This Thursday, the ACTS Community Violence and Youth (CV&Y) Task Force will host a meeting on a project they hope will quell the violence in our community. The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is an international movement active in 35 states and 40 nations around the world. 

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AVP’s participants often include inmates, gang members, social workers, and social justice activists. During the May 11th meeting at the Southwest Community Center, recently appointed CV&Y Co-Chair Timothy Kirkland will help further the process along. Kirkland is a former inmate, an AVP advocate, and a leader in the Community Empowerment Organization (CEO).  All are welcome to attend.

For more information about Timothy Kirkland and AVP, click the button below

Considering recent events, all are urged to join Msgr. Fahey in a forum focused on healthcare in America. Fahey was the Honorary Chair for the successful 2017 ACTS Spring Banquet, and is an internationally recognized expert on aging, health, and ethics.

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The potentially disastrous “American Health Care Act of 2017” (AHCA) passed in the United States House of Representatives with a vote of 217 to 213. Already, experts across all fields point to the adverse effects which now loom over our heads. With only $8 billion allocated to insure those with pre-existing conditions, the AHCA budget will fall precariously short in protecting vulnerable people. By some estimates, the Republican-led bill will cover just 5% of today’s pre-existing conditions pool. In other words, only a fraction of the 2.2 million people who desperately need health insurance will receive adequate coverage. ACTS cannot support any uncompassionate measure which equates to people suffering, or even dying. In its current form, ACTS decries the AHCA bill for its negligence. Refreshments will be served at the forum.

Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Marvin McMickle believes that, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward Justice.” Even when progress is made in America, we may witness temporary regression in equality and a descent toward division. Dr. McMickle fears our nation has taken that step backward with the election of the new Federal Administration.

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As the President of the Colgate Rochester Crozier Theological Seminary and speaker at the ACT’s Clergy and Faith Leaders Caucus, he will lead us in a conversation about how to be faithful leaders of our congregations while simultaneously facing current political climates. His mind is troubled especially with the administration’s new appointments, from an Attorney General who shuns voting rights, to a White House Counsel who openly endorses the alt-right. However, he also believes that together we must “work hard to form the United States into a more perfect union.” The Clergy and Faith Leaders Caucus will also be led by Caucus Co-Chairs Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone and Pastor Regina Reese-Young, with long-time ACTS-leader Earl Arnold presiding as secretary.

Too many of our children, especially children of color in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, experience adversity, violence, neglect, and other forms of trauma and show symptoms similar to PTSD. Traveling to Philadelphia and Oakland, this documentary chronicles the stories of children shook by violence and adversity and asks not "What's wrong with you?" but "What happened to you?"

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​Finally, the documentary poses one final great question, "how can traumatized children and neighborhoods heal? This event has been brought to our attention by Willie Elliot, the Communication and Training Coordinator at OnCare. Both the documentary and panel discussion are presented by OnCare, a community initiative that improves outcomes for Onondaga County children and youth. ACTS encourages its members to attend!