September 21, 2022 CAJE UPDATE

We officially kicked off our Listening Process on Tuesday September 13. We missed many of our Team Captains.

• Our DART consultant will be in Evansville on Monday October 3 for our annual Organizational Assessment. The assessment will take place in the Delaware Center conference room, 10 am – 2 pm, with a light lunch provided. Contact your organizer for additional information.

• We need People Power on Wednesday October 5! Vanderburgh County Commissioner Jeff Hatfield has informed us that the County Council will vote on the commissioners’ allocation of $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for operational costs of the long-awaited Evansville Diversion Center. If you’re available, please join us at 9:00 am Room 301 of the Civic Center on October 5. Plan to arrive by 8:50 to get a seat in chambers. We will have CAJE stickers and badges available. If you are unable to attend, I will send out a link no later than October 4, which will allow us to send emails to all council members, urging them to approve the allocation.

• Retreat! Retreat! As a reminder, our inaugural Justice Ministry Retreat is Friday October 14, 11-6 pm at The Lakeside Shelter of Burdette Park (look for CAJE signs). Stay for an hour – or the whole day! You will be inspired and refreshed, either way (see what I did there?)!  There will be door prizes, relationship building and a few surprises! Please join us! If you have not done so, please RSVP by 10/10. An informational flyer is attached.

• Our Team Captains and Clergy will gather on October 25 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the Listening Process Report Back. These leaders will decide which three problem areas will go before our Justice Ministry Network members at the 20th annual Community Problems Assembly. An organizational calendar, which includes additional information is attached. 

• FREE TRAINING WORKSHOP!  DART (our consulting group) will conduct its annual Research to Action Advanced Leadership Training (ALTI) Thursday 11/17 (Noon CT) through – Noon Saturday 11/19 in Dayton Ohio. There is no cost to you for the training. We will be carpooling. This is unlike any other Research to Action training workshop!  We will spend quite a bit of time discussing “productive tension” and negotiating with officials. Intrigued? Let’s turn out a few dozen people to Dayton & learn more about tension and negotiations – valuable tools, just in time for the awkward Thanksgiving family gatherings!   Yes, another flyer, provided by DART, is attached.

• A HUGE shout out to John Michael O’Leary of St. Benedict Cathedral! He has taken over the task of managing our website. He even made some snazzy updates! Check it out: www.greaterevansvillecaje.org

• Yvonne and I will be away Saturday September 24 – Friday September 30. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan (9/25-27) for the Daughters of Charity Ministry & Mission Impact Grantee Conference and then Quaker Hill, Indiana (9/28-9/30) for a Community Organizer training module with 50 other DART affiliate organizers from around the country. We will have limited access to email and will provide emergency contact information prior to our departure.

• After a few bumps & delays, we will kick off our discussion of the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, in October. More information (probably a flyer) coming soon!

• As we approach the final quarter of 2022, many of us will reflect on reasons to give thanks and perhaps year-end giving. If you are grateful for the methodical and strategic way the CAJE organization works to transform our community, please consider a financial investment in this Justice Ministry. There are two ways to give.

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