May-June 2015, p.

CONNECTION

MAY-JUNE 2015

Published by Interfaith Works, P.O. Box 1221, Olympia, WA 98507 office@interfaith-works.org (360) 357-7224 www.interfaith-works.org

IN THIS ISSUE 41ST ANNUAL MEETING

POLICE SHOOTING RE-

SPONSE

CROP HUNGER WALK

EARTH STEWARDS

CALENDAR

Our newsletter is now pub-

lished in electronic format only.

If you are not yet on our email

subscription list, you can sub-

scribe by visiting this webpage:

http://oly-wa.us/Interfaith/

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THANK YOU STATE EMPLOYEES!

CFD CODE: 0316251

Interfaith Leadership Responds to

Deadly-Force Police Shooting

Within hours of the May 21 shooting incident involving an Olympia po-

lice officer, faith leaders, with the support and assistance of Interfaith

Works, organized an evening community forum at Temple Beth Hat-

filoh downtown. Over two hundred neighbors attended, and many took

the opportunity to share their thoughts, feelings and concerns. Olympia

Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, other City Council members, Police Chief

Ronnie Roberts, City Manager Steve Hall and other officials were in

attendance to listen.

Since that first evening, the community has continued to grapple with

the shooting incident and related questions about race relations, racism,

policing reforms and accountability. In the weeks and months to come,

Interfaith Works and our diverse faith leadership will be actively in-

volved in community engagement and dialogue, working together to

navigate the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Donate Online via

May-June 2015, p. 2

As reported in April’s newsletter, the Earth

Stewards selected the issue of bees and pesti-

cides as the first project for the committee,

launching a “Bee-Kind” Campaign. Committee

members are currently focused on seeking the

approval of congregations to support a joint

letter from faith communities to gardening out-

lets to ask that they not carry plants and prod-

ucts that contain neonicotinoid pesticides.

“Neonic’s” are the deadly pesticides most im-

plicated in the alarming decline in bee popula-

tions across the country. Research recently re-

leased reports that there was a 40 percent mor-

tality in bee populations nationwide last sum-

mer, a huge increase from the previous year.

If you are interested in getting your faith com-

munity to sign the

letter to gardening

outlets in Thurston

County, please con-

tact Naki Stevens, IW

Program Coordinator

at naki@interfaith-

works.org, and she

can get you the mate-

rials to get you start-

ed. We are hoping to

get all IW faith com-

munities, about 30, to

sign on, with a goal

to add at least 10

faith communities

that are not currently

IW members. The

Earth Stewards feel confident that a unified re-

quest coming from dozens of faith communities

in Thurston County would have a powerful

effect on gardening stores to ban neonic’s.

IW members and supporters are also invited to

attend a June 24th Celebration of the collabora-

tive work underway in our county on protecting pol-

linators. The Thurston County Commissioners

adopted a policy in December that bars the use of

neonic’s on county-owned property to protect bees

and other pollinators. Since that time, County Com-

missioner Sandra Romero has organized a “Bee

Team” that meets

monthly to work to get

other jurisdictions in the

county to follow

Thurston’s lead, and sev-

eral have done so. The

Celebration will be held

at 5:30 on June 24 at Pan-

orama’s City’s new polli-

nator garden. Park at

1600 Sleater Kinney Rd

SE (C & R Center), in

Lacey. Shuttles to garden

will be provided. Elected

officials and community

leaders have been invit-

ed to attend.

IW Earth Stewards are also awaiting with interest the

soon-to-be-released Papal Encyclical on climate

change (the release date has been announced as June

18). The encyclical is likely to stimulate wide-ranging

discussion and reaction, with the opportunity to en-

gage in deep inter-religious learning and dialogue in

our own community. The Committee is exploring

possible programming related to the encyclical in the

months ahead.

Pope Francis recently spoke of the importance of car-

ing for creation during his homily for the feast of

Pentecost. The feast serves to remind Christians of

their duty to care for and respect the earth, he said.

“Respect for creation, then, is a requirement of our

faith: the 'garden' in which we live is not entrusted to

us to be exploited, but rather to be cultivated and

tended with respect.”

T he IW Program Council has re-

established our longstanding Earth Stewardship Commit-tee. All IW members and supporters are welcome to participate in the joyful work of this committee, which meets the 3rd Monday every month at 10:00AM at First Unit-ed Methodist Church of Olympia.

Interfaith Earth Stewardship Committee Takes Off By Naki Stevens, Interfaith Program Coordinator

May-June 2015, p. 3

CROP HUNGER WALK

THURSTON COUNTY’S ORIGINAL

WALK-RUN FUNDRAISER

35 YEARS ● 1981—2015

Thanks to all our participants and volun-

teers who made this year’s May 6 Walk a

great success! It’s not too late to contribute

to the 2015 CROP Hunger Walk. We are

collecting donations through the end of

June.

