Healthy Communities & Social Justice Ministries
This umbrella committee guides all our Human Concerns Ministry efforts. Human Concerns Ministry is the group through which Augustana members can contribute their time and many gifts to benefit our community and each other.
Come walk with us…
There are 2 critical steps of social justice:
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Step 1 |
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Direct Service
Addresses the community’s immediate needs such as food and clothing, visiting the elderly, tutoring children, building homes, packing food boxes, donating food, and more.
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Step 2 |
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Social Change
Addresses the root causes of social issues by supporting voter registration drives, educating others about issues, contacting elected officials, questioning why problems exist, and more.
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Direct Service
Augustana members and friends addressed direct community needs with these programs and activities in 2009:
Northeast Emergency Food Program
Augustana members donated 1,000 pounds of food and personal care items. Besides the food given monthly through our food barrel collection and the Christmas in July Drive, many members also contributed funds and volunteer hours toward this food program.
House of Zion Lutheran Church, Woodburn, Oregon
Augustana members raised $1,545 for the annual Christmas holiday food gift boxes given to migrant workers in the Woodburn area. We were able to purchase 225 chickens for the food boxes and over 1,000 sacks of candy for the children. We also gave House of Zion a check for $750 which they used for additional food. On a cold December morning Augustana members traveled to Woodburn to help pack over 250 food boxes for our migrant brothers and sisters.
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Coffee Project
Since June of 2006 Augustana has been purchasing Free Trade coffee, hot cocoa, tea and chocolate bars through Lutheran World Relief to support farmers in Latin America, Asia and Africa to build better lives for their families. In 2009 our congregation purchased nearly $1,400 worth of coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate. The LWR Free Trade projects received $1,180 while our congregations "Frinds in Need" fund received $200. This fund supports community members who have emergency financial needs throughout the year.
Maya Works is a Fair Trade Cooperative in Guatemala whose mission is to empower Maya women to end their cycle of poverty and improve their lives. This non-profit organization works to develop sustainable markets for a variety of woven and beaded products created by seven Maya producer groups in the highlands of Guatemala. One Mayan woman stated “To have work and respect. For me these are the most important human rights.”
As part of Augustana’s Social and Justice Ministry we have partnered with Maya Works for the past eight years. Sales of Maya Works products benefit children whose families now have access to better health, education and their basic needs.
In November of 2009 Augustana volunteers held four Maya Works sales in Portland selling over $9,000 worth of beautiful weavings and beadwork. This was the highest grossing US sale in the last three years for our sisters in Guatemala. This money will be sent back to Guatemala so these artisans can be paid to create more products to support their families in 2010. To view the beautiful work of these Guatemalan women go to:
www.mayaworks.org.
HIV Giving Tree
Many Augustana members and families shared their blessings this Christmas season with 18 clients who regularly attend the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s HIV Day Center Program of Portland.
Habitat
Our 5th Thrivent Builds home will begin in early 2010. We plan on securing matching money at a 6 to 1 match by Thrivent. We need to generate $14,000 for the match. We plan on working one Saturday a month starting in April For more information please contact either Ansel Johnson or Larry Rank.
Wells for Africa
In conjunction with the Oregon Lutheran Church's "Can You Dig It?" campaign, our focus last spring was to raise money for Wells for Aftica. The response was tremendous and after a couple of months we had raised nearly $10,000!
Moses Movers Program
Moses Movers assists qualifying individuals in need of help with moves, and also moves approximately 2000 pounds of food each week from the Oregon Food Bank to the Northeast Emergency Food Bank at Luther Memorial Church. Moses Movers also assists the Portland based Bradley Angle New Havens Housing Program. Bradley Angle provides temporary housing for women and their children who are fleeing domestic violence. Bradley Angle House was the first domestic violence shelter on the West Coast, starting in 1975. Working with the Bradley Angle Community Partnership Coordinator, Moses Movers assists domestic violence victims in our community and the surrounding area by helping them move their belongings from a Bradley Angle shelter into a new and safe apartment living space of their own. This servant ministry assists women in real need.
Health Servant Team
In 2009 The Health Servant Team led 100 Augustana members on a virtual "Walk to Jerusalem" exercise program. It was a great opportunity for healthy exercise while we learned about the people and culture of the countries we passed through. Also in 2009 Rose Christopherson held 17 acupuncture clinics at Augustana. In the fall we focused on Influenza and Pandemic education. Information about how to locate flu vaccines in your community was shared.
The Tequio Foundation's Oaxaca Prison Ministry Fund Raiser
On November 9th Augustana hosted 30 some members of our church and other area Lutheran churches to celebrate Paul Reik and Aurelia Sanchez's work of raising funds for their Oaxaca Prison Ministry by sharing a tasty homemade Mexican meal and participating in an auction that raised $1,000 for this ministry in Mexico. Their ministry creates a Christian community for prisoners and their families inside this regional prison. The event was coordinated by Augustana member Paul Snider.
Wallace Concerns Clinic
In an effort to spport the volunteer services of local physicians and nurses who offer free medical care each week to uninsured families at the downtown Portland Clinic, Augustana members make and deliver an evening meal for these medical personnel the first Thursday evening of each month.
Social Change
Click on Peace and Social Justice for details about our efforts to impact the root causes of social injustice in our city, state, nation and the global village in which we live.
