The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee presents four social-justice awards annually. Submit your nominations for the first two of the following awards now through April 30, 2012.

1. The Mary-Ella Holst Youth Activist Award recognizes and honors the achievements of an individual or group of youth who is/are advancing human rights and social justice through activism and leadership in collaboration with UUSC. In addition to a certificate, this award includes a $500 grant to continue the work specified in the nomination.*
2. The Social Action Leadership Award was established in 1977 to honor creative, inspiring, and effective leadership by an individual or group working for justice in cooperation with UUSC. In addition to a certificate, this award includes a $500 grant to continue the work specified in the nomination.*
3. The Social Justice Congregation Award recognizes an exemplary congregation for its institutional efforts to advance human-rights work in collaboration with UUSC.
4. The Outstanding Local Representative Award is presented to dedicated members of the UUSC National Volunteer Network who work tirelessly to promote UUSC membership, congregational outreach programs, social action, and advocacy efforts.

Award recipients will be announced in June at the 2012 General Assembly in Phoenix, Ariz., and certificates will be presented in the awardees' home congregations during the following year.

Timeline

By April 30: Nominations received. Please send your nominations by e-mail or letter to Volunteer Services:

• E-mail volunteerservices@uusc.org.
• Mail to UUSC, Attn: Volunteer Services, 689 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.

By May 25: Selection committees meet and recommend finalists.

By June 1: UUSC selects award recipients; winners notified.

June 21–24: Winners are announced during UUSC events at the Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly.

July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013: Awards are presented to recipients at their home congregations.

*$500 grants will be payable to congregation and mailed to a fiscal manager (e.g., treasurer or administrator). The fiscal manager will be required to sign a receipt, and the award recipient will be required to complete a report form regarding use of the grant.

Thursday morning, we had two dozen participants attend our volunteer appreciation breakfast. It was great to see our volunteers from around the country, and we were excited to host the first-ever public viewing of our newest UUSC video (you'll see it soon)! This breakfast is a special way for us to acknowledge the invaluable support and efforts of our network of volunteers.

UUSC President and CEO Bill Schulz greeted everyone and gave an overview of the plans ahead for 2011–2012. And then we had greetings from National Cochairs Gay Ann Gustafson (western territory) and Bob and Irene Keim (central territory).

Kara Smith, UUSC's associate for grassroots mobilization, updated everyone on four ongoing advocacy campaigns, which we will be conducting during General Assembly to help raise awareness in the denomination about these issues. We're encouraging people to take action on several specific issues, including ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, implementing important human-right-to-water legislation, passing a bill that will increase minimum wage for tipped workers, and calling for a Commission of Inquiry on U.S.-sponsored torture. This is Torture Awareness Week, so the latter is a particularly timely campaign.

Following the advocacy presentation, we broke out into small groups to look at our advocacy kits — a UUSC apron and materials to help volunteers be visible in the crowd and interact with people effectively. Check out our photos on Facebook!

Following our orientation on "roaming advocacy," we had thank-you comments from Maxine Neil, who noted that volunteers, through their efforts with UUSC, generate about 13 percent of our annual budget. We could not do the essential work of advancing human rights without the support of our dedicated volunteers!

Old friendships rekindled. New friends made. This is the scene the first day at the UUA's General Assembly (GA) in Charlotte, N.C. It began quietly as a small group of UUSC staff put the finishing touches on booth #512 in the downstairs exhibit hall. But it grew to a loud buzz with waves of people as the opening ceremonies ended and the evening reception began in the vendor area. There were even cupcakes, provided by the UUA to mark the 50th anniversary celebration!

Dedicated UUSC volunteers Bob Keim and Gay Ann Gustafson were on hand to help talk about UUSC and human rights to visitors at UUSC's booth. We've got new merchandise on display, including "I love GA" and "College of Social Justice" t-shirt designs, which will be available in UUSC's online store after GA. People got their first taste of the Two Degrees nutrition bars, which you can purchase now online. And for the fourth year in a row, we are sharing the exhibit space with our economic-justice partner Equal Exchange to provide fair-trade coffee samples, tea, chocolate, and other snacks.

Today was a day to celebrate the force for good that Unitarian Universalism can be in the world, and our booth demonstrated the vehicle UUSC can be to put that faith into action. Tomorrow, as our workshops begin, we'll dig into the practical knowledge to make that happen. Stay tuned to our blog for on-the-ground updates.

