Celebrating Our Victories and Then...

WISDOM members worked hard in 2018.  And, that hard work has paid off.  Now, we ask you to invest in completing the job in 2019.

Many people and groups are responsible for Wisconsin's record-high voter turnout this fall, but WISDOM's role was significant.  Besides helping to encourage participation in democracy through voting, WISDOM and its member organizations did a lot to raise awareness of some issues we work on. 

This was the first statewide election ever in which candidates spoke directly about Crimeless Revocations and the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF).  Candidates responded to our concerns about Regional Transportation Authorities, Drivers' Cards for immigrants, and more.

2019 will be the year to make the jump from awareness to action!  The state budget will be critical in determining whether we get the kind of reform we need in our Justice system, Transportation system, School funding, Health Care funding, and more.

WISDOM leaders have begun making plans to have a major gathering in Madison on March 26.  We need 1,000 of us, from all parts of the state, to let our leaders know that our participation in democracy didn't end with the election.  We need real action taken this year.

Your end-of-year donation to WISDOM will be set aside for the March 26 Madison Action Day.  It will be used for buses to transport people to and from Madison, and it will offset the cost of lunch, especially for our low-income members.  Please be generous.

To contribute, click here or send a check to WISDOM, 2821 N. Vel Phillips Avenue, #217 (formerly 4th Street) Milwaukee, WI 53212.

Thank you.
David Liners, WISDOM State Coordinator

Let's "Arrive Together". On Transportation Equity

Last week, WISDOM joined with our partners from the Sierra Club, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Chippewa Valley Transit Alliance to publish a report entitled, “Arrive Together:  Transportation Access and Equity in Wisconsin.” 

You can download the report here: Arrive Together.

It is a comprehensive and understandable presentation of the realities of public transportation in our state.  It is clear that we have a long way to go, especially so that our seniors, our young people, our low-income workers, and our brothers and sisters living with disabilities can participate fully in our communities.
The report doesn’t just lift up the bad news of how transit has been neglected and how Wisconsin has fallen behind. It shows real, practical, possible ways our state can improve things.  For one thing, we need Regional Transportation Authorities (RTA’s), like most other states have.  An RTA allows the people of a region (e.g. Southeast Wisconsin, or the Fox Valley) to agree to create a system that covers the whole area – something that makes so much more sense than having every municipality make its own policy.

WISDOM will be especially promoting the issue of RTA’s in the coming state budget.  Current state law prohibits regions from making their own decisions about whether or not to have RTA's, so we first need the state to permit local control.

Please, take a minute to read the report.  At least read the Executive Summary!  If you want to be part of the WISDOM Transportation Task Force, contact Sr. Barbara Pfarr at bpfarrwisdom@gmail.com, or at 414-831-2070.

From Election Day to Madison Action Day

WISDOM's Madison Action Day has been announced:

TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2019

We will gather from around the state in our Capitol Building in Madison.

No matter who wins the coming elections, it is important for our legislators in Madison to understand that we want ACTION!  We need every legislator to understand that we, the people of Wisconsin, will not stand for building new prisons.  We need to re-invest the money being wasted on needless incarceration back into the community-based solutions that can heal our people, our families and our communities.  We need to remind our elected representatives that we are a state that believes in compassion and opportunity for every person, regardless of their zip code or their nation of origin.

March 26 will be the highlight of a season of action, to call for a just state budget.  We will be attending Joint Finance Committee hearings about the budget, and we will be involved in many other actions to be sure that OUR priorities, not just those of the lobbyists, are being heard.

First, on November 6, we need to vote.  And, we need to do better than that:  we need to remind our friends and neighbors to vote! 

Then, we need to come together to demand that our Governor and Legislature take real, bold action on behalf of everyone in our state.

Candidate Forum. Wednesday. Senate District 5

CANDIDATE FORUM!

Wisconsin Senate District 5Includes Wauwatosa, Brookfield, Elm Grove, New Berlin

The major party candidates have been invited:

Senate District 5:             
           Julie Henszey(D) and Dale Kooyenga(R)

Assembly District 13:      
           Rob Hutton(R) and Dennis McBride(D)

Assembly District 14:      
           Matt Adamczyk(R) and Robyn Vining(D)

Wednesday, October 10
6:00 to 7:30 pmDoors open at 5:30

Unitarian Universalist Church West

13001 W. North Avenue, Brookfield, WI

Learn the Candidates’ positions on the issues you care about: criminal justice reform, transit, health care, education, immigration, the environment, and ending child poverty.

Sponsored by MICAH and SOPHIA

Words of WISDOM Newsletter

Enjoy this edition of Words of WISDOM, an e-newsletter that shares updates from the WISDOM affiliates, as well as contact and website information.  Lots is going on in all the affiliates; building power as a statewide organization! Click on the links for the update. Words of WISDOM. CUSH, Kenosha Words of WISDOM. RIC, Racine Words of WISDOM. MICAH, Milwaukee Words of WISDOM. ESTHER, Fox Valley Words of WISDOM. EXPO Statewide Words of WISDOM. JOSHUA and RUTH Green Bay and Manitowoc Words of WISDOM. NAOMI, Wausau Words of WISDOM. JONAH, Chippewa Valley Words of WISDOM. EXPO, Chippewa Valley Words of WISDOM. MOSES, Madison Words of WISDOM. JOB, Beloit Words of WISDOM. SOPHIA, Waukesha Words of WISDOM, Wisconsin! You can assure this good work continues. Click HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution! www.wisdomwisconsin.org www.rocwisconsin.org www.closemsdf.org

WISDOM Racial Equity Assessment

In our commitment to become a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization, WISDOM's Racial Justice Team has created an anonymous tool to assess the present level of racial equity in our affiliate organizations.

If you are active in a WISDOM affiliate, i.e. MICAH, JONAH, EXPO, please click here to fill out a short, on-line assessment.  If you prefer to do a paper copy, click here to download an assessment that you can then complete and send to your president or organizer.

If you'd like to get involved with one of our affiliate organizations or state-wide task forces (Criminal Justice, Transit, or Immigration), contact the WISDOM office, wisdomforjustice@gmail.com.

Thank you.

End Child Poverty Campaign and MORE!

End Child Poverty Campaign          

Join a webinar at noon or 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18 to learn how you can help move Wisconsin toward cutting child poverty and racial disparities in half! 

We’ve found that the most effective way of gathering endorsements is to have people sign up at End Child Poverty presentations, either on the paper endorsement form or from their smartphone.  While we have dedicated volunteers around the state giving presentations and collecting signatures, more are needed! 

We’ve earned 3,800 endorsements; just over a third of the way to our goal of 10,000 signatures!

Please consider becoming an End Child Poverty Ambassador to your congregation, PTA, neighborhood association or other community group.Register and receive instructions on how to join a webinar.  If the webinar times don’t work for you, you can still register and receive a link to a recording of the webinar for future use.

and MORE! 

WISDOM's Racial Justice Core Team invites you to participate in Crossroad Ministry's award-winning Anti-Racism Training.  TheUnderstanding & Analyzing Systemic Racism Anti-Racism Workshop is offered in Milwaukee, November 1-3. Details are here. Contact the WISDOM office,wisdomforjustice@gmail.com, for more information or to join the Racial Justice Core Team.

Still MORE!