UUSC Members Advance Justice in Many Ways: Steph Garber’s Work with the College Guild

By Carly Cronon on November 14, 2019

UUSC members promote human rights around the globe by supporting our programs, taking action to advance our partners’ advocacy goals, and spreading the word about humanitarian crises receiving little attention. Yet this does not come close to capturing the full extent of our members’ social justice efforts. Involvement with UUSC and our partners is just one of many ways our members volunteer and take action in their congregations, communities, and beyond to advance human rights and UU values.

Steph Garber, a long-time UUSC member in Celebration, FL is one telling example. One of Steph’s passions is volunteering as a “Reader” for the College Guild, an organization that offers educational courses for incarcerated people around the country. Through the College Guild, prisoners can sign up for courses ranging from poetry and gardening to drawing and marine biology. As students make their way through the study resources, they send course assignments to the College Guild to receive constructive feedback from anonymous readers like Steph. As Steph explains, the College Guild is grounded in the idea that everyone deserves respect, growth opportunities, and access to education.

For Steph, volunteering for the College Guild, which involves only 90 minutes of work per month that can be done from anywhere, is one other way to live out her UU values. “I don’t see happening what I want in terms of prison reform, so this is a tiny way to help,” Steph shares. “I am showing dignity and respect to somebody that’s not always getting dignity and respect in our world.”

UUSC is extraordinarily grateful to our members like Steph for everything they do for our human rights work – and everything else they do to put our values into action in the world.

Photo Credit: Steph Garber

***

About UUSC: Guided by the belief that all people have inherent worth and dignity, UUSC advances human rights globally by partnering with affected communities who are confronting injustice, mobilizing to challenge oppressive systems, and inspiring and sustaining spiritually grounded activism for justice. We invite you to join us in this journey toward realizing a better future!