Hi everyone, For your information, I know some of us will be very interested in these events. Fran -----Original Message----- From: LI Council of Churches <LI_Council_of_Churches@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: akillelea <akillelea@xxxxxxx> Sent: Mon, Jan 30, 2012 1:21 pm Subject: immigration events Free Training on Immigration and the Economy Wednesday, February 15, noon-2pm SUNY- The College at Old Westbury, Student Union Building, 3rd Floor (not on GPS, click here for a campus map) RSVP to Lisa DeBourg at ldebourg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 516-333-7331, In October, the Fiscal Policy Institute released "New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Sixth of the Economy," a report that detailed the economic contributions made by immigrants in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The report offers a decisive look at the role that immigrants play as an economic force in the region, and presents a compelling economic case as to why newcomers should be welcomed to Long Island. To help those of you in the advocacy community better understand the data and learn how to integrate it into your work, David Dyssegaard Kallick, the principal author of the report, will offer a free training on February 15 at SUNY Old Westbury. This two-hour training will prepare you to host your own presentations related to the economic research in the report. It will walk you through how to construct a presentation, how to effectively address your audience, and some basics related to presenting with PowerPoint. Most of all, it will help you feel comfortable talking about economics, whether or not you have previous experience with the subject. There is no charge for this training but you must RSVP to Lisa Debourg at ldebourg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 516-333-7331. A light lunch will be provided to attendees. HOW TO BE MORE WELCOMING: Teach Anglos Spanish Some congregations offer English as a Second Language classes, and there is certainly a great need for this, but Central Islip United Methodist Church found that many other agencies in this community are doing so already. So they have started a Spanish class for English-speaking parishioners to help them be a more a more welcoming congregation and community for Hispanic neighbors and prospective congregants. For more info, call the Rev. Erik Rasmussen at 631-234-6539. FREE TRAINING IN BICYCLE REPAIR One way to welcome immigrant workers is to help those who cannot drive get to work. And as someobdy observed recently at a meeting of the Long Island Interfaith Enviornment Nettwork, creating bike paths helps both workers who do not drive and kids who bicycle to school to arrive safely. The Congregational Church of Patchogue’s “Workers Without Wheels” project, which has provided bicycles to those who need them to get to work, has received a grant from the Self-Development of People Task Force of the Presbyterian Church USA to train people to become bicycle mechanics. The trainees will be paid a respectable wage. They will also be issued one new bicycle to assemble, and one used bicycle to repair. They will also be issued bicycle repair tools. The trainees may keep the bicycles they repair and assemble as well as the tools used to do so. This is program is open to all, regardless of religious affiliation (or the lack of it). The only request of the newly trained bicycle mechanics is that they donate one of the two bikes they have received to another worker without wheels. For further information, please contact the Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter at dwightleewolter@xxxxxxxxxxx 631-891-9908. ARTS COMPETITION ON “IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICA” The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County invites students to participate in our annual Literature, Art, Music, and Multi-Media Competitions. This year, we will offer a free, one-day professional development workshop for teachers interested in utilizing the competition and topic for a classroom project. Check with your district for Professional Development credit. Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 10:00 am-3:00 pm The theme of this year’s competition is “Immigrants in America:Confronting Prejudice and Celebrating Multiculturalism" The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, 1883 Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" In 1903, “The New Colossus” was inscribed onto the base of the Statue of Liberty. This poem expresses certain ideas about the United States as a nation of immigrants. In all eras of US history, most new immigrants face discrimination. Examples include Chinese workers in the 1800s, Jewish refugees in the 1930s, and Latino immigrants today. To American Indians, “immigration” began with the invasion of Europeans and offers a completely different perspective to the issue. An Awards Ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 20, 2012. First and Second Prize Awards of US Bonds are granted by category and school level. The deadline for entries is: April 6, 2012. For more information, please call 516-571-8040 or got to: www.holocaust-nassau.org. $2,500 Scholarship for Standing Up for Tolerance The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, in cooperation with the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation and the Police Departments of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, is pleased to announce the second annual “Friedlander Upstander Award.” The $2,500 education scholarship will be awarded to one student each from Nassau and Suffolk Counties, who has shown her/himself to be an Upstander against intolerance in any of its forms. The student’s action as an Upstander could be one of intervention or prevention. The award will be designated for educational purposes. Representatives of the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation, the Center, and the Police Departments will present the award to both recipients at a special ceremony during our Tolerance Benefit in May. Guidelines: Middle school and high school students are eligible. Students must be nominated by an adult in their school or community. Both the student and adult must each submit a one-page summary explaining why the student should be the recipient of