ISAAC

ABOUT ISAAC

ISAAC is an interfaith organizing network of congregations and strategic partners working togethe to build a more just community.

We are an affiliate of the Gamaliel Foundation and of Gamaliel of Michigan.

Contact ISAAC at:

412 E. Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Phone: 269-341-4213
Fax: 269-341-4218
email: issac@isaackalamazoo.org

How does ISAAC work for social justice?

Through the ISAAC annual organizing process:

We recruit and train diverse individuals andempower them to confront injustice and and inequities in their neighborhoods, their cities and townships, their state, or their nation.

We initiate conversations and build relationships with people we may not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet.

We work in teams, we listen to a wide variety of community member, learn about the history of an injustice, evaluate issues to find a winnable solution, work with collaborating organizations and individuals to plan an advocacy approach, and follow-through on that plan.

3 priorities--Housing, Children & Youth, and our Divided Region--were chosen at the ISAAC Issues Convention on June 19, from the hopes and concerns most frequently expressed during the Listening Campaign.

3 Task Forces conducted one-on-one interviews all summer, listening to community leaders and others with expertise on their issues.

The Task Forces “cut” winnable issues and listened to community leaders’ responses to potential issue “cuts”. The Children & Youth Task Force chose Dental Care as their focus, because of the large number of children who have never seen a dentist. The Housing Task Force chose among possibilities such as asking our US Representative and Senators to work to stop the decrease in Housing Vouchers; asking WMU to help, perhaps by contributing land; and asking the County to allow the Public Housing Authority the power to seek grants and own property. The Divided Region Task Force chose among possibilities such as regional transportation, regional wastewater, a regional land use plan, and regional 911 emergency services.

1700 people attended ISAAC’s first Public Meeting on Sunday, October 19, to ask our public officials to make changes for Children & Youth, for Housing, and for our Divided Region, and to give the public officials the support they need to make the changes. All interested congregations and organizations were invited, to see how ISAAC congregations work together in the public arena to “do justice” (Micah 6:8).

The Task Forces continue to meet with public officials to follow up on the commitments made at the Public Meeting.

What is Congregation-based Organizing?

Congregation-based organizing is for people of faith who want a say in their own destiny. It is for people and congregations who want their community and all its institutions—schools, businesses, neighborhoods, government, etc.—to reflect their values.

It is faith in the value of people working together for common ends, and in what they can do if given appropriate guidance and opportunity. In Congregation-based organizing, the people lead.

It is for people who have a faith-inspired VISION of the community they desire: They want excellence in achievement for every child; they want good job prospects for all the young adults who will stay to build this region; they want quality care for their elders and for their neighbors and friends with physical and psychological conditions; they want fruitful stewardship of public funds and resources; they want attractive and safe streets, with quality and attainable housing options in every neighborhood; they want less traffic and road rage, more transportation access for people who can’t or don’t drive; and careful planning in the stewardship of our land and natural resources.

Decisions are made every day in the Kalamazoo region about how to accomplish these goals. Congregation-based organizing is for people of faith who want a place at the table when these decisions are made!

We say that a community is a group of people who understand that their destinies are intertwined. After all, the people in our pews are the ones who live with the results of these decisions day in and day out. We call this place home. Across the region, it is our congregations who are called upon to take care of things when they aren’t working. We build houses, tutor kids, advise immigrants, feed families, counsel addicts, clean up streets, and transport elders, poor families and persons with disabilities. This is called direct service, and we do it well. Congregations have always stepped in once there are problems.

Instead, congregation-based organizing teaches congregations how to get in early—to be part of decisions that head off these problems. Urban, suburban, and rural congregations of all faiths and races come together to learn, analyze, strategize, and ACT to ensure that decisions in our community that will affect all of our families reflect OUR vision! We can! But we can only do it together.

Through ISAAC, we can and DO achieve meaningful victories in the public arena! And, even better, in the organizing process, new leaders emerge in our congregations, and our houses of worship become stronger! By organizing, the entire faith community ultimately becomes a more dynamic and powerful partner in determining the direction of our community--achieving a greater witness for the spiritual values we cherish.