Dear ,

This summer, we have quite a few justice opportunities you can join. You’ve been seeing them all in previous weekly roundups, but I want to highlight them again for you. 

• Saturday, July 23: We are leading a factfinding delegation to Lawrenceville to learn about conditions for people who are incarcerated and correctional officers at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center. This is an all-day activity. Lawrenceville is about an hour south of Richmond. This prison is the state’s only for-profit prison and we have heard that conditions are horrendous. Join us in learning more. Please register here to join the delegation for this meeting. For more details, email VICPP Criminal Justice Reform Organizer, Salim Khalfani, at: Salim@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
  
  
• Saturday, July 30: We will again have Living Wage Certification program canvasses happening in Alexandria, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Richmond. The start times vary by location, but last for about two hours or a bit more. Most will begin by 9 or 10 a.m. and wrap up by 1 p.m. Please register HERE for canvassing in one of these locations. You can also canvass for statewide certification in a location of your choice by emailing VICPP Economic Justice Program Manager, Jase Hatcher, at: Jase@virginiainterfaithcenter.org

• Thursday, August 11: We are organizing a factfinding delegation (listening session) at Dulles Airport to learn about workers’ need for paid sick days and employer provided health care. The delegation will meet at Dulles Airport at a time that will be announced closer to the date. Please register HERE to join the delegation/listening session. For more information, email:  Jase@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
  
  
• Late Aug./Early Sept. Date TBA: Join a Solidarity with Farmworkers opportunity to hear from farmworkers and join a farmworker mass in the fields. The date is not yet finalized but you can click HERE to express your interest and be the first to learn of the date when it's announced. This opportunity is on the Eastern Shore. For more information, email VICPP Faith Organizer, Sheila Herlihy, at: Sheila@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
  

As you know, VICPP doesn’t just talk. We act. If you are able, join us in an action this summer.

Thank you for planning now.




Sincerely, 

Kim Bobo 
Executive Director

Are you a health care professional? Do you know any health care professionals within your congregation or organization? This call to action is for you! The PUSH maternal health coalition will be elevating the voices of health care professionals, particularly OB-GYNs, this summer in our effort to dispel the current discourse in Virginia that racial disparities do not exist in health care to the extent that would warrant prioritizing and addressing them. Add your voice and/or urge the health care professionals you know to add theirs, too! Click the button below to email Dora at: 
dora@virginiainterfaithcenter.org

Join us as we bring our July Film Series focusing on our 2023 policy platform and programming priorities to a close with a bang this Monday, July 25, at 6 p.m. We will be screening the film, InJustice: Hidden Crisis in Virginia's Prisons, an ACLU of Virginia and Narrative Arts documentary film. Immediately after the film viewing, VICPP Criminal Justice Reform Organizer, Salim Khalfani, will lead a Q & A session about the film and criminal legal system. Featured panelists will include ACLU-VA's Sean Weneta, Narrative Arts producer Nick Szuberla, and Donald Allen, who spent considerable time in solitary confinement at Virginia's Wallens Ridge State Prison and was featured in the film. 

The film seeks to shine a spotlight on Virginia’s criminal legal system and the hundreds of thousands of people it impacts, both those incarcerated and their loved ones on the outside. Alongside the expertise of local decarceral advocates, InJustice tells the stories of three community organizers who have experienced first-hand the dehumanizing and traumatizing impact of Virginia’s mass incarceration system. By sharing their stories of rising above and seeking liberation, the documentary strives to center the voices of people closest to the problem in the hope of bringing about much-needed dialogue and reform to create a fairer, more just and humane criminal legal system.

Register at this link, and share it with your community: tinyurl.com/vicpp2022films

Click the image above to watch the trailer for the film.
Click the button below to register for the event!

• New River Valley, Friday, July 29, 12 noon 
  
• Hampton Roads, Tuesday, July 26, 12 noon  
  

Click the button below to check out our upcoming events list on our website for details and links to RSVP or register. 

Join the Virginia Chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus -- a member of the PUSH maternal health coalition -- for a conversation about  improving Virginia's care of Black mothers to ensure a healthy pregnancy and childhood for their babies. Featured speakers include Delegates Jackie Glass, Sally Hudson, and Shelly Simonds, and Birth in Color's Executive Director Kenda Sutton-El. Click the button below to register!

On the 5th anniversary of the attacks in Charlottesville, VICPP invites you to join us for a community symposium to culminate our “Together in Faith” project in partnership with the Prince William County Police Department. We are excited to add to the program a special message from U.S. Senator Mark Warner and keynote remarks by Delegate Michelle Maldonado. We will be joined by Prince William County Board of Supervisors' Margaret Franklin, who represents the Woodbridge district where hate crime incidents have occurred within the past five years. Joining the program will also be representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office covering Virginia, the FBI Virginia field office, and the Prince William County Police Department to provide insight on the work of protecting houses of worship against hate crimes and investigating and prosecuting cases that occur.

*PLEASE NOTE that all registrations must be approved in advance of the Monday, August 8 deadline. This event will be held virtually only so register today by clicking the button below!