We're also excited to have Gary Nissenbaum at the booth, signing copies of his new book, Assembling the Pieces, which gives practical and inspirational instructions on how congregations can supercharge their social-action committees. He has tested his model of engagement with great success at his congregation in Summit, N.J., and GA attendees can look forward to learning more in tomorrow's workshop, presented with UUSC staff member Lauralyn Smith.

Folks who are not attending GA can watch some proceedings streaming live from the UUA website — don't forget to tune in around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to catch UUSC President and CEO Bill Schulz's speech during Plenary IV!

Leaders of UUSC's National Volunteer Network gather with UUSC Volunteer Services staff outside of UUSC headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

UUSC National Volunteer Network leaders from around the country recently convened in Cambridge for an annual retreat to receive updates and training, develop connections with staff and with one another, and share their expertise and knowledge. These events are always dynamic and rewarding. They leave me with a great feeling of gratitude that I have the privilege of working with and for volunteers as we collectively strive to advance human rights and social justice in the world.

We looked ahead at the next five years, considering UUSC's new strategic plan and how we will communicate about it and help achieve it. And we also took turns leading spirituality circles, an element of the retreat that I particularly enjoy.  We heard readings from Bill Moyers and Howard Zinn, sang familiar and cherished hymns together, and a heard powerful call to action recited from the closing of Gay Ann Gustafson's sermon about the Haiti Earthquake [PDF] relief efforts. Below is a portion she shared during the leadership retreat, which speaks to the human motivation we all share:

How will each of us be involved in our epoch? Will we stand back as passive witnesses, hide as sufferers, and feel powerless? We are not powerless unless we choose to be. We can act! We can join our hands with others of experience and empathy to set short-term and long-term goals for our families, our communities, our nations, and our world.

Act — to bend the arc toward justice.

The Rev. Dr. James Luther Adams calls us to be prophets to the world around us, and reminds us of "our moral obligation to direct one's efforts toward the establishment of a just and loving community."

Act — to establish a just and loving community.

The Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp went to Europe in 1939 "to see what could be done." They were instrumental in the creation of the Unitarian Service Committee.

Act — to see what can be done.

Marian Wright Edelman, in her book The Measure of Our Success, writes, "Service is the rent we pay for living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time."

Act — to pay your rent for living.

The Rev. Dr. Forrest Church reminded us before his death: "The only thing that can never be taken from us, even by death, is the love we give away before we go."

Act — to give away your love.

We all know the symbol of the planting of a tree as a long-term commitment; we plant knowing we might not be the generation that enjoys the fruit and the shade.

Act — to plant a tree.

Rabbi Shapiro, in his preface to his book Hasidic Tales, cautions, "The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves determine the quality of the selves we imagine we are. The stories we tell about others determine the quality of our relationship with them."

Act — to tell your stories honestly.

And please act to support UUSC's work with partners around the world, even if your own path to connectedness is local in its reach. Each of the four UUSC focus areas has an individual, a local, a national, and an international connection that you can discover for yourself and with your congregation. Life is full of opportunities.

Act! We are ordinary people with extraordinary courage and strength. We know who we are. We can rise every morning with hope in our own song and dance, in our own story, and join with many hands to know where we are.

Blog posts are a great way to share such inspirations and experiences with others. We invite those of you who were part of this retreat or other meaningful UUSC events: share your reflections by commenting on this post or sending us a post! 

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) [PDF] passed the House of Representatives while we were at UUA General Assembly 2009, in Utah.

The day before it passed, the UU Ministry for Earth told attendees to call their representatives to urge them to support strong climate change legislation. On Friday, we got word that the bill had passed.

ACES — known as the Waxman-Markey bill — is a measure to "create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy," all 1,427 pages of it.

The week before, UUSC staff heard from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ross Gelbspan about the need to lift up human rights in the climate change agenda, a perspective that is not adequately addressed in ACES.

As it happens at momentous and uncertain times, when decisions are made that you know are not that great, your mind jumps to all that lies ahead. As we were in Utah, I remembered Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate, a Natural Resources Defense Council report. Among its findings, Utah's temperature has increased by 1.76 degrees over century averages from 2000-2007.

As I passed by the UU Ministry for Earth's GA booth, UUSC Volunteer Network National Co-Chair Irene Keim spoke to me about the vote. She put it like this, "At least we finally have something we can fix."

