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COVID-19 update

3/20/2020

Dear friends,

We're all in this together.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about how we at VEJ were looking into ways to help people right now and for the next few weeks.

You likely already know (or guessed) that all regular VEJ events and programs are on hold until further notice.

But VEJ is still a community of more than 2,000 donors, friends, neighbors, and volunteers. Surely we can do something to help those who are in greatest need.

So, as promised, here is what VEJ is going to do now for those we think we can help. If you are able and it seems good to you, please join us. It's not a stretch for me to say that what you do next could be the difference between death and life.

Click on this link to see our special COVID-19 response page.

VEJ's response to COVID-19 has four parts at this time:

A partnership with Brightmoor Connection, a food and water relief service that recently moved in around the corner from our Hope House & Gardens. As affluent suburban communities are experiencing what it is like to not have access to food, the problem is even more acute and dangerous in the Brightmoor neighborhood. According to Brightmoor Connection executive director Rev. Rosalyn Bouier, Brightmoor leads all Detroit neighborhoods in households that do not have running water. The COVID-19 crisis directly threatens hundreds of households that struggle to get food and water during normal times. The current threat to normal food and water sources puts these families in grave danger. Rev. Bouier is seeing a surge in requests for help and that is likely to put an even greater strain on Brightmoor Connection's food and water sources. So, at this time, VEJ is raising funds to help Brightmoor Connection buy more food and water from Gleaners. Click here to donate now.
The second part of our partnership with Brightmoor Connection is the need for healthy, young, individual volunteers to box food and water and deliver it to vulnerable households in Brightmoor. Please note: Neither Brightmoor Connection nor VEJ are taking volunteer groups at this time. Volunteers must not be members of one of the groups that the Centers for Disease Control identifies as especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. You must also certify that you have had no contact with anyone who is known to have COVID-19. Click here to learn more and volunteer now.
Volunteer to be a pen pal. Don't underestimate the toll the fear of getting the virus and the isolation of "social distancing" will take on our mental health. Feeding people is critical, but so is keeping their hopes and spirits up. Most people will not be able to volunteers to deliver food and water at this time, but everyone can volunteer to be a pen pal. We're setting up this program to help people stay connected in community as long as the crisis lasts. When you volunteer to be a pen pal, we'll assign you to someone who may be quite a bit different from you. Each morning, we'll send you a question that you and your pen pal will answer via email. This may not seem like much, but that human connection is likely to be a big deal to someone in the weeks ahead. Sign up to be a pen pal here.
Go on a Wonder Walk. Going outside in nature is one thing we are all still able to do (as long as we keep our distance from others). We were just a day or two away from announcing our 2020 Wonder Walk calendar when the COVID-19 lockdown broke. But there is nothing keeping you from going on your own Wonder Walk (and sharing it with the rest of us). Since my seven-year old is home from school for the next few weeks, I am taking him to a different nature center or park every afternoon. We're taking photos and posting them at VEJ's Facebook page using the hashtag #WonderWalk. I invite you to plan some Wonder Walks of your own and to share the photos on our Facebook page (#WonderWalk). We may not be able to go on those walks in person, but we can share the experience with each other.

We are working on some other things that we hope will make the most of this crisis and serve the needs of everyone. As those plans come together, I will be sure to share them with you here.

So, let's do what we can. We may not control everything, but we do control a lot. Let's focus on that.

Please let me know if we can be of any help to you, whether it's by getting you in touch with our partners at Brightmoor Connection, setting you up with a pen pal, or just praying for you.

And I am praying for you. May God give you good health and great hope.

Grace and peace,

BT Irwin, executive director
Voices for Earth Justice
(313) 355-6042
bt@voices4earth.org

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Announcing our partnership with Planet Detroit

3/19/2020

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VEJ is forming a partnership with Planet Detroit, a weekly email newsletter that covers environmental issues in metro Detroit and beyond.

"Over the last few months, we've been thinking about how to give VEJ's community of donors, neighbors, partners, and volunteers more and better information on the environmental movement in southeast Michigan," said VEJ executive director BT Irwin. "We believe Planet Detroit is going to become their new favorite resource."

Metromode managing editor Nina Ignaczak and Detroit News environmental reporter Brian Allnut started Planet Detroit in May 2019. The weekly newsletter features news stories about environmental issues in metro Detroit along with opportunities and resources for environmental activists.

"This is a way for Planet Detroit and VEJ to work together to 'cross-pollinate' environmental activists in metro Detroit," said Irwin. "If we're serious about making positive change at the market and policy levels, we need to do what we can to support the environmental community with information and social connections. That's what this partnership is all about."

Subscribe to Planet Detroit here.

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COVID-19 pandemic: VEJ program changes and helping those in need

3/13/2020

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Friend, hello!

First things first: We are postponing all VEJ programs until at least May. I'm sad to write this because we were just a couple of days from sharing our 2020 calendar with you. It is a very good one! But, we love you and we love our neighbors. So this is the right thing to do for the good of all.

As things get clearer in the days and weeks ahead, I will let you know what programs are happening and when.

Some things need to go on as planned, but without groups. For example: We still need to get the neighborhood garden ready. In fact, that work started a week ago. We also have some urgent repairs we need to make at Hope House. Those will go on as well, but without volunteers for now.

We were planning a spring "Hope House & Gardens Wish List" campaign to raise donations of funds, materials, and skilled labor for the neighborhood garden and gathering place. We will need to find those things somehow, but for now it is important to keep our eye on the greater needs of the community (and that includes the people who are always so kind to donate).

The more I think about it, this may be just the "sabbatical" we all need. This afternoon, I took some time to think about how my family is going to make the most of this time to refresh and reset. What can this pandemic teach us about the way we live when times are "normal"? Could it be that we could come out of this calmer, kinder, and wiser?

A few months ago, I shared that VEJ's theme for all of 2020 is "We're All In This Together." All year long, plan to weave that thread through all that we do.

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking many things away from us; but it is giving us some things, too. The most important may be the chance to truly be "All In This Together."

I've been struggling to find a way for VEJ to respond to the crisis. As a very small organization, we are set up for environmental education. We're good at getting groups of no more than 24 people together to learn. We're not so good at running big relief programs like feeding kids who won't be getting their meals from school.

However, we have some resources. The most powerful resource we have is you and the 2,000+ other people who are part of the "VEJ community" through media like this.

So, over the next two or three days, I'm asking our neighbors and partners to let me know of anything the VEJ community can do to meet the needs of people are likely to suffer most because of the pandemic. As I find out about those opportunities, I will pass them on to you. In times like these, the mission and resources of every organization should turn to the community's most urgent needs.

You are in our prayers. Please remember your neighbors, strangers, and even your enemies in your own prayers.

We're all in this together.

Grace and peace,

BT Irwin, primus inter pares
Voices for Earth Justice
bt@voices4earth.org

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COVID-19 update

Announcing our partnership with Planet Detroit

COVID-19 pandemic: VEJ program changes and helping those in need

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