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Educating and mobiliizing for peace, human dignity, and social, racial and economic justice.
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Linda Hamilton
Co-Chair
Michael Williams
Co-chair
Steve Morozumi
Secretary
Michael Hames-Garcia
Treasurer
Remie Calalang
Member at large
Irmary Reyes-Santos
Member at large
Norman Riddle
Member at large
Contact Us Here
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"The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the number
of homeless and runaway youth ranges from 575,000 to 1.6 million per
year... research suggests that between 20 percent and 40 percent of all
homeless youth
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). Given that
between 3 percent and 5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as
LGBT, it is clear that LGBT youth experience homelessness at a
disproportionate rate." From: LGBT Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness
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Check out our website and our facebook page.
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Cornucopia Is Coming
October 24th:
Be There!
Want
to volunteer for Cornucopia? It's not too soon to sign up for working
that day or helping to organize the event in so many ways (it's a lot
of work!). Please email tovacalc@gmail.com if you're interested.
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Watch out for our September letter asking you to become a member of CALC.
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Have
an hour or two on occasion? Can you help with a mailing or hanging posters
or have a skill to share? Be an on-call volunteer: fill out a
volunteer form so we can be in touch when the need arises or
contact calcoffice@gmail.com.
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CALC is looking for a desk chair and three desk lamps. If you
have ones in good shape, let us know at calcoffice@gmail.com. We are also looking for someone to donate color copies.
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Greetings!
Having volunteered for CALC and joined the Board of Directors recently, I was asked to meditate on our future. I have been thinking  about Back-to-Back's photo exhibit "Shared Community/ Mixed Identities."
The exhibit has underlined why we must remain committed to incorporating the
perspectives of those who due to their gender identity and expression, race,
sexuality, economic status, and age struggle against social attempts to silence
their valuable contributions to our community.
In
order to challenge wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must address that people from
that region are imagined in racial terms as backwards and dispensable. A
critique of militarism, state funding of prisons, and budget cuts in schools
must engage how people whose gender identity and expression are not respected
experience ostracism, economic marginality, and violence in the military,
prisons, and schools. GLBTQ youth are often criminalized and facing the reality
of homelessness.
These
examples highlight that CALC's political projects--such as
Progressive Responses, the Committee for Countering Military Recruiters, SAfER, and
Back-to-Back--are interlinked issues. The voices of those who experience discrimination on
the basis of race, gender identity and expression, class, age, legal status,
and sexuality must be fully incorporated in our political work. CALC will
continue to be a politically pertinent force by attracting constituencies that
push our political agenda according to the specific needs of our community at
any given moment. The difficult conversations that emerged due to the photo
exhibit ask us to rethink our political strategies and approaches to different
communities. The lessons learned will allow us to grow as a community.
Irmary
Reyes-Santos, CALC Board of Directors
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Human
Rights Harvest Planned for September 13, 2009
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 Live music, free soup and
bread, children's activities, information tables, produce and clothing giveaways
- all will be featured at Springfield's second Human Rights Harvest, 3-5 PM
Sunday, September 13 at First Baptist Church, 1075 G. St.
The Human Rights Harvest
will be fun, but has serious purposes- to raise awareness about human needs
at a time when many people are in economic distress, showcase available
services, and bring community members together to be good neighbors. The
location was chosen because of the services already available on G. Street.
The event is organized by
the Springfield Shelter Rights Alliance (SSRA), which exists to improve
conditions for people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Coordinated by SAfER, it includes
representatives from Springfield churches, social service agencies, the
Springfield School District and the VA. The SSRA organized six nights of
shelter at three churches during the killing cold last December, and provided
key volunteers for the Egan Memorial Warming Center.
The SSRA is motivated by
Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted
12/10/48: Everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social
services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.
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Back to Back: Allies for Human Dignity addresses issues of homeless LGBTIQ youth
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Is the LGBTIQ community aware that many of our gay, lesbian,
bi, trans, intersex and queer youth are homeless?
Is the homeless advocacy community aware that as many as 40%
of homeless youth identify as LGBTIQ?
 Back-to-Back's Queer Youth Art Project is calling for all of
us to become more aware of issues surrounding LGBTIQ homeless youth. Queer
youth and allies decorated ceramic bowls
at Eugene/Springfield PRIDE. Empty bowls symbolize the lack of food and
shelter. An amazing group of folks s.howed up at our PRIDE booth and added their
vision for a world where all kids have a safe secure place to live.
The bowls will become a traveling display raising awareness
about LGBTIQ youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. They'll be on
display during Eugene Celebration, September 4th - 6th and at the
Human Rights Harvest on September 13th. We would love to have you volunteer to
help out with either event. If you're interested, email: back2back@calclane.org.
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Committee for Countering Military Recruiters (CCMR) Making Connections
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 Yes, public high schools
by law must release, upon request from military recruiters, name, address &
phone numbers of all male & female juniors and seniors UNLESS the student
tells the school not to do so, called "opting out." You need to do this at, or soon after, fall
registration in order to limit recruiter mailings & phone calls. Doing this
protects your privacy because this data is forwarded to the Pentagon's database.