I thought of the climate change impact on water resources and human rights, in particular the human right to water.

While we were in Utah, the U.S. State Department submitted its June 2009 Report to Congress on the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act [PDF]. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton points out what lies ahead for climate change and water.

I also thought of the IPCC Report on Climate Change and Water and how much further we have to go. I thought of the work of the UN Human Rights Council on Human Rights and Climate Change and its worrying January 2009 report.

I have to admit, tears rolled down my cheeks. It was not relief, not joy, but not despair. There is so much to do. It was at that moment that I saw across the huge exhibition hall some of the youth who had adopted La Gotita, the mascot of one of our partners, FENTAP. People were hugging La Gotita and taking pictures with it.

Many of the UUs asked during the week what it was, as the water drop danced around the conference center. A tear drop, a water drop? What?

Indeed. Both. La Gotita made everyone smile, lifted up their hearts, piqued their curiosity. I allowed my heart to lift and thought that La Gotita should be joined by a big sun and a rainbow...and many people in parade holding hands.

The work of human rights is the work of many joining hands. Sometimes we can laugh, sometimes we have to cry. But we keep joining hands, and we keep going.

Each month, UUSC’s volunteers are invited to participate in a conference call featuring UUSC staff. Our January conference call discussed the impact of the Obama administration on our four program areas.

UUSC Public Policy Manager Shelley Moskowitz tells us that the situation in D.C. is very promising, despite tough economic times. She’s been connecting with the transition team, and reports an openness to hearing concerns of progressive groups. The Obama administration is really going to hit the ground running after the inauguration, and we will be partners for progressive changes. You can read more of Shelley’s impressions on her recent blog post.

Economic justice is a major concern for the transition team, given how the current economic crisis is affecting jobs. The proposed economic recovery package includes creation of green jobs as well as Gulf Coast civic works projects. Despite these positive signs, the recovery package needs to be followed closely to ensure that all labor rights are protected. There’s a lot of excitement around Hilda Solis, who has been appointed secretary of labor; we are optimistic that she’ll bring safeguards to workers’ rights, improve health and safety on the job, and help workers secure more just wages.

In environmental justice, we hope that the Obama administration will not oppose the human right to water before the U.N. Human Rights Council, as the Bush administration did. Steps the administration could take to promote water justice include funding in the economic stimulus package for poor people's access to safe, affordable water. The new administration could promote principles and legislation around a just mitigation and adaptation response to climate change.

Climate change also ties into UUSC’s rights in humanitarian crises program, since extreme weather and natural disasters will cause and exacerbate humanitarian crises. Obama has promised a diplomatic rather than military foreign policy focus, and this could help end the forgotten wars in Uganda and other countries, as well as the conflict in Darfur. UUSC’s work in Darfur is making a real impact on women’s lives, training police and refugee camp leadership in understanding and reducing gender-based violence. We’ve started to build four women’s centers in camps, and increased the sense of accountability for women’s safety. Progress on the Gulf Coast is linked to the economic recovery package; the Gulf Coast civic works program is key to restoring that community. UUSC staff are also closely watching the situation in Afghanistan.

The conflict in Afghanistan is impacting our civil liberties program as well: one of our partners, the Afghan Women Judges Association, has already had to close its doors due to the volatile situation there. As the war continues in Afghanistan, there's hope that Obama will take the United States out of Iraq, although there isn’t yet a clear plan on this. Obama has the power to end U.S. torture, and we’re asking him to do so with an executive order on day one of his presidency. There are study groups discussing the possible closure of Guantanamo, although it’s a challenge that could take time to address. We’re asking the new administration to end rendition, secret prisons, and the CIA's role in torture of prisoners. UUSC is also asking that the Red Cross be granted access to all prisons. We're launching a new project, called Building Bridges for Civil Liberties, in order to work with UU and Arabic and Muslim communities to restore civil liberties that were lost post-9/11.

Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program Manager Martha Thompson observed, in conclusion, that it's "important to remember that we cannot only invest the power of leadership in Obama, but we must also take the responsibility of leadership on ourselves to create change." In all of our program areas, there is potential for great progress under the new administration, but in order to see it we must continue to join hands for human rights and social justice.

The following post was written by Linda McKim-Bell, a UUSC regional coordinator and participant in our recent Election Monitoring JustJourney in Guatemala.

