Social Action News – April 2017

Volunteers Needed
To fulfill a years’ long need, the City of Ventura has installed storage units on Front Street (behind the Vagabond restaurant) for homeless people to store their belongings during the day. The storage units will be open during a window of time in the morning and in the afternoon for folks to drop off and retrieve their belongings. Volunteers are needed to be at the storage units. Peter Brown, Community Services Manager of City of Ventura, said the park ambassadors and police cadets will staff this for the most part and he needs volunteers. If interested, contact Kathy Powell, Park Outreach coordinator, at kathypurpleprincess@gmail.com. She will forward your information to Peter. He will have an orientation meeting soon.
UUCV Members At Work
We want to recognize and thank UUCV members working for social justice.
• The AIDS Walk Ventura 2017 on March 4, to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS was organized by the Diversity Collective Ventura County and Ventura County Public Health with many volunteers and sponsors like Macy’s, Starbucks, and H&R Block. UUCV participants included Kathy Powell and Darryl Marquez, volunteer coordinator and assistant, respectively, and Chris Chalquest and Beth Potts-Mee, volunteers.
• Under the direction of a social worker, Cindy Camillucci, Kathy Powell and Beth Potts-Mee helped a homeless man obtain a small apartment which involved months of work.
• A group of rotating volunteers from UUCV went weekly for the past four months to Food Share and shopped for 400-600 pounds of food for the winter warming shelter.
• Over 600 people attended the 2nd Justice for All meeting, including many UUCV members. The meeting broke into smaller groups with people joining the cause they felt most committed to. The groups will continue to meet and focus on their issues to keep these things in the public’s eye during these turbulent times.
You Are Invited!
The Social Action Coordinating Committee (SACC) invites church members interested in pursuing social justice endeavors to form Action Groups. Join us on Monday, April 24 at UUCV, at 6:30pm. Come at 6 and bring food to share to participate in a potluck.
by Lety Ball, Chair of SACC