Social Justice Committee

The Social Justice Committee has been an active participant in UU Nashua Church affairs since 1987, organizing educational events, initiating/supporting outreach programs, and helping to serve as our congregation's social justice advocates.

We have a table most Sundays during coffee hour, and we invite you to stop by for conversation and exploration about how you can get involved. Come see us!

Ending Hunger and Homelessness Project (EHH)

Since January, 2012, the EHH Project has been a major focus of the Social Justice Committee. With church-wide participation and numerous opportunities for member involvement, this project has become well integrated in our church life. Click here for more information.

Our Mission Statement

The Social Justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, grounded in our UU principles, is committed to making our church a force for positive social change in our community and in society at large.

Current Social Justice Actions

Although the membership of the Social Justice Committee is large and individually members are working on different issues, we are currently organizing (and inviting larger church member participation in) the following:

 

Activity Description
Community Outreach (Community Action) In 2006, we formed an ongoing sub-committee of the SJC. The Community Outreach Team organizes the Nashua Soup Kitchen meal preparation, manages the Sunday Outreach Collection program, and partners with other groups, including the Greater Nashua Continuum of Care toward the goal of ending hunger and homelessness in greater Nashua. Click here for more information.
Retirement Security We are working with GSOP (see below) and The Center for Community Change to give Social Security and Medicare greater attention in the 2011-12 primary season. This involves bird dogging candidates and speaking with the media.
Homework Help and Tutoring Program The Homework Help and Tutoring Program was set up in spring 2011 to provide neighborhood children help with their schoolwork. The program is staffed by volunteers, and is free of charge to interested families. The program is run with support from GSOP and is currently being offered on Wednesdays from 4-6 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua.

Please visit our Social Justice Table in coffee hour for more information.

Occupy New Hampshire

Since Fall of 2011, several members of the UU Nashua Social Justice community have been participating in Occupy New Hampshire and Occupy Nashua. This has included spending time at the Occupy New Hampshire site in Manchester (Veteran's Park), attending statewide and local general assemblies, participating in the ongoing discussions within Occupy, and bringing information to the congregation about events and related topics of interest (available at the Social Justice table during coffee hour).

Some links you may find helpful:


Occupy Wall St. web page: http://www.occupywallst.org
Occupy New Hampshire web page: http://www.occupynh.org
Occupy Nashua web page: http://www.occupynashua.org
Occupy Wall St. facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/OccupyWallSt
Occupy New Hampshire facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/OccupyNH
Occupy Nashua facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/OccupyNashua

Granite State Organizing Project

The Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP) is an organization in New Hampshire's Merrimack Valley (including Concord, Manchester, Nashua, and adjoining towns). It is made up of representatives from religious, labor, and community groups that work together to address local issues of vital concern and improve life in our region. The issues that GSOP have identified as most critical to our area are housing, healthcare, jobs, and education, and work is going on in each of those areas to research the underlying issues, consider the strategies that we might take, and initiate courses of action.

Our church is a sponsoring member of GSOP, and church members can get involved in various ways. Please check the GSOP web site or stop by the Social Justice Committee table for more information.

UUA General Assembly Resolutions

Every June, the GA passes a number of resolutions, classified either a "Statement of Conscience" or "Action of Immediate Witness," on issues of social justice:

You can investigate, by year, all the GA resolutions that have been adopted since 1961 by going to www.uua.org/actions/chronological.html.

Recommended Web Sites

Some web sites particularly recommended by the Social Justice Committee:

Some legislative/congressional oriented sites:

Senate Official Web Site www.senate.gov
House Official Web Site www.house.gov
THOMAS (the most comprehensive legislative search engine) thomas.loc.gov
Your link to Congress www.congress.org
Webster (New Hampshire legislative search engine) www.state.nh.us
State by state analysis of major political agendas www.stateline.org

Some other recommended sites:

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee www.uusc.org
UUA Faith in Action www.uua.org/faithinaction
United for a Fair Economy www.ufenet.org
American Friends Service Committee www.afsc.org
Interfaith Alliance www.tialliance.org
National Labor Council www.nlcnet.org
National Coalition against Legalized Gambling www.ncalg.org
Planned Parenthood Federation of America www.plannedparenthood.org
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy www.crlp.org
Death Penalty Resource Center www.essential.org/dpic
Campaign to End the Death Penalty www.nodeathpenalty.org