The Capital Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) movement is truly becoming interfaith. At the Research Kick Off on December 9, Iman Reshad Mujahid from the Masjid Al-Nahl Mosque gave the opening prayer/reflection.

UUCT was well represented among the over 80 people in the meeting. The larger group broke into the following strategy teams:

1. Team Affordable Housing is in a monitoring mode after this year’s successes with gap financing. The county will automatically inform CAJM of progress.

2. Team Gun Violence brainstormed how we can help the Sheriff’s Office and the Council on the Status of Men & Boys move forward faster. Needed are volunteers to go into neighborhoods and to attend city and county meetings.

3. Team Food Insecurity brainstormed about justice policies and mercy programs to continue to feed people. It is important to ask community leaders and organizations working with food insecurity what policies they want. The following were included in the brainstorming: the FAMU Council, incentives to build grocery stores, and transportation or mobile food distribution.

4. Team Immigration discussed mercy programs and justice policies to help refugees and detainees. The team discussed how local law enforcement assists ICE and the need to fix the broken immigration system, inform the community, get more religious groups involved, use the Temple Israel training, and help kids separated from their parents. The team also mentioned the weekly immigration vigils every Sunday at 4 pm on the Old Capitol steps.

5. Team Mental Health ZOOM meeting on January 6. This issue intersects with many other issues.

The Affordable Housing Strategy Team met with Bryan Stringer, the CAJM Director, on December 10th to plan meetings between CAJM groups and local candidates for political office. This will be a chance for the candidates to learn about CAJM, ask us anything, and give us their ideas. YOU can still join a strategy team as this work will be ongoing