FEATURED THIS WEEK:
Delco Church Members Demonstrate Against PA General Assistance Cuts
On May 7, eight members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County attended the PA Cares for All rally in Harrisburg to highlight what they see as the injustices in Gov. Corbett’s proposed budget reductions for people in crisis and people with disabilities. More than 700 people demonstrated against the plans.
Supporting PA Cares for All are more than 100 organizations trying to stop the administration’s attempts to end the General Assistance fund and fold multiple financing programs into single-county block grants that would result in a 20% reduction of disability services statewide.
Speakers in Harrisburg included: an Army veteran who used General Assistance (GA) to help her start a new life with three children after leaving an abusive, drug-addicted husband; a father who used GA help for his son, paralyzed from a violent attack; and union leaders who spoke of the inhumanity caused by the proposed cuts.
Many Democratic legislators were in the audience as Republican Rep. Gene DiGoralomo of Bucks County, majority chairman of the Human Services Committee, addressed the crowd. DiGoralomo said that block grants could easily be abused. He added that cuts to disability programming would be counterproductive, because sick people would move to more expensive programs, such as homeless shelters and prisons, if rehabilitation programs were forced to close.
DiGoralomo urged those in attendance to contact their legislators and lobby for reinstatements of funds for GA and disabilities, as well as for the elimination of the block-grant proposal.
PA Cares for All was started by Michael Froehlich of Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. For more information, see http://pacaresforall.org.
CAPTION INFORMATION: Members of various UU churches, organized byUUPLAN, gather with hundreds of other protesters to encourage legislators to maintain funding for the General Assistance Fund and disability services. (Picture is courtesy of Rep. Tim Briggs, Montgomery County).
Posted 5/10/2012
Faces of 'Occupy Philadelphia' Exhibit at Media Church Through Mid-May
The Faces of Occupy Philadelphia are on display through mid-May at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County in Media. The faces are Leroy Forney’s colorful oil portraits from the encampment at City Hall last year. Setting up his easel on the City Hall plaza in the autumn, Forney began painting portraits of the Occupy participants. With each painting is a response to the question, “Why are you here?
The artist says: “I painted these 25 portraits on-site, many before Occupy Philadelphia had been evicted from its City Hall campground [in late November]. I want the viewer to confront the essence of the individuals who were attracted to the site, whether they were or were not participants. I wanted to show that these were/are concerned, real people and not wild-eyed revolutionaries or spoiled dropouts of society, as they were frequently portrayed in the media at the time.”
The exhibit opened April 20 with a festive public reception followed by a talk by activist J. Alexander Sheppard, who shared his insider’s views on where the movement has been and what is happening now.
Sheppard, a Delaware County resident, told the audience that Occupy had changed the national conversation, bringing the issue of unjust economic inequities to the forefront. He said that the movement was committed to nonviolence, that it would not be involved in the November elections, and that it would be raising its profile, with Philadelphia as the site of a national Occupy gathering from June 30 through July 4.
Among many other observations, the engaging and informative Sheppard talked of his involvement with Rootstrikers, a network of activists fighting the corrupting influence of money in politics (Rootstrikers.org).
The Faces exhibit is sponsored by the church’s Occupy @ UUCDC group, which works to promote economic justice.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County (uucdc.org) is at 145 W. Rose Tree Road, two blocks west of Route 252. For more information, call the church, 610-566-4853 or go to uucdc.org.
Posted 4/26/2012
NEWS ARCHIVES
Posted:
2012-04-08 Faces and (Maybe) Future of 'Occupy' at Delco Church Starting April 20
2012-03-15 Church’s 2nd Annual Easter Canned Goods Hunt Will Benefit the Media Food Bank
2012-03-15 Delco Social Action Forum March 25 at Media Church
2012-03-06 Brotherly Love and SheWho Make Beautiful Music at March 10 Concert in Delco