I am thrilled to share with you that a newly energized steering committee has refocused our direction. We agreed to maintain our mission statement:
But we decided to change just about everything else. We chose a new name -- Louisville United Against Violence, agreeing that it better reflects our mission while also highlighting the new focus. We decided to move the major annual event to September (exact weekend TBD); the new event date allows us to collaborate better with a related organization that also works against violence and has an event in West Louisville in the first week of June. And we've decided to have our event on Sunday afternoon, to better allow people of non-Christian faiths to collaborate with us. The location is still open for discussion, but we are considering spots like Elliot Park (a couple of blocks off Broadway, and St. Augustine Catholic Church, on Broadway but nearer the midpoint of Broadway between Shawnee Park and Cave Hill Cemetery. Well, is your head spinning yet? Mine is. I am so happy to be working with this group of loving, compassionate people, and have renewed hope that we can make a difference. If you're reading this and are new to our group, I hope you'll join up. Comment here, but better, send me a message from the contact page. In peace, Trish Ramey, co-chair of Louisville United Against Violence Dear Hands Across Louisville participants,
We are sad to inform all of you that Hands Across Louisville will not be held on Saturday, May 19, 2018. The event will be postponed and held at a later date. As co-chair of this year's event, I would like to share why this happened. As is often the case in startups, organizations often falter as they grow and become more successful. The direction of this project [as agreed on by the expanded group of volunteers] began to diverge from that envisaged by one of the originators. The divergence made it necessary for us to rethink our process. So much time was lost as the group tried to find its footing and direction that we decided we had to postpone the May event. The majority of the steering committee volunteers still plan to continue our outreach efforts. We hope again to bring together many different religious institutions, schools, and other groups, to galvanize our action to heal the divisions in our city and to help end the violence; but it won't happen this May. One other change – because a departed originator helped coin the name Hands Across Louisville and lays claim to it, we decided it was wise to change the name to avoid potential problems. We also view this as an opportunity We hope a new name will help us clarify our focus.. Our intent and purpose is essentially unchanged – we want to work together to unify the community to end gun violence in our city and we hope a new name will convey our mission better. We invite you to attend our reorganizing meeting on Saturday, March 31, 10:30 am at the Catholic Enrichment Center (next to St. Martin dePorres at 31st and Broadway). Please use the back door of the building, since we will be meeting in the basement. The proposed agenda is below. We plan to be no longer than 1 1/2 hours. Top on the agenda, of course, is affirming our mission, renaming our project, and determining our preferred time frame for the event. If we have time, we will consider the other items. We will also hold an open vote to be sure all positions necessary to the completion of our mission are filled and reflect the will of the membership. Thanks for your understanding and for your continuing support. BTW, if you can't make the meeting, but have a name idea or wish to express a preference for the event date, do let us know. (Note: The date consideration is for a general time-frame, e.g. mid-May, mid-June, mid-August, early September, early October.) We will still be using the event to hold hands up and down Broadway as a focus of our efforts to build unity. We also hope to continue having festival-like activities, supportive speakers, and an interfaith prayer service before the hand-holding. In peace, Trish Ramey, Current co-chair of the outreach effort =================================================== Proposed agenda: 1. Affirm the mission statement: Our mission is to collaboratively make a difference in our community by bringing all neighborhoods in the city together. On one day, every year we will stand hand-in- hand in solidarity to oppose the crime and violence around us. Throughout the year, we will continue to inspire others through service. 2. Vote in new leadership of the Steering Committee 3. Rename the project 4. Determine time-frame for next event (late summer, early fall, later fall, next May, next June) 5. Discuss possible change of the event venue |
Steering CommitteeSharing notes for the planning of the BIG DAY, members of the Steering Committee provide updates about the event and what projects we're working on. Archives
August 2018
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