Comm

FAN joins with our national partners to promote #FaithfulCensus weekend! This weekend, we urge you to lift up the #2020Census in your community. We believe every person deserves to be counted. Participating in the census helps determine how public health is funded in our community, how many books and computers our kids’ schools can afford, whether our elders can afford heating in the winter, and if there are bus routes where we need them. Responding to the census is an act of love for our neighbors. Find resources at our FAN Census Toolkit or at bit.ly/CensusWeekend. Faith Community Responses to COVID-19 [...]

The Tacoma Refugee Choir reminds you to "Be Counted!" in their new music video about the 2020 Census. Watch and share their video - translated subtitles are available in 11 languages on YouTube. Legislative Success! The 2020 Legislative Session is Over - Your voice bent the moral arc of the universe more towards justice! The very intense 60-day legislative session ended last Thursday, March 12 with final concurrence on the last bills, debate, and party-line adoption of the supplemental operating budget which included funding for a lot of housing and human service programs. Approximately 1,455 bills were introduced and about 250 [...]

On Wednesday, FAN's Interfaith Leaders Council met with Governor Inslee about bills we want to see passed this session—death penalty repeal, criminal justice reform, TANF equity, homelessness and housing bills, clean air and environmental bills, immigration (Courts Open to All), and addressing anti-Muslim rhetoric with Facts Over Fear. We also talked about the importance of faith communities in keeping people safe during coronavirus outbreaks. Week Eight in Review Monday was the fiscal cutoff, where over 150 bills were heard, amended, caucused, and voted on. Tuesday through Friday, around 200 bills were caucused, amended, debated on the floor, and voted on to pass [...]

This past week, Elise and Tara met with Satjeet Kaur, the national Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition (above). We look forward to collaborations on census work as well as interfaith engagement on civil rights and against discrimination in schools and workplaces. Below, Paul was invited to give the opening prayer in the legislature honoring the Day of Remembrance on February 19 when in 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the U.S. Army to remove anyone of Japanese ancestry and place them under custody in internment camps. Let us pray and act so #NeverAgainMeansNever. Week Seven in Review Many [...]

FAN co-hosted a Faith-Based Summit in Tukwila with the U.S. Census Bureau this week! Attendees came to learn how to be ambassadors for their communities during Census 2020 and discuss how to reach historically undercounted areas. Elise led the panel of faith leaders above, and we were joined by keynote speakers Ron Sims, former Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Urban Development and former King County Executive (bottom right); and Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown of Plymouth Church Seattle who preached powerfully about the justice implications of the census (top right). !!Action Alert!! Repeal the Death Penalty! Please pledge your support [...]

We are grateful for the 200 advocates who attended Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia last Thursday, and for the 50 who attended Yakima IFAD on Saturday! See our Facebook page for pictures! Week Four in Review Many important justice lobby days took place last week: Hunger Action Day, Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day, Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day, and FAN's Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia. Thanks to all who attended, raised your voices, and marched with us to the capitol steps! As Co-Director Paul said on Thursday, our work doesn't end with one action day - now is the time to follow up with your [...]

FAN attended one of many events on Monday to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Seattle. We hope you were able to connect with your community and carry on Dr. King's call to anti-racism, economic justice, and an end to war and violence. Week Two in Review Three of FAN's partners hosted a lobby day in Olympia on MLK Day: I Did the Time (an organization founded in Spokane for formerly incarcerated people and their allies), Statewide Poverty Action Network (SPAN), and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). In the evening, FAN co-sponsored the first rally to end [...]