Dear ,

Four weeks ago, in the weekly roundup, I encouraged you to make a plan at your congregation for non-partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote. And of course, we at VICPP think of civic engagement as year-round work – registering, voting, and advocating on policies.

Many things have changed about registering voters and getting people to vote since I first started encouraging voting – clipboard in hand! The newest change in Virginia that goes into effect this election season is “same-day voter registration.” If people have not registered or forgotten to change their registration to a new location, they can go to the local voting location on Election Day and register to vote and file a provisional ballot. This provisional ballot is counted if your information is found to be accurate.

Over the last few years, there have been lots of new ways that individuals and congregations have used technology to enhance their outreach. VICPP will again be offering training and support to congregations on using some of the new technologies to enhance registration and voting. Here are a few things you could consider doing: 

• Postcarding to infrequent voters. Do you have a group of people who might be willing to handwrite postcards to 100 infrequent voters (called “low-propensity voters”)? If so, VICPP can send you a list of names and addresses for postcarding. There are various options for getting postcards.
  
  
• Texting your friends and family. VICPP can help you and your team of volunteers in your congregation send text messages to your friends and family about registering and voting. This texting of people you know is proven to improve turnout. 
  
  
• Canvass or phonebank people in your congregation’s neighborhood using electronic tools. 
  
  
• Compare your congregation’s membership list with official voter files to make sure everyone is registered and regularly votes.

As you know, Virginia has an election every year. This year are the federal mid-term congressional elections, which are notoriously low-turnout elections. Next year are our state elections in which every member of the General Assembly will be up for re-election, and many will be running in newly drawn districts. Let’s learn how to use some of the newer outreach tools this year, so we can hit the ground running in 2023! (Remember, we all learned Zoom, so we can learn new tools!) 

It’s already mid-August. September will be here before you know it. Now’s the time to figure out what you want to do in your congregation and community to encourage voting and civic participation this fall. We’ll be scheduling training sessions soon. I hope you will join us. 

Still learning technology, 

Kim Bobo 
Executive Director  

P.S. Don’t forget to plan to use some of VICPP’s Labor Day resources for services over Labor Day weekend. Click HERE for the new Labor Day resources. 

Join a Religious Fact-Finding Delegation (Listening Session) tomorrow, Thursday, August 11, from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m.at Dulles International Airport to learn more about working conditions for airport workers. Approximately 2,000 essential airport workers at IAD (Dulles) and DCA (Reagan National) airports – including wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers, terminal cleaners, cabin cleaners, and non-TSA security – have no paid sick days or employer-provided health insurance. This creates a crisis for the largely Black, brown, and immigrant workers performing critical jobs who must choose between taking care of themselves or their children and getting paid. Workers who go to work sick endanger their co-workers, the public, and passengers. Many workers have lost their lives due to COVID-19 and/or the lack of access to health care.  

VICPP is working with SEIU 32 BJ to get these essential workers the protections they deserve. On August 11 at Dulles International Airport, we will be hosting a religious fact-finding delegation. The delegation will learn directly from impacted workers and make plans for encouraging the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to set a standard for how workers at the airport are treated.

Email VICPP Economic Justice Program Manager Jase Hatcher (Jase@virginiainterfaithcenter.org) with any questions. 

Click HERE to read our Fact Sheet to learn more!

Key Points:

VA-DOC confirmed 8 cases of incarcerated individuals having overdosed on drugs over the course of Thursday night.

Advocates and family members concerned about ongoing pattern of torture and death at Virginia’s only for-profit prison, call for investigation.       

Nation’s largest private, for-profit prison contractor, The GEO Group, manages LCC for DOC.

Has demonstrated a pattern of human rights violations and a complete failure of duty.

Contract with GEO Group set to expire soon.

VICPP urges DOC to take responsibility and transfer management to DOC.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, Va – On Friday, August 5, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) was informed that eight individuals incarcerated at Lawrenceville Correctional Center (LCC) suffered from drug overdose in one evening. It was further alleged that two of those incidents resulted in deaths. In an email exchange with VICPP Criminal Justice Reform Organizer King Salim Khalfani, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VA-DOC) confirmed that the eight overdoses had occurred, but claimed there were no fatalities, and that “the GEO Group is handling it.”

Shortly thereafter, three more alleged drug overdoses at LCC were reported to VICPP. VICPP reached back out to VA-DOC for comment, but at the time of this publishing, no one from VA-DOC had responded.

LCC is Virginia’s only private, for-profit state prison. It holds people for VA-DOC, and since 2018, has been operating under a contract with the nation’s largest private prison contractor, Florida-based, The GEO Group, Inc. Their LCC contract expires on July 31, 2023.

Under The GEO Group’s management of LCC, there has been a documented pattern of drug overdoses and deaths at LCC that have been confirmed by VA-DOC. There have been ongoing reports from the family members of incarcerated individuals of inadequate food, contaminated water, maltreatment, and human rights violations occurring within LCC’s walls under The GEO Group’s management.

Click the button below to read the full News Release.

Our chapters have been busy holding their summer engagement meetings! Did you miss your meeting? Or do you want to find out more about what's happening around Virginia? We've got you covered! Click the links listed here to watch the recordings on our YouTube channel: 

• James River Chapter Meeting (CLICK HERE to watch)
• Northern Virginia Chapter Meeting (CLICK HERE to watch)

More videos coming soon and are added daily. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and share the good word, because sharing is caring! 

The program is final! Speakers are excited to convene for this critical presentation. Don’t delay in registering to attend this virtual event marking the 5th anniversary of the attacks in Charlottesville that shook the country. The “Together in Faith” symposium is set to pivot the conversation to a collective positive work of ending acts of hate in our communities. Registration deadline extended to Wednesday, August 10, since everything is virtual but don’t delay! CLICK HERE to view the event program. Click the button below to sign up today!

On Monday, August 15, in Blacksburg, the PUSH Coalition will convene the first in a series of roundtables focused on addressing the maternal health care deserts across Virginia. Health care professionals serving New River Valley and the surrounding southwestern counties will be invited to join faith and community leaders seeking solutions to help stem the region’s rising maternal mortality rates, the second highest in the Commonwealth. Lunch will be provided. If you are interested or would like to suggest someone essential to add to the invite list, please email VICPP Health Equity Program Manager, Dora Muhammad, at dora@virginiainterfaithcenter.org or click the button below.

The mobilization tour organized by the Right to Vote Coalition will make its next stop at the Simms Auditorium in Harrisonburg. This community-led event will provide support and resources to educate those who have had or are eligible to have their voting rights restored, the families of individuals currently incarcerated, and those who don’t realize the power of their vote. Mark your calendars!

In late August/early September, join a Solidarity with Farmworkers opportunity to hear from farmworkers and join a farmworker mass in the fields. This opportunity is on the Eastern Shore. The date is not yet finalized but you can click the button below to express your interest and be the first to learn of the date when it's announced. For more information, email VICPP Faith Organizer, Sheila Herlihy, at: Sheila@virginiainterfaithcenter.org

Albuquerque police to charge suspect in killing of US Muslim men

Al-Jazeera, Aug. 9, 2022

By Staff 

Excerpt:

“Although we are waiting to learn more about these crimes, we are disturbed by early indications that the alleged killer may have been targeting particular members of the Shia community,” CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

“If this is true, it is completely unacceptable, and we encourage law enforcement to file any appropriate hate crime charges against the suspect.”

Other Muslim-American activists urged unity after the arrest. “We will not be divided. Sending love and solidarity to our Shia family,” Palestinian-American organiser Linda Sarsour wrote on Twitter.