The Social Concerns Committee
of the South Coast Interfaith Council "SCIC"
The Social Concerns Committee
of the South Coast Interfaith Council organizes forums, holds public meetings,
analyses issues and plans advocacy related its Priority Goals. The committee
also advises the SCIC’s Board of Directors about social issues and works with a
variety of organizations, committees and groups. The committee meets on the
second Monday of each month (except July and December) at 7:00 PM at locations
made available by one or another faith community affiliated with the SCIC. For
information about upcoming events, recent committee work, and new developments
click on
SCC-NEWS.
Most of
the work of the committee during the year 2008 will deal with the five Priority
Goals listed below:
PRIORITY GOALS FOR 2008 FOR
THE SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE
The Priority Goals
consist of five general problem areas on which the committee will focus its
attention in 2008. For each Priority Goal there is a statement of the Problem
to be Faced, an Action Plan and a list of Resources.
1.
Hunger and Homelessness – give greatly
increased attention to homelessness, surveying governmental and volunteer
efforts in ten or more South Coast cities and organizing forums in support of
aid to the homeless; publicize CROP Hunger Walks and promote wide participation;
and bring attention to local farmers markets and encourage greater patronage.
Click on:
Hunger and Homelessness
2.
At-Risk
Children & Youth - help
increase awareness of and support for at-risk children and youth, including (1)
recruitment of foster and adoptive parents and mentors for foster children and
children who have an incarcerated parent, (2) disseminating information about
services for foster children, and (3) working with congregations and
neighborhoods to provide alternatives to gangs, to reduce racism and to create
respect for the dignity of every human being. Click on:
At-Risk
Children & Youth
3.
Stewardship and Care of the Environment
– educate our communities about global warming and work with environmental,
community, and regional/national organizations to provide public information,
analysis and advocacy about plans for reducing port pollution and also
concerning plans for expanding goods movement facilities and infrastructure.
Click on:
Stewardship and Care of the Environment
4.
Becoming Peacemakers –
work for inner peace,
peace within families and our communities, and world peace,
in collaboration with the Peacemaking Subcommittee at Pacific Unitarian Church
and other similar groups; and provide information about policies for promoting
peace and also about threats to peace. Click on:
Becoming
Peacemakers
5.
Darfur and Sub-Saharan Africa – promote
support for U.S. governmental and charitable aid to alleviate (1) continuing
genocide, atrocities and massive dislocations in Darfur and (2) AIDS, civil
strife, extreme poverty and lack of access to healthcare and education in
Sub-Saharan Africa; and pursue opportunities to create linkages with peoples of
East Africa and other African people. Click on:
Darfur
and Sub-Saharan Africa
Additionally, the Social Concerns
Committee will stay alert to and
publicize opportunities for congregations to receive training about Emergency
Preparedness. The committee will also deal to a
lesser extent with various
OTHER ISSUES
that come to its attention.
Aside from the resources listed
for each of the Priority Goals and each of the other issues, there is an
extensive list of
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
including many websites showing faith
perspectives on social involvement.
The plans for the next meeting of
the Social Concerns Committee and for recent meetings are shown in the
AGENDAS...Further
information about the mission of the Social Concerns Committee and how it
operates is given in
MORE ABOUT THE
SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE.
The
Environmental Priorities Network, an
SCIC-sponsored program, interacts with South Bay/Palos Verdes congregations and
with organizations, corporations, and elected officials to promote the
protection of the environment at the local, national, and global level. Click
on
EPN
to learn about its purpose
and goals and its history of events.
To enable the Social Concerns
Committee to be informed about the social
issues that your faith community or organization is addressing and about
any social services you provide, please
complete our
SURVEY
form. The form must be
printed and either mailed or faxed to the SCIC, 759 Linden Ave., Long Beach, CA
90813 or (562) 983-8812.
