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In this RMM Notes:
- Faircloth Family Update
- Summer Appeal
- Information on Overnight Camp volunteers needed
- Farmworker Advocacy Update
- Update on the Youth Arts Group
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Rural and Migrant Ministry
POSITION OPENING:
Social Justice Education Coordinator
Rural and Migrant Ministry (RMM) is looking for a progressive individual to direct and expand a unique education program that brings together rural and migrant peoples and allies who seek to create a more just rural community in New York. The Education program seeks to strengthen the leadership skills of the participants of the Accompaniment and Youth Empowerment programs.
Responsibilities include:
- Expand and coordinate the education program.
- Design intensive experiential educational programs that nurture consciousness and leadership capacity of program participants and allies.
- Work directly and collaboratively with the Accompaniment and Youth Empowerment Teams to strengthen their program
- Work with faith communities
Experience
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Commitment and comfort in working directly with grass-roots communities.
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Familiarity with and commitment to social transformation pedagogy
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Working directly with grass-root educational programs
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Listening and networking skills
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Experience in bridging diverse communities
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Experience in working with faith communities
Requirements
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Fully Bi-Lingual in Spanish and English
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Able to work irregular hours
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Driver's license and a hearty willingness to drive across New York to implement the program
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Willingness to be based in the Hudson Valley of New York
At the moment this is a part-time position, which will grow into a full-time position.
Please send a letter of introduction and resume to:
The Education Committee
c/o The Rev. Richard Witt, Executive Director, RMM
PO Box 4757
Poughkeepsie, NY 12602
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We Sure Could Use Your Help!!
The 19th RMM SUMMER CAMP SEASON IS UPON US...Overnight Camp will be held the week of August 17th -23rd at Camp Kutz, Warwick, New York. As we begin our preparations, we would ask your help in assuring that a variety of accessories can be provided for our approximately 100 campers and 40 staff persons.
!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP MAKE CAMP A SUCCESS!!!
Dear Friends,
We are brainstorming now about finding counselors for the summer overnight camp. This year we are losing some of our long-term counselors as they move on in life. Please help us recruit passionate, creative, energetic people. They need to be with us for the training/camp August 15- 23. They also need to be out of high school. The RMM Overnight Leadership Camp is a remarkable experience in building community in the midst of incredible diversity as we work to nurture leaders for social justice. It is a fun experience that mixes traditional camp (swimming, games, trips) with workshops, the arts, spirituality and politics. We are looking for people who really want to make a difference and want to be challenged by a setting and program that is most definitely unlike anything else they have ever experienced. Please help us recruit for these wonderful volunteers or consider becoming one yourself. All told we need to find about 24 counselors. It is a good opportunity for someone who has worked for the summer and has a week off before going back to school. It is a great opportunity for a teacher or an artists, or someone who is bored with their world. If you have any suggestions let us know at RMM and we will be glad to follow up. Peace Richard Witt
The following would perhaps be great VBS mission projects:
-Medium sized/priced beach towels (1 for each camper)
-T-shirts @$5.00 each - challenge each child to contribute $1.00/day to pay for one T-shirt
-Water bottles - Does anyone know of a bank or Dr.'s office that uses these for advertising that might donate some?
-10 boxes with the following:
-5 bars of soap
-5 mid-sized tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes
-5 combs and brushes
-5 deodorants for boys and 5 for girls
(We have shampoo and conditioner)
The nurses need:
- 6-8 fleece sleeping bags
-10-12 bottles of insect repellent
If you church/group is planning to participate in some way, PLEASE CALL JANE KONITZ at the Ministry Office: 845-485-8627 or at home: 845-297-5864 so we can be sure that we are not duplicating efforts. Thanking you in advance for your prayers, your support and your help in making summer dreams come true for the 19th season!
House Party Updates!
We've had 5 very successful House Parties to date where we've connected with people eager to assist RMM's Mission and we are most appreciative of our friends who are helping to make this happen. If you are interested in hosting a House Party and inviting your friends to come and learn more about RMM please contact Laura at the office 845-485-8627
Volunteers Needed
Got a few extra hours and enjoy writing?? We need writers to help us tell RMM's story. We have a lot of important things happening and we need to get the news out!
- Help in the office call Laura @ 845-485-8627
- Drivers to help our Youth Arts Group get around
- The Justice for Farmworkers campaign needs an online venue, i.e. website, where folks can visit to learn more about and connect with our work. We are seeking a volunteer with website skills to work with the Justice for Farmworkers campaign in developing this important tool. If you are interested please call us at 845-485-8627 or e-mail Jordan at farmworkerjustice@gmail.com.