I just returned from a JustJourney delegation that visited Guatemala to monitor the national elections as international observers, and to visit UUSC's human rights partners. Winds of change were blowing there. Last Sunday about six million Guatemalans went to the polls to elect Alvaro Colom as president. He ran on the slogan "Fight crime with intelligence." He ran against former general Otto Perez-Molina, a military man who was one of the masterminds of the genocides in Guatemala in the 1980s. He ran on the slogan: "A strong hand," to deal with rising crime. It was satisfying to know that Guatemalans rejected the rule of the military.

We were official election observers in the Guatemalan highlands in the farming town of Rabinal, in the region of Alta Verapaz. This region suffered greatly in the massacres of the 1980s. The army killed 400 people here in six massacres perpetrated as part of a scorched earth policy to rid Guatemala of guerrillas and sympathizers. When the villagers of Rio Negro demanded just compensation for lands flooded by the World Bank-funded Chixoy Dam project, many were murdered. The perpetrators have never been brought to justice.

We visited our human rights partners. We met with Juan de Dios, director of the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi (ADIVIMA). Our partners have been struggling for justice for 25 years. They are asking for fair compensation for their lands flooded by the dam, recognition of their cultural rights, economic development, and education for their children. When their land was flooded by the dam, they were relocated to slums where they had no means of making a living.

I saw the fruits of UUSC's work here when I sensed a new confidence in Juan de Dios. He was a stronger protagonist. UUSC had put him in touch with the Holland Knight law firm, which helped him prepare a case against the World Bank. This leveraged him into negotiations that will bring compensation. This case has world-wide significance. There are 500 World Bank-funded dams around the world and many people have been displaced without just compensation. It was gratifying to see big changes for ADIVIMA and the local community.

Indeed, I could feel a new spirit growing in Guatemala and the state of Alta Verapaz. Evidence of greater democracy in this region was seen in our visit to the mayor-elect of Rabinal, Jose Solano. His supporters gathered around us in the lovely courtyard of his party headquarters. The fresh paint and hanging baskets of flowers were hopeful signs of what Solano plans to do in Rabinal.

Solano's agenda includes health care, access to clean water, irrigation projects, an agricultural cooperative, development of womens' businesses through microcredit, a program for seniors, and a planning department for Rabinal. It was gratifying to see that the long-term work of UUSC and its partners in Alta Verapaz has helped create empowerment so that people would have the hope and political power to elect a leader like Solano.

A big surprise at the end of our delegation was that Rafael Espada, the vice president-elect of Guatemala, was aboard the plane to Miami. Wayne Smith of UUSC and I greeted him and congratulated him. He graciously allowed us to take a picture with him. Wayne told him that we had been international election observers and about UUSC having projects in Rabinal. Wayne added that he and UUSC President Charlie Clements might be at the inauguration. Espada said he had been an admirer of John Kennedy and that he had inspired him to go into politics. This unexpected and enjoyable meeting suggested that something new was stirring in Guatemala.

Written by Lisa Hartman, member of First UU Church of San Diego and UUSC's volunteer regional coordinator for Pacific Southwest

I recently returned from New Orleans, La., where I participated in a service project to rebuild housing and office space for the Welfare Rights Organization (WRO), one of UUSC's partners in the Gulf Coast. Director Viola Washington and her small staff work to link disrupted and displaced survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita with services and resources to help them return home and/or improve their living situations. WRO’s membership seeks to monitor policy and advocate policy changes on issues that affect members’ lives relating to welfare.

I, along with five other volunteers, hung drywall, repaired exterior holes with siding to protect the structure from further weather damage, did carpentry, painted – anything required to reopen the office and transitional housing space so that Viola could return to her office. Her husband James, a radiology tech, took time away from his job at the VA Hospital to instruct us. He, through necessity because of Katrina, had become a self-taught carpenter.

Working together as a team in the heat and humidity and sharing peanut butter sandwiches on the porch were a spiritual practice for me. “Chop wood, carry water,” as the Zen Buddhists say. There is a connectedness amongst peoples of all backgrounds, and I felt knitted into that connectedness.

This five-day project was supported by the UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast Volunteer Program. For five nights, 11 volunteers were housed on the second floor of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans. We cooked together, slept in dorms together, traveled together, made decisions together, worked together, played cards together, and met in the evenings to discuss our experiences together. My life has been enriched by being with those other people, many of whom I had never met before. I look forward to other opportunities to contribute what I have to offer and share with others in service.