All walkers should turn their sheets

and collected donations as soon as pos-

sible.

You can visit the Walk webpage and

donate online:

http://www.crophungerwalk.org/olympiawa

Or send a check payable to CWS/CROP

and mail c/o Interfaith Works, PO Box

1221, Olympia 98507

Donations must be received by June 30!

The Interfaith community joyfully celebrated itself at IW’s

41st Annual Meeting on May 19. In addition to enjoying be-

ing together and celebrating our accomplishments, our busi-

ness included the election of four new Board members: Ivy

Gilliam (Treasurer) and George Krusz, Selena Kilmoyer and

Julia Moore (at-large members). We thanked outgoing

Board members Mindy

Chambers, Barnett Ka-

likow, Susan Kavanaugh

and Bill Lynch, and hon-

ored nine “Hidden Gems”

nominated by their faith

communities. The staff of the Overnight Shelter received

special recognition.

New Board Elected and ‘Hidden Gems’

Honored at 41st Annual Meeting

Overnight Shelter staffers Krista Keller and Tarryn Bieloh, along with Program Director Meg Martin, receive the special birdhouse gift created by artist Buffie Finkel recognizing and honoring shelter staff for their skill and dedication Photo by Sigal Gerson Kadden

2015 “Hidden Gems” honorees (from l to r): Rich Young (Bahai’s), Sherry Sullivan (St. John’s Episcopal), Rodger Johnson (First United Methodist) Sophie Robbins (Unity of Olympia), Paul McCarthy and Mary Luetkehans (St. Michael Parish), Mustafa Mo-hamedali and Abu Bakr Rony (Islamic Center). Not pictured: Buffie Finkel (Center for Spiritual Living-Olympia) Photo by Sigal Gerson Kadden

Pastor Denise and walkers from Tumwater United Methodist Church stop for a snack at Tumwater Historical Park

This year’s Honorary Chair, County Commis-sioner Sandra Romero, greets walkers and thanks them for their efforts

May-June 2015, p. 4

SideWalk had its beginnings in the minds and hearts of a group of

folks who represented several member congregations of IW – lay

leaders and clergy alike -- who linked with social service agencies

in the community and city government seeking to expand and

improve the way people who experience homelessness in our

community are served. As a program of IW, SideWalk’s mission

was to end homelessness in Thurston County with primarily a

volunteer staff. If that sounds a little optimistic and ambitious to

you, it did to me too at the time. Phil Owen was hired as Program

Director, grants and funding requests

were written, volunteers were recruit-

ed and trained, and a home where this

work could be done was found. Two

other staff were hired – an Operations

Manager to oversee and organize the

daily work of the program and a De-

velopment Director who also did Out-

reach for SideWalk.

Sidewalk opened its doors in October 2011 at its home on Fifth

Avenue SE, a space made available through the generosity of First

United Methodist Church. Since that time, 341 people have been

housed through a program called Rapid Rehousing for an average

cost of $1200. Another program called Shelter Diversion has tem-

porarily housed another 95 people for $250 each. That’s a total of

436 people who have had stability and dignity restored to their

lives. As a SideWalk volunteer I’ve seen firsthand the joy and

hope that people experience when they’re told that their applica-

tions have been approved and they can now plan to move into

what may be their first real home in a long time.

Volunteers at SideWalk do a multitude of jobs: direct client service

including hospitality greeting folks as they come in, assessing eli-

gibility for Rapid Rehousing and Shelter Diversion, providing in-

formation about resources in the community, and supporting ten-

ants after they’re moved into housing with whatever help they

need to get their lives back on track. Most importantly, though,

they provide a listening ear and a caring heart.

After careful planning, SideWalk applied for and received its own

501(c)(3) non-profit status and as of June 1 is no longer under the

wing of Interfaith Works. As SideWalk moves forward as an inde-

pendent organization, we at IW want to express our pride in their

significant accomplishments and wish only the best in the future.

And like all parents of children who have “left the nest,” we hope

to maintain close contact and continue to collaborate and hear lots

of good news in the future about SideWalk’s successes.

Next Steps: SideWalk Goes Independent

By Mary Wharton, Interfaith Works Board Member & SideWalk Volunteer

‘Perspective’ Column

Re-Tooled for 2015

The ‘Perspective’ column, coordinated by

Interfaith Works, has been published in

The Olympian since the 1970s. This year

we ended that run but will continue to

publish and disseminate the series in oth-

er venues. This newsletter will feature oc-

casional columns that enlighten and

broaden inter-religious and multi-cultural

understanding. We are also partnering

with the local monthly Works in Progress

to publish a regular interfaith

‘Perspective’ column.

