We have a lot to celebrate this year! UUFBR turned out 60 people to the Nehemiah Action: an all time high. To make a tax deductible investment in growing PEACE, please contact Jim Jiovanazzo at or Anna Marie King at .
Here is a communication from Lead PEACE Organizer Emily Small regarding what we will be celebrating this year:
- first and foremost – our TURNOUT! The total count curently stands at 2,584 — by the time we are done, we may have broken (or be pretty close to) 2,600. This is 600 more than our goal, and 1,200 more than we had last year! This increase of 1,200 is the single greatest increase achieved by a DART organization from one year to the next EVER. 2,600 also represents the 3rd highest turnout in DART history.
- With our Criminal Justice issue, first of all – here is a clarification on just what it is that we were and are asking the Sheriff to do, and what has been achieved since the Action –
1. To allow those stopped for driving without a license to present a consular ID or a passport as a form of proper identification (which would in turn prevent them from being taken to jail – they would still have a citation / have to go to court and pay a fine, but they could avoid being arrested and taken to jail on the spot).
2. To stop allowing ICE to come into our Palm Beach County jail to detain / deport people. Because of the controversy around this program – called Secure Communities – there is actually a nationwide “sweep” of counties that are doing just as we are asking our Sheriff to do … in far too many cases, ICE deports very low-level offenders, and even people who have only been charged with crimes, and not convicted.
An update on where this issue stands since our Nehemiah Action – after the Action, we sent Sheriff Bradshaw a letter emphasizing that we were sorry he could not be in attendance, and that we had 2,600 County residents there. We asked for a meeting. And the great news – he has agreed to the meeting! It will be held on Tuesday, June 24th. Getting out 2,600 people did make a difference with this issue – we’ve gotten the attention of the Sheriff and he is now willing to sit down at the table with us.
- With Jobs / Unemployment in the Glades – the day after our Nehemiah Action, they had a County Commission Meeting. The Commissioners did as they had committed to do, and asked staff to look into the data around locals being hired / Glades businesses getting work on County contracts for projects in the Glades. In fact, many of the Commissioners were essentially “falling all over themselves” to make sure they were on record as doing what PEACE wanted them to do (saying things like “PEACE had 2,000 people out last night who were very concerned about unemployment in the Glades, and I want to make sure we’re doing what they want …”). The lesson here? AGAIN – Getting out 2,600 people makes a big difference.
- Finally, our power-building of previous years leading up to this point has also resulted in some pretty exciting results in the areas of Out-of-School Suspensions and Wage Theft. Out-of-School Suspensions is down by 40% district-wide, and approximately $200,000 has been put into the hands of 170 victims of wage theft in Palm Beach County. None of this would have been remotely possible without PEACE, without the hard work of building powerful justice ministries on the part of clergy, Team Members, and Network Members.
We will come together on May 27th to acknowledge, recognize, and CELEBRATE all of this. We will come together to TELL OUR STORY. As in previous years, Network Members who brought 3+, Team Members who brought 24+, and congregations which did particularly well will be specially recognized. It is therefore very important that we get ALL of our Network Members in attendance, to be a part of this event where their understanding of their role will be deepened and they will be recognized for this role.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Virginia or I with any questions. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you all with your Network Members next Tuesday!
Emily Small
PEACE Lead Organizer
Office 561.882.0403
Cell 561.248.4519