Two years after Katrina, I am alarmed and saddened to see that city, state, and federal governments have neglected rebuilding efforts in neighborhoods that were severely damaged by the storms. One late afternoon, while walking through the city, I approached a mother and her son – they were sitting on a dirty sidewalk, asking for money. After giving her what little I was carrying in my pocket, I had to remind myself that this is America, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. She and her son are citizens. I am a citizen. I have a son. I could be her – dependent on the generosity of others to feed my boy.

Our government systems have failed. Nearly 125,000 New Orleanean families remain without permanent housing – some living in toxic trailers, some sleeping under bridges, some camping on the streets and in gutted-out buildings. Other residents simply cannot be located. Half of the schools have not reopened, as they succumb to a rapid state of decline, are eaten by mold, and blanketed by tenacious ivies. The financial district is a ghost town. New Orleans, home to generations of families, has been all but forgotten by the government. This is a travesty.

The Senate is now considering S.B. 1668, The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act, co-sponsored by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Mary Landriue (D-LA). This bill helps low-income families by providing permanent affordable housing. It will also help people get back into public housing. We can encourage our senators to support this bill. It is time that we demand that our national government step to the plate.

Written by Sarah Karstaedt, UUSC volunteer National Co-chair for Eastern Territory

My recent visit to New Orleans, as part of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's volunteer network leadership conference, has opened my eyes to the devastation that still persists there.

There is an urgent need for affordable housing for the city’s residents. The people who have returned to their damaged homes struggle against incredible odds. While their dedication and persistence are an inspiration to witness, they face rental costs that amount to as much as 86 percent of their salaries (for hotel workers and others in similar income brackets) to 37-49 percent of salaries for people in other professions. These hardworking residents deserve an affordable home for themselves and their families.

The good news is there is a way to help with this problem. My own senator, Chris Dodd (D-CT), is co-sponsoring the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007, which offers a way to address the housing problems in the Gulf Coast region.

This bill supports low-income families, by moving them out of FEMA assistance and into permanent, affordable homes, through the use of project-based housing vouchers. It provides help for families living in public housing by replacing housing units that were occupied before the storm and offering mobility counseling to assist residents in returning home. The bill also authorizes 5,500 permanent, supportive housing units for elderly, disabled, and homeless residents. It includes funding for fair housing and protects taxpayers and Gulf Coast residents through increased oversight and monitoring of federal recovery funds.

If you’ve been wondering how you can assist the beleaguered residents of the Gulf Coast region, contacting your senators and voicing your support for the Gulf Coast Recovery Act of 2007, is a great place to start.

On Justice Sunday (March 25), 150 congregations nationwide helped raise the Drumbeat for Darfur. A number of those even had guest UUSC speakers to help educate and inspire action.

Sarah Karstaedt, national cochair of the UUSC Volunteer Network, was honored to be the guest speaker for the Petersham, Mass., Unitarian congregation.

She relates that theirs is a lovely old classic New England church with impressive pipe organ, surrounded by fresh March snow reminiscent of a Currier and Ives picture. A UUSC founder, the Rev. Waitstill Sharp, was the minister at this church later in his life. Sharp is the subject of a new UUSC documentary, Heroes of the Spirit.

Many congregants knew Sharp personally. Sarah shared that the minister had a period of time during the service where they spoke of their memories of Sharp. She said that their memories were fun to hear, and painted the picture of a real character and memorable person. Some who shared memories were children in the R.E. program when he was minister, others were adults who had remained with the congregation.

The congregation's enthusiasm and support for UUSC was great. Sarah read the sermon provided in the Justice Sunday planning packet, with her own introduction, and was met with a very warm response.

In fact, one of the men who had known Sharp stood up and said, "I'm going to donate $100 to UUSC today and I want to challenge our congregation to match me and help us raise at least $1,000 to send to UUSC."

The congregation seemed happy to take the challenge as one man called out, "Count me in for $100." He had just started attending this church but had stood to say how much he appreciated the church and the service on Darfur.

Now that Justice Sunday has passed for most congregations, the Drumbeat for Darfur continues to grow. Join the campaign today! To learn more about building a membership campaign like the one spontaneously sparked in Petersham, contact Volunteer Services.

And if you will be in Portland, Ore., this June, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity of participating in UUSC's full day Drumbeat for Darfur activists' training on June 20!