WHO WE ARE

An important tenet of Reform Judaism is Tikkun Olam - making the world whole for the good of humanity. That is the central mission of Oak Park Temple’s Social Action committee. In emphasizing the "action" in social action, we are engaged in efforts that inform and move the community to advocate for and affect positive, measurable and meaningful change on local, national and international levels.

In recent years committee members have helped heal the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, raise awareness of the on-going humanitarian crisis in Darfur and advocate for accessible and affordable health care. With the deepening recession and the rising number of foreclosures, we are centering our attention on housing and homelessness.

Housing and Homelessness

The Prophets exhort us to follow a long-standing tradition of hospitality among the Jewish people. Our own recent history, with its exiles and expulsions, reminds us that we have a special obligation to provide for those with no protection.
Oak Park Temple has met that obligation for nearly two decades. We are a founding congregation of West Suburban PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter), a non-profit agency created in 1992 to provide emergency food and shelter to homeless individuals and families in west suburban Cook County. Since then time we have operated the shelter on Wednesday nights.

Since its founding, West Suburban PADS has grown from providing emergency food and shelter to homeless individuals and families to providing a holistic approach that encompasses the areas of physical, medical, mental health, financial and housing, assistance: an overnight emergency shelter from September 15 to May 5; a year-round daytime support center; supportive housing, including transitional housing for the employed homeless and permanent supportive housing for the homeless mentally ill; homeless prevention for those who could lose their housing through eviction or foreclosure; and a pilot program this summer to provide transitional shelter alongside case management.

We kicked off our effort last fall with a program related to West Suburban PADS. The highlight was a documentary “Beyond Shelter,” made by congregants John and Pat Allen. Watch BEYOND SHELTER, a documentary on West Suburban PADS,

This year we plan to engage in meaningful action to help resolve housing issues. on a local level . The committee intends to work with Oak Park-area groups, such as Housing Oak Park, to improve the amount of affordable housing in this community

We also will continue our involvement in West Suburban PADS and need volunteers to aid our shelter operations. Duties include checking in guests, setting up and taking down banquet tables, folding chairs and sleeping pads and cleaning the shelter site in the morning. Volunteers are most desperately needed for the evening shifts (10 pm- 2 am and 2 am - 5 am) and for the early morning shift (5 am 7 am). Contact Oak Park Temple Site Captain Sheila Essig at 524-5431 or by e-mail at sheilaessig@aol.com for more information.

For more information on West Suburban PADS, log on to http://www.westsuburbanpads.org/dnn/.

In addition, the weekend of May 14 will be set aside for our members to become engaged in community social justice work. A service day is slated for May 15, followed by a pot-luck dinner that evening. On May 16 the committee will sponsor a program that will draw attention to increasing the number of affordable housing units in Oak Park. Check this page, the Messenger and other means to learn more about this important effort.

Other Social Action Efforts

Oak Park Temple offers needed assistance to the Daugavpils Jewish community in Latvia. This relationship is coordinated through the Yad L’Yad program of Chicago action. Warm clothes and medicine, particularly physicians’ samples, are most needed. Call Frances Peshkin at (630) 833-2789 or e-mail her at fpeshkin@alumni.northwestern.edu if you would like to help or need additional information.

A lot of work is needed to affect social change on other fronts. Log on to the following sites to learn what you can do to make a difference:

Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, www.rac.org. The RAC, as it is known, has for more than 40 years, educated and mobilized the Reform Jewish movement as an advocate on legislative and social concerns.
Campaign for Better Health Care, www.cbhc.org. This coalition is partnering with URJ to create an accessible, quality health care system.
National Council of Jewish Women, www.ncjw.org. NCJW takes progressive stances on social justice issues from education to child care from the separation of church and state to abortion.
Jewish Council of Urban Affairs, www.jcua.org. The council is a Jewish social action group that focuses its efforts on combating poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago's diverse communities.
American Jewish World Service, www.ajws.org. AJWS was the first American Jewish organization dedicated to alleviating third-world poverty, hunger and disease. Its attentions focus on the promotion of human rights, education, economic development healthcare and sustainable agriculture. It has been a leader in helping to stop the genocide in Darfur and arresting the spread of HIV-AIDs.

Your Government at Work

Federal

The US Senate: www.senate.gov. Everything you always wanted to know about the doings in the U.S. Senate.
The US House: http://www.house.gov. Everything you always wanted to know about the doings in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Library of Congress THOMAS site, /thomas.loc.gov.

The site provides several options for finding bills, resolutions and activity in Congress, the Congressional Record and other government resources.

State

State of Illinois, legislative information, www.ilga.gov/

This site has current information on bills and other matters that have been or will be before the Illinois General Assembly. It also shows how state senators and representatives voted on legislation.

General legislative information

SearchGov. Com, www.searchgov.com.

A portal to a variety of federal, state and local governmental websites.