the “Friedlander Upstander Award.” Nominations may be submitted by a teacher, guidance counselor or community leader who has knowledge of the student as an Upstander. Summaries must include details on how the student took action against intolerance or promoted acceptance and respect within their school or community. Application packets are available on our website: www.holocaust-nassau.org Please send completed packetsby March 23, to: Sarah Cushman, PhD Fax: 516-571-8041 Email: sarahcushman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Mail:Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center 100 Crescent Beach Road Glen Cove, NY 11542 INTERRELIGIOUS VISITS The LICC’s new Dialogue Committee wants to encourage inter-denominational and inter-religious visits to houses of worship, which is one way to create communities that welcome immigrants. When Christians meet local Sikhs, Bahais, and Jains, they are reminded that not all recent immigrants are from Latin America. And Latinos often find they need a little help in understanding Long Island’s astonishing religious diversity. If a picture is worth a thousand words, someone remarked once at a meeting of the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum, a visit is worth a thousand pictures. Would your church, synagogue, mosque, gurudwara, temple or fellowship welcome interfaith visitors? If so, what are good times to come and whom should we list as a contact for visits? Is there anything you would like visitors to know about where they should sit, what they should wear, and what you would prefer that they do or not do? INTERRELIGIOUS EDUCATION Understanding—and welcoming--our growing religious and ethnic diversity is one way to change attitudes toward immigrants and immigration reform. The Long Island Multi-Faith Forum would be glad to do a program for your congregation, community group, or workplace to help folks get to know their neighbors of other faiths. The Long Island Council of Churches and Auburn Theological Seminary launched the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum in 1993 to help people in our area understand their neighbors. The LIMFF unites hundreds of Islanders from eleven different faith communities and many races, nationalities, and cultures. Our volunteers represent the Bahai Faith, the Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduisms, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American Spirituality, Sikhism, and Unitarian Universalism. If you are not familiar with all these traditions or did not know that they are your neighbors, you may need a Building Bridges program! The Forum has presented more than 260 programs in schools, workplaces, and houses of worship, for audiences ranging from ten to 1100. While most of our programs are done in English, we have also been able to accommodate requests for Spanish language and bi-lingual presentations and could try other languages as well. The Forum has also developed a fun game-show format called “What’s My Faith.” For more information, please visit www.liccny.org. To request a presentation, contact Bernice Suplee at jbsuplee@xxxxxxx or (631) 665-7033. Michael Fairchild, who produced the half-hour “Faiths of Long Island” video for the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum has loaded it onto YouTube. You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncnn5pd6Gu4 FREE HEALTH EVALUATIONS FOR UNDER-SERVED WORKERS Migrant, seasonal farm workers and day-labor workers compose a large number of under-served workers who suffer from limited access to affordable health care and necessary medications. Often the limitation is as simple as transportation or the availability of time, but other factors restricting this access include language barriers, lack of medical insurance, and fear of deportation, loss or diminished wages and loss of future work opportunities. The Long Island Occupational and Environmental Health Center is emulating other successful programs, such as The University of Connecticut Migrant Farm Works Clinics, that focus on overcoming these limitations and providing healthcare to these workers. LIOEHC’s medical and administrative staff provides health care and educational materials for agricultural workers, day laborers, and other high risk populations throughout Long Island. The LIOEHC’s Under-Served Workers Health Program collaborates with many local and state organizations serving the agricultural community. Our collaborators include the Spanish Apostolate, the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAM/NEC), the Long Island Farm Bureau, the Department of Labor, and the LIOEHC Advisory Board. More information can be found on our website. The Program consists of focused medical evaluations, screenings for glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure, provision of personal protection equipment, and education to reduce work-related injuries or illnesses for under-served farm workers. The workers are given some personal protective equipment for hearing and respiratory protection and are provided with educational materials to advocate prevention. LIOEHC’s mission is to prevent workplace illness and injury on Long Island, through education, workplace collaborative efforts and early diagnosis and treatment. No one is denied care because of inability to pay. Other services the Long Island Occupational and Environmental Health Center also provides include: Medical assessments for OSHA surveillance, DOT physicals, firefighters and workers’ compensation exams. - Medical services performed on the job site or in the office - Filing of all necessary workers’ compensation and/or disability claim forms - Social work services, including counseling and referrals for job retraining and alternative income sources - Stress reduction training, immunizations and wellness programs - Medical legal assessments for work-related health problems - Workplace health and safety risk assessments by our industrial hygienist - Respirator medical clearance and fit testing - Services available in Spanish - Services available for non-insured; no one is denied care because of inability to pay. Please contact Adam Obernauer for further info adam.obernauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or (631)289-1405. 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