Social Justice – Heritage UU Church

Heritage and Inter Parish Ministry

Inter Parish Ministry

Most of you are aware that Heritage UU Church has an ongoing relationship with Inter Parish Ministry. But for those who are not fully knowledgeable of that relationship, perhaps it is time to review what IPM is and how we support their efforts. Inter Parish Ministry was founded in 1964 with the purpose of providing food, clothing and some social services to residents of eastern Hamilton County and all of Clermont County. It was originally started with the support of a number of churches in that geographic area. The IPM food pantry and offices have been located on Debolt Road in Newtown for many years after starting out as a storefront operation.

Recently, some significant changes have been made at IPM. Well over a year ago, a second store was opened just off Ohio Pike in Amelia. Hours of service were altered and now clients can shop at the Newtown site from 10:00 to 2:00 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The pantry in Amelia is open to serve client needs at the same hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Additionally, the Newtown store is open from 6:00 to 8:00 on Monday evening. Another change was brought about by the retirement of Lindsay Ein, the Director of IPM for many years. She was replaced last fall by Katie Brass who came from a Northern Kentucky non-profit.

In the past, families served by IPM were allowed to shop at the store once every three months. However, at the beginning of 2018, that policy was changed to allow families to come every 30 days. It is hoped this change will allow families in dire need to obtain the food necessary to maintain a healthy diet. Last year, IPM served over 4,300 families and this number is expected to rise significantly in 2018.

As a social justice advocate and an associate of Heritage UU Church, how can you help? There are a number of ways. Several of our church members serve as regular volunteers at IPM. Volunteer activities may include assisting clients as they shop for food and clothing; stocking shelves and sorting food donations; covering the office by answering phones and greeting visitors; and helping during the many special events that are held throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Carol Rountree at 513-561-3932. Also, once a month, our Sunday collection is donated to IPM. Your generous support of this act of giving allows the staff at IPM to better service the needs of its clients in a variety of ways. Also, our church happily accepts food and clothing donations. All donations may be placed in the grocery cart located in the Great Hall of the church. These are taken weekly to IPM for distribution to clients. A big Thank You goes to all of our Heritage UU family for the fantastic support given to IPM over the last decade.

April 2018.

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More Information on the Cincinnati Sanctuary Congregation Coalition

Because of concern for the impending threat of ramped-up incarceration and deportation of immigrants—particularly those from Latin America and those who are Muslim—a number of local faith communities have started the Cincinnati Sanctuary Congregation Coalition.

On February 13, 2017, the Heritage UU Church Board of trustees voted for the church to become a member of the Coalition as a “Solidarity Congregation,” a congregation in a supporting role.

This Coalition is something new and evolving. Through attendance at two organizational meetings, we at Heritage now know more about how it will operate.

Within the Cincinnati Sanctuary Congregation Coalition, a team of people will be trained and ready to respond if there is an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid, as happened some years ago at Koch Foods in Butler County. The team will fulfill various functions, including videoing what happens, but will not in any way interfere with or impede the actions of the ICE officers.

Within the Coalition, another team will be interviewing persons or families seeking sanctuary. The team will be looking for those who meet certain criteria.

Sanctuary will be offered only to individuals who have an appeal pending as to their immigration status, but who nevertheless are at risk for immediate deportation. (It sounds strange that you can be shipped out of the country even before your appeal is resolved, but it’s true.) Thus, sanctuary will be offered only to people who may indeed be allowed to stay in the U.S. legally, but for whom the final status is not yet known.

The final decision on whether to offer sanctuary in any particular case will be made by the congregation that would be providing the shelter to the immigrant.

Once an immigrant has received sanctuary and moved into a faith community’s building or worship compound, the media will be notified and an announcement will be made to this effect. There will be interviews on camera, probably with the person in sanctuary and with others in the movement. Thus, this is not an attempt to “hide” someone from law enforcement. Supporting congregations are also being public about their support.

By tradition, ICE officers will not enter a place of worship to arrest someone, but this is not law.

Heritage Church will not be providing living quarters to immigrants, but will be in a helping role, providing support to congregations that do provide physical sanctuary. Heritage’s role is what is known as a “Solidarity Congregation.”

Congregations that will actually house immigrants are known as “Sanctuary Congregations.” Right now the Coalition has only one Sanctuary Congregation; it is Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), which has a living quarters as part of its church campus. Several other churches are seeking funds in order to remodel so as to provide suitable living quarters and become Sanctuary Congregations.

The Coalition has approximately 15 member congregations at this time. The member congregations are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian Universalist.

One additional point for all of us at Heritage: At the city-wide Coalition meetings, it has been emphasized that this effort “is a marathon, not a sprint.” It could be a long time before a church takes in a person in sanctuary, and once that happens, it could be weeks—months—years—during which that person (and possibly their family) lives there and needs our support.

For more information, talk with anyone who has attended a Coalition meeting: Bob and Jackie Drake, Doug Beezley, Rae Jane and Russ Araujo. Bob has taken an active role in beginning to get Heritage plugged into other ways to support the immigrant community, and can be reached at:

April 2017.

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H-MAC Clean Energy Drive

Climate change is real. It’s such a big problem that one can feel helpless against the big money interests that are destroying our environment. The bad news is we also are accelerating climate change through rapidly increasing carbon emissions that are a byproduct of our modern lifestyle. The good news is we have the power to decrease carbon emissions and slow global warming by choosing “green” alternatives when making lifestyle decisions. These low-carbon alternatives are becoming more affordable, and as people continue to “vote with their dollars,” market forces will compel the big polluters to change their ways.

A good first step is for people to be aware of their personal “carbon footprint.” Two of the biggest contributors to most household carbon footprints are transportation and home energy consumption. For most of us at Heritage UU Church, transportation means our automobiles, and making a big impact in terms of carbon footprint in that area requires a big commitment. That’s why the Heritage Men’s Action Cooperative (H-MAC) has targeted home energy consumption as a way to make a big impact on our carbon footprint with a small investment of money and effort. “Green” energy is affordable and available in our area. Just four households in our group (10 people) have kept over 50 tons (per year) of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Make the Switch to “Green” Electricity

It’s easy and affordable:

Step 1: Inform yourself; study your electric bill; understand your usage and what you are paying – especially the electricity ‘Generation Charge.’ Google your electricity supplier’s ‘Environmental Disclosure.’ Measure your energy footprint; here’s a link to the EPA’s Carbon Footprint Calculator: https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/

Step 2: Make the Switch to Green Electricity. Here are some options:

Install Wind Power – https://windenergyfoundation.org/.
Install Solar Power – https://www.greenenergyoh.org/. While quite an investment, these are the greenest options. If you would like to tour a solar powered home, contact Thane Thompson.
Switch to 100% renewable electricity supplier (easiest way to make an impact) https://www.chooseenergy.com/ introductory rates are approx 6¢/kwh.
Purchase ‘Renewable Energy Credits’ (RECs) (Cincinnati residents and Cincinnati Bell Energy customers already switched via aggregation.) https://www.arcadiapower.com/ (adds 1.5¢/kwh to existing charge).

Step 3: Tell us about it. Let’s make this a group effort. Bring your electric bill to church and share your savings numbers with us. The CO2 Savings chart will be on display in the great hall, and we’ll be available to answer questions and help you with the carbon footprint calculator and the other green energy websites.