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Sister Organization Links
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CONTACT US
Eastern New York
Address:
P.O. Box 4757
Poughkeepsie, NY12602
Phone:
(845) 485-8627
Fax:
(845) 485-1963
Western New York
Email:
Address:
14 State Street
Brockport, NY 14420
Phone:
(845) 637-8360
Fax:
(585) 637-8362
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Mission
Rural and Migrant Ministry works for the creation of a just rural New York State by:
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Nurturing leadership
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Standing with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers and rural workers
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Changing unjust systems and structures
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News/Analysis
Dear Friends, 
The Faircloth's join me in giving thanks for all of your prayers and support during their challenging times. Several have asked for an update: T Faircloth has been moved to the Helen Hayes Rehab Center in Rockland County. His eyes have opened and he has begun to interact with his family. He had successful surgery recently to repair the broken bones in his face and apparently came out of the surgery doing well. An amazing aspect of this story is the determination and faith of the family. Early on the doctors felt that the family was not hearing the dire prognosis. A mental health nurse was brought in to try to help the family understand 'reality" The nurse asked for Ruth to tell her what she heard, Ruth then repeated what the doctor said, and the nurse said: "Oh you do understand!". Ruth replied: "Oh I understand what the Doctor is saying and projecting, but I choose to put my faith in God." Twenty some days later, the staff involved is apparently amazed at the progress of T, a man they expected to die within 48 hours. The family, Rosa the wife, Max and Ruth the parents, and T's four siblings have been at the hospital round the clock. Truly a family of faith and love. As one nurse said: "I haven't been converted yet, but I am believing more and more" Meanwhile, the family has moved into a house close to the hospital. The Insurance company will come through and the Faircloths expect there for the next six months while their home is re-built. At this point they don't need anything for the house, but we will be back in touch when they move in. For those of you who have responded with generous offers - the family says thank you, and they apologize if they haven't gotten back to you - it has been a time of turmoil and confusion.
In Peace
Richard Witt
SPRING APPEAL
Dear Friends,
For the past eighteen years RMM has nurtured hundreds of children in rural New York as they have sought to overcome social and economic barriers. Many times we have taken great pride in witnessing their successes; other times we have shared in their frustration and pain as they encountered another barrier. Always the question becomes, will they have the energy, determination and hope to carry forward?
The fact is that many of the children in Rural & Migrant Ministry's youth program struggle with cultural barriers and prejudices. Yet, when given the chance, when given the resources and the support, they thrive! There are many of these children - facing doors, determined to walk through them, committed to opening them in their communities and to strengthening a world to which they have so much to give.
For many of these youngsters, the ability to succeed begins with our summer youth leadership programs. Each year we serve over two hundred children. With your support of these programs we can begin to help them open doors and make a difference - in their lives and in ours.
Thank you for helping us make these opportunities available to these special young people.
In Peace,
Richard Witt
** ACTION ALERT **
BILL PROVIDING FARMWORKERS THE RIGHT TO OVERTIME AND A WEEKLY DAY OF REST
CALL TODAY AND ALL THIS WEEK!
518-455-2800
Explanation: The Justice for Farmworkers Campaign is on the brink of a major step toward the equal treatment of all New York workers. We really need your help to make it happen.
Seventy years ago, our elected representatives had the good wisdom to enact overtime protections that required work hours numbering greater than forty in a week to be compensated at one and one-half times the regular rate. Because southern legislators would not stand for putting African American workers on an equal footing with their white counterparts, however, farmworkers and domestic workers were excluded from overtime coverage. Since the New Deal, New York has perpetuated their exclusion from protections such as a day of rest per week. We are urging the NYS Senate pass into law day of rest and overtime protections for farmworkers, as a step toward ending this shameful legacy of exclusion. Over many years, New York workers have come to expect a day of rest per week and overtime pay for hours worked beyond the forty-hour work week. With the passage of this bill, they will be able to approach farm work with that same expectation.
Our message is simple - We want our legislators to support a bill that ensures nurses are not required to work more than their regularly scheduled hours and that all nurses are covered.
Please Call Today! 518-455-2800
Sample Script:
Hello, my name is [NAME] and I am calling from [YOUR CITY/AFFILIATION]
I wanted to call to ask you to support a bill that would provide a day of rest and overtime protections to farmworkers. We must end these two shameful exclusions, which are rooted in racism and that deny basic rights to farmworkers. I understand there is an Assembly Bill number A11425-a, and I would like [SENATOR] to support a matching bill in the Senate.
Thank you for your time.
Farmworker Advocacy Day
On May 20th, the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign took Albany by storm!!
 Rev. Richard Witt - Executive Director RMM, Jim Sweeney - President National AFL-CIO, Rabbi Michael Feinberg - Board President, RMM
After a morning of intense lobbying, we rallied, chanted, and danced together with our sister campaign for a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in West Capitol Park. Joined by AFL-CIO John Sweeney and NYS AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes, as well as Assembly Labor Chair Susan John and our Senate sponsor Senator John Flanagan among others, we were hundreds of people from all over New York raising picket signs, banners, and a chorus of voices calling for the end of the shameful and overtly racist legacy of excluding farm and domestic workers from basic labor protections.
