This sunny season may bring relaxation for some, but it also shines a light on the ongoing work of advancing human rights. The justice movement doesn’t take a vacation! From supporting grassroots activists in Haiti to defending the human right to safe housing, UUSC and our partners have been hard at work.
If you’ve been overwhelmed by ongoing attacks on human rights, a committed UUSC supporter is providing you with the chance to make a difference. The opposite of anxiety is action, and with their generous sponsorship, gifts of any amount made to the Annual Fund, up to $50,000, will be matched, doubling our community’s impact.
What justice work does your contribution support? Check out some of our recent highlights below, and then make a matched gift to show your solidarity this summer.
Pride in Action: Defending the Right to Safe Housing
Trans and gender-expansive people deserve equal housing access. In partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Association and Trans Religious professional UUs Together, UUSC has collected over 100 unique public comments speaking out against transphobic policy proposals from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The initiative is part of UUSC’s Resistance Network, a rapid mobilization hub that connects our members with advocacy opportunities to make an impact.
Haiti Rising: Supporting the Wellness of Frontline Justice Workers
“At the retreat in Cap-Haitien, I found a stillness I had forgotten existed,” wrote Mike Hala Joly, UUSC partner at AyiboPost. In April, UUSC hosted the inaugural Haiti Rising wellness retreat. Our grassroots partners in Haiti were invited to 4 days of community care and renewal. UUSC’s Haitian partners respond to a variety of urgent human rights issues, from producing accurate news content amid mass journalist suppression to defending the rights of people migrating across the Haitian-Dominican border. This retreat provided essential care as human rights leaders continue to endure violence and instability, resulting from U.S. and French extractivism.
Converging Futures: Essential Field Research and Reporting
In March, UUSC convened 50 faith leaders, movement organizers, researchers, and funders from more than a dozen countries in Lisbon, Portugal. Over three days, participants worked across Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and secular traditions, as well as across feminist, LGBTQI+, racial justice, democracy, and human rights sectors. They came together around a shared premise: the intersection of faith, gender justice, and democracy is one of the most strategically important and most underinvested fronts in the global struggle against authoritarianism. This report synthesizes what they surfaced, analyzed, proposed, and committed to. It will be used to devise political education, plan future convenings, and produce shared strategies.
You can be a part of this essential work! Double your impact by making a contribution today. Human rights work doesn’t have an off season, but with your help, we can continue our pursuit of a more just world all year round.
