Alka's Angle

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!

This week I attended a training for Mental Health First Aid with the Community Counselling Centers of Chicago - ‘a behavioral health advocate and social service provider, that offers quality, comprehensive customer-oriented services tailored to the diversity of its consumers.’ One of the topics discussed in our training was suicide. 

I am trusting you all survived the excessive heat these past couple days, and like me, are grateful for the 70 degree temperatures again! Speaking of grateful, there are several things I am grateful for and I want to share and celebrate them with you-

As you know I am in Philippines for a meeting of the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) where among other things we visited a few ministries that are related to the United Methodist Church. One of them is Kapatiran (brotherhood) -Kaunlaran (improvement) Foundation Inc. (KKFI), which was founded as a response to the challenge to work among and with the poor in their struggle for genuine human development. For the past 72 years, the KKFI has been at the forefront of the struggle for social transformation.

This week, the Illinois Supreme Court issued their decision of the Pretrial Fairness Act being constitutional, and directing courts across the state to implement the law and end the use of money bond on September 18, 2023. The Pretrial Fairness Act was signed into law in February 2021. You can read more about the Pretrial Fairness Act.