There are additional ways information is put into the Pentagon database, but
this is one of the more complete and accurate ones, making this action
important to protect privacy.
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Progressive Responses (PR) keeps working for peace and justice!
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 Eugene's peace and Japanese-American
communities combined the political with the cultural at the August 6th
Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration at Alton Baker Park. Mayor Kiitty Piercy,
Senator Merkley's staffer Dan Whelan and emcee Bob Watada provided an update on
nuclear weapons abolition. There was Taiko drumming, poetry by Misa Joo, folk
dancing by the Japanese American Association's Obon dancers and the Koto music
of Mitsuki Dazai.
Progressive Responses (PR) is joining with WAND and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom to
bring Israeli writer and peace activist Gila Svirsky to facilitate
discussions about the Women's International Peace Movement and their strategies
for promoting peace and reconciliation in Israel and Palestine. She'll be
speaking at Eugene's Temple Beth Israel,
Wednesday September 30, 2009.
PR is already working on fall and winter organizing. In
October, we will be organizing peace events to coincide with the anniversary of
the start of the Afghanistan war. We will also be helping
organize a November 21 teach-in and commemorative celebration marking 10 years
since the dramatic protests of the WTO in Seattle. Sign up for our mailing list
for more PR and other important info.
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SAfER and the SSRA
Celebrate New Help for Homeless Families!
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The vote was
unanimous! On July 20, the Springfield
City Council agreed to amend the city code to allow churches to host homeless
families with a vehicle in church parking lots.
The program will be administered by St. Vincent de Paul, which operates
a similar program in Eugene.
We first asked the City of
Springfield to
consider this program a full year ago, and our persistent but
reasonable
advocacy was critical. We had numerous
contacts with city staff and Councilors, and mobilized community
support. Now we are working with Springfield churches to gain their
participation. The program was adopted
on a trial basis for a year, but Councilors already are saying they
will
consider extending or expanding it if it goes well.
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September, 13, 2009, 3 - 5 PM, First Baptist Church, 1075 G. St., SpringfieldHuman Rights Harvest
Join
us as we help raise community awareness and community partnerships to
have the right to food and shelter as a human right for all. We'll have
food, music, resources, services, entertainment and more.
Saturday, October 24, 2009, 6:30 - 10 PM, First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street
Cornucopia
Save the date now for our Multicultural Celebration and Fundraiser - great entertainment with area youth, a MAAARVELOUS silent auction with bargains galore, community tables, and, of course, free ice cream
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Welcome, Recepción, 欢迎, Willkommen, 歓迎, Boa Vinda, 환영, Benvenuto
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We are thrilled to have our new office manager,
Russell Melia, on board. Russell graduated from
Bennington College with a B.A. in Literature and ceramic art this past June. He interned with CALC for a
few months in the winter, and is thrilled to be back.
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What are CALC staff reading, looking at online,
watching at the movies and more? We'll let you know a few things we
hope we'll be of interest to you too.
tova stabin,
Director of Administration and Development, suggests this website/DVDs/films:
Media That Matters Film Festival - http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org
- Each year a jury-selected collection of 12 shorts represents
the work of a diverse group of independent filmmakers, many of whom are under
21. The films encompass broad social justice topics, from GLBT rights to global warming to racial and economic
justice. What the films have in
common is they spark debate and action in 12 minutes or less.
Carol Van Houten, Committee for Countering Military Recruitment, suggests this book: Descent into
Chaos by Pakistani Ahmed Rashid
outlines how US actions taken in ignorance of the politics, history, culture and
fears of Pakistan & Afghanistan have led to chaos in the region, despite
alternate advice available but ignored.
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Judy Moseley for endless
hours of support work and awesome success in soliciting silent auction
donations for CALC's CORNUCOPIA.
David Pergamit for
summer volunteering.
Western States Center
for inviting our photo exhibit to be displayed at the CSTI conference.
Elizabeth Andrade for her translation.
Courtney Roby-Sage for great assistance with graphics.
Amazon Community Center and Brushfire for donating kiln space to our Queer Youth Art Project, and to M.E.C.C.A. for lending us brushes.
Toby, Judith, Karrie, Sid, Charlie, Mannie, and Azariah for volunteering at the Queer Youth Art Project.
For generously becoming
early donors to CALC's CORNUCOPIA Multi-Cultural Celebration and Silent Auction
(coming up next fall on Saturday, October 24th), thank you to Florence's River
House Inn, Old Town Inn, Lighthouse Inn, The Silver Lining Boutique, Three
Rivers Casino and Hotel, Nature's Corner Cafe and Market, King Estate Winery,
Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine, the Wayne Morris Center, and Steve and
Beth Deutsch.
CALC has received recent grants from: Ben and Jerry's Foundation,
Spirit Mountain, McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, and the Equity Foundation. An ASTRAEA technical grant gave us
funding for our new website, donor and auction software, and more. A grant from
the Cow Creek Foundation helped with essential organizational planning.
Please support those
who support us (and you)!
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