Opportunity to Submit If you are interested in being a contrib-

uting writer to Interfaith Works, and keep-

ing alive the spirit of “Perspective,’ contact

Selena Kilmoyer at 360-951-0326 or

k.selena@gmail.com

May-June 2015, p. 5

June 16 Tuesday 7:00-9:00 pm

Interfaith Works Program Council. All faith communities and individuals supporting the programs of Interfaith Works are welcome. Cost: free. Temple Beth Hatfiloh, 201 8th Ave SE, Olympia,98501. More information: Inter-faith Works 357-7224; www.interfaith-works.org

June 28 Sunday 7:00 –9:00 pm

Race: The Power of an Illusion: The Difference Between Us. Join members of the community to view this PBS documentary in three segments (additional sessions on July 9 and 16 same time and location). Discussion will follow each viewing. We hope this series can help clear away the biological underbrush and leave starkly visible the underlying social, economic, and political conditions that disproportionately channel advantages and opportuni-ties to white people. Perhaps we can shift the conversation from discussing diversity and respecting cultural differ-ence to building a more just and equitable society. The United Churches of Olympia, 110 Eleventh Ave SE, Olym-pia 98501. Cost: free. info@theunitedchurches.org ; www.theunitedchurches.org

July 17-19 Fri day 6:00-9:00pm Sat-Sun 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Crisis Clinic Volunteer Training. Volunteering with the Crisis Clinic, a 24/7 crisis telephone hotline, offers oppor-tunities for service to those in need, as well as personal growth. Training begins with an initial training weekend, followed by a 6-week in-service period that includes a series of evening workshops and a 4 hour/week mentored training phone shift, for a total of 60 hours of training. To qualify for the training, you must have an interview and be able to commit to the entire weekend, the workshops, plus a 4 hour weekly phone room training shift. For infor-mation call Nanci 360-586-2888 ext 103 or email Nanci@crisis-clinic.org ; Cost: Free; registration required; http://www.crisis-clinic.org/PDF/VolunteerApplication.pdf

July 18 Saturday 9:00 - 3:00 pm

Personal Labyrinth Prayer Cloth. Participants in one day workshop will create a 5’ x 5’ walk-able, personal-sized labyrinth for use as a prayer cloth or mat. History of the labyrinth will be discussed, with time for reflection and sharing. Register by prior Friday. Bring sack lunch, journal, medium of your choice (acrylic paints, rubber stamps/ink pads, colored pencils, permanent markers, etc.) to decorate the labyrinth, and clean white socks for walking. Minimum: 5, Maximum: 12 Instructor: Nickie Lynn - Masters in Pastoral Studies; certified Labyrinth Facilitator and Designer. Cost: $50 + $20 for canvas. Priory Spirituality Center, 500 College St NE, 98516, 438-2595; priorypro-grams@gmail.com; www.stplacid.org

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

A listing of some of the activities and events of Interfaith Works members, and of general interest. IW does not necessarily endorse these events. More details and events at www.interfaith-works.org. Submit your event at www.interfaith-works.org//SubmitEvent.php

Some More

Photos

of our 2015

Annual

Meeting

May-June 2015, p. 6

PO Box 1221 Olympia WA 98507

www.interfaith-works.org

May-June 2015

Memorial gifts gratefully received for the support of the Interfaith Works Overnight Shelter

In Memory of Roberta Curfman Marilyn Gregson Carmen Gayton

Scarlett & Bill Glover Deb & Keith McNelly

Dorothy & Robert Smith Margaret & Paul Olson

Elaine Ulry Frank & Joanne Goodwin

Val Ayres Don & Jan Carlson

Judy Bushell

In Memory of Charles Langen Jr. Rachael Langen Lundmark

VISIT THE VOLUNTEER PAGE OF OUR SHELTER WEBSITE:

http://www.iwshelter.org/volunteer.html

Volunteers primarily support our staff, assist with guests needs, cleaning, organizing and being available to meet our guests and get to know them. We also need volunteers to help transport our laundry each Fri/Sat mornings and Tues/Wed mornings. You can check the online calendar and sign up for an open spot by submitting a simple volunteer form Our volunteer calendar is updated on a regular basis. The Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter is located at the First Christian Church in downtown Olympia, 701 Franklin St SE, Olympia, WA 98501

May-June 2015, p. 6

With Rabbi Seth Goldstein &

Pastor Amy Walters

See the Event

Facebook page for

details