Dear Broadway Community,
First of all I wanted to thank everyone for giving me the freedom to visit my family in India. It was a refreshing time for me and a wonderful time to connect with family after more than 3 years. And, I am glad to be back with you all to continue the work that you and I are called to, together as people of God!
I am also grateful for all who attended our Church Conference on Monday and supported the reports we presented, the decisions we made and the hopes we have for the coming year.
Last week I attended a zoom meeting with One Northside staff and our Alderman Bennett Lawson. One of the many issues we discussed was, “Bring Chicago Home,” a grassroots movement of the people of Chicago committed to creating a dedicated revenue stream, to overcome homelessness in Chicago, but our alderperson does not seem to be supportive of this effort.
The coalition of “Bring Chicago Home,” aims to restructure the Real Estate Transfer Tax RETT), a one-time tax on properties when they are sold to create a substantial and legally dedicated revenue stream to provide permanent affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness.” Only the properties that are over $1 million will experience a tax increase, and the revenue generated will be used to develop programs for children, veterans, women recovering from domestic violence and those 65,000+ Chicagoans who are experiencing homelessness.
Bring Chicago Home is coming up for a couple of key votes in Chicago’s City Council in these coming weeks, so we invite you to call your alderpersons and ask them to support “Bring Chicago Home.” Feel free to use this link to find the contact info of your alderperson and the script that you can use when you make the call. All calls will be helpful in letting your elected leader know what you as their constituent think and wish.
And for the constituents of Broadway UMC, remember-
- Our Blessing of the Pets this Sunday at 2:00pm in the yard, and
- Memorial Service for George Banks on Saturday, Oct 14th at 11am.
That’s it for now friends! I truly feel blessed to a part of this community and to witness to the love of God through this congregation. Remember that we are God’s beloveds, and we must continue to do our best, be our best and do all we can to create a braver and safer place for all God’s people, and remember a simple smile can go a long way and might be exactly what someone needs in that moment.