Special thanks go to the United Food and Commercial Workers and to the Capital District Area Labor Federation for their support of FAD, as well as Westminster Presbyterian for hosting our morning program.
See links below to some great news coverage!
RMM Western NY Coordinator Librada Paz interviewed on TV (5/20/08):
Legislative Gazette (5/27/08):
News Western NY
On June 1st we had a Delegation for Youth from 12:00pm-3:00pm. We ended up with 30 youth coming to experience the worker's hard work and learn about their daily llife, and also experience that the farmworkers that are there are a lot of youth their age.
Farmworkers and allies on a Legislative Office Visit with
Senator John Flanagan, sponsor of the Farmwokers Fair Labor Practices Act.
Farmworker Advocacy day went really well; there were about 25 farmworkers who came along with us, some of them who had been there before. In Western NY there were about 10 allies who joined us, and they gave great feedback about how the workers inspired them by sharing their experience during the visits to the congress. Also the workers experienced something different than just work. One of them commented "I never had a chance in Mexico to go visit the congress and here I had that chance". Others shared about the Capital Building.
Youth Arts Group News!
CONGRATULATIONS!
TO ALL THE MEMBERS FROM THE YOUTH ARTS GROUP FOR YOUR COMMITMENT AND INSPIRATIONAL HARD WORK
- YAG participated in a protest march at the Somos el Futuro Conference: The 2008 Annual Conference of the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force in Albany , NY on April 25-27, 2008.
- We attended a performance by the Cave Dogs at Vassar College , BENEFIT PERFORMANCE for THE JUSTICE FOR ALL SPEAKERS FORUM.
- On April 24, YAG participated in a tour of Vassar College , during which we discussed the importance of education.
- On Tuesday, May 20, YAG participated in the Farm Workers Advocacy Day (FAD) in Albany . Here some YAG members had the opportunity to represent and advocate for our brothers and sisters, the farmworkers. Here we had the opportunity to learn more about the situation of farmworkers and to hear about the proposed new bill for equal rights for farmworkers presented to legislators at the State Building in Albany .
 Farmworkers and advocates on the steps of the Capital in Albany.
JUST US
Envision Change
Drawing a Different Future
Rural and Migrant Ministry Youth Arts Group (YAG) is a culturally diverse group in which high school-age individuals come together with a determination to create change in their lives and communities. Each year, the group organizes the Just Us Youth Conference which empowers local youths to promote social change.
Mural Project:
"The responses from YAG members regarding the mural were possibly more powerful than the mural itself. YAG members were able to express themselves and react to issues they are dealing with in their daily lives. I think interactive activities and workshops to promote creative thinking and artistic expression are extremely beneficial to the development of the group and the individuals. Each of these young adults has such great potential and Rural & Migrant Ministry provides outstanding opportunities that many will never get to experience. It was an eye-opening experience to work with these young adults, not only professionally in developing my skills and responsibilities, but truly inspiring to me in more ways than I can identify.
Thank you for this opportunity to work with your Ministry and the Youth Arts Group. I hope that I have given your group as much as I have taken away from it. I can see what this program offers these young adults and what it means to them to be a part of such a wonderful experience." Sincerely, Meg Sela . Our sincere gratitude to all the workshop presenters, especially to the great drumming circle, to the parents, to our terrific interns- Meg Sela and Leah Russell , and to the teens of YAG for all their hard work.
YAG Fundraising Event
The Youth Arts Group collaborated with Vassar College from Poughkeepsie , NY , this year as part of our fundraising efforts to help cover the stipends for YAG summer internships. We raised around a $1,000 at a Tag Sale event that took place on Memorial Day weekend at the United Methodist Church in Poughkeepsie .
"I sincerely extend my gratitude to all the people who contributed and provided the time and valuable support to our group. Without their important contribution and participation, this event wouldn't have been possible: YAG members, their parents, RMM staff, UMC staff, and Katie Hansen , an intern from Vassar College. Thank you ." Andres.
Summer Programs
YAG is planning a summer-long Leadership Academy which will meet twice weekly for presentations, workshops, and educational trips. We will be applying for a grant from the National Level of the Self-Development of the People Committee.
For more information about any of the above YAG projects, please contact Andres Chamorro , YAG Coordinator.
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Mark Your Calendar
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The Sowing Seeds for Justice Dinner will take place this fall on November 13, 2008, at Riverside Church in New York City. Please contact Laura at 845-485-8627 to make your reservations, place your ads or for further information!
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RMM NOTES
