Vigil For Remembrance of Victims of Gun Violence
NCJW commemorates the Anniversary of the Tuscon Shootings
NCJW Spotlight on Gun Violence on WKYC (Morning)
WKYC Coverage of the Vigil For Remembrance
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Two Win Advocacy In Action Award
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Susan ReisSusan has completed the FBI Citizen's Academy and is currently taking the Shaker Heights Police Citizen's Academy course to understand the impact guns in our communities have on our law enforcement. Working on the Criminal Justice Committee of Greater Cleveland Congregations through Park Synagogue, Susan also sits on committees through the City of Cleveland that are working to reduce violence in the community. This outstanding woman, with Sandy Ellis, co-chairs the Play It Safe Program and The Committee To Stop Gun Violence. | Sandy EllisSandy has organized NCJW, CS forums on firearms legislation, gun safety, and the federal judicial nomination process partnered with Park Synagogue and is on the Greater Cleveland Congregation's Education Committee. This well deserving recipient, with Susan Reis, chairs our Play It Safe Program and The Committee To Stop Gun Violence. | |
NCJW Gun Show Visit Leads To Action To Require Background Checks at Fairgrounds Show
On May 1, members of NCJW's Committee to Stop Gun Violence took a trip to Berea to attend the gun show at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. We wanted to see for ourselves how private gun sellers at the show operate – and we got an eyeful!!! We even interrupted a potentially illegal gun sale to an underage buyer.
After the gun show visit, we met with Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid to express concern about lax oversight at the gun show and to request the sheriff's department increase its presence at the show to prevent illegal gun sales to prohibited purchasers. Ultimately, we hoped to persuade the county to require the gun show operator to conduct background checks on all guns sold at the show.
This week we learned that our call for background checks on all gun sales at the show got some important support from Northeast Ohio officials. New Cuyahoga County Council president, C. Ellen Connally, along with Cleveland Safety Director, Martin Flask, and Cleveland Police Chief, Michael McGrath, met with the fairground's board to explore ways to ensure that sellers at the show, which takes place on county-owned property, aren't arming criminals illegally – the same criminals that victimize the citizens of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
You can read an article about their meeting at: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/10/law_enforcement_officials_ask.html
This is just the first step in a long fight, but it does prove that a group of concerned citizens can still make a difference and get action!!!!
Rita Rome Is Presented With The Advocacy In Action Award
Rita Rome is the 2010-2011 winner of NCJW’s Advocacy in Action Award. This award recognizes a member of Cleveland Section who has served as a volunteer for advocacy/social action for a minimum of three years and who has exhibited an in-depth commitment to advance social causes that improve the quality of life for women, children and families. The recipient is a member who has been striving to ensure individual rights and freedom for all and is an active champion of NCJW’s progressive policies at the federal, state and local levels. Rita has certainly met these criteria!
When she was growing up in Washington, D.C., Rita says thecivil rights movement had a huge impact on her family, instilling in them a sense of their responsibility to contribute to society. As a young mother, Rome pioneered community service for a new chapter of B’nai Brith Women in Gaithersburg,Maryland.
After a career as an art teacher in Montvale, N.J., Rita moved to Cleveland and joined our Section, where she continued pursuing her interest in community service. She became a reading tutor to Cleveland elementary school students, participated in our ImaginationExpress project and began visiting patients at the NCJW/Montefiore Hospice. To celebrate being cancer free for 20 years, Rita also began volunteering at The Gathering Place.
Entering the advocacy arena, Rita became the first chairwoman of Addressing the Issues our letter writing campaign. With the help of a talented and dynamic committee, Rita encouraged others to make their voices heard and we have! Rita says she thanks Judi Wolf for her tireless work in spotlighting issues that focus on improving the lives of women,children and families.
Rita has a contagious smile and is always “on the go.” She is married to Richard Sohn and they are the proud parents of four children and four grandchildren.
Take Action On The National Level
NCJW has been at the forefront of social change for over 116 years. NCJW members are outspoken champions for progressive policies at the federal, state, and local levels. Over the years, NCJW’s collective voice has changed the world for the better — improving the lives of women, children, and families in the US and Israel.
NCJW’s history of social action is based in its powerful grassroots network — in local communities and online. Members all over the country courageously speak out when others are silent, taking a progressive stance on such issues as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom.
Make sure you become a part of NCJW’s action efforts, by signing up for the NCJW Action Center — an action alert network that broadcasts breaking news, legislative information, and opportunities to speak out to decision-makers — and take advantage of advocacy resources that make it easy to make an impact.
Visit the NCJW Action Center and be sure to sign up today to begin receiving the NCJW Action Alerts – NCJW Action Center
Ohio Coalition for Constitutional Values
The Ohio Coalition for Constitutional Values (OCCV) is a coalition of diverse organizations that works to ensure a federal judiciary composed of individuals committed to upholding core Constitutional values. OCCV works to educate the public about the importance of federal judges; provides information about the judicial nominating process and the records of judicial nominees; and works to mobilize communities to speak out and take action on federal judicial nominees.
Cleveland Section is a large part of this coalition. Our members are involved in contacting Ohio Senators to urge their approval or dissent of the nominees. Through emails, op-ed articles in local papers, and with calls and faxes, we make the public aware. The Cleveland Section chairpersons are Ina White and Barbara Bloch. For further information about The Ohio Coalition for Constitutional Values, please visit their website at www.occvinfo.org.
The Ohio Coalition For Family Health
In connection with Plan A Campaign for Contraceptive Access, NCJW's Plan A Campaign, National Council of Jewish Women, Cleveland Section was the organizing convener group for this coalition. The main purpose of this coalition is to see the passage of The Ohio Prevention First Bill and the "break out" bills that are a part of this overall legislation. The coalition has helped like-minded organizations come together for the purpose of advocating for public policies that put prevention first! With a focus on reproductive health care, the Coalition has embraced the Ohio Prevention First Act* as its legislative priority.
Today the Coaliton has 38 member organizations and is growing. Cleveland Section is proud to have served as its convening organization. For further information about The Ohio Coalition For Family Health, please visit the website at www.coalitionforfamilyhealth.org.
* According to the Guttmacher Institute, half of the six million pregnancies that occur among American women each year are unintended. Of those, 1.3 million pregnancies end in abortion. Ohio has the 28th highest teenage pregnancy rate of any state. Some of these women live below poverty and are uninsured.
Cleveland Section Advocacy Projects:
NCJW CS Brief Advice & Referral Clinic Project
NCJW CS is embarking on a new project that will assist individuals who cannot afford an attorney. Working with Legal Aid Society, NCJW CS will support and find volunteers for Legal Aid's Brief Advice and Referral Clinics. Brief Advice & Referral Clinics (Clinic) are neighborhood clinics staffed by members of area law firms, government agencies or other private attorneys. The attorney commitment is limited to advice or direction. No criminal cases are taken. All clinics are overseen by an attorney from Legal Aid.
NCJW CS will become part of the Legal Aid’s Elderlaw Project, whereby Legal Aid goes to a senior center lunch program, educates participants about issues such as Power of Attorney, Living Wills, etc. About a week after the education program, participants who had signed up were invited back to a Clinic where they met with a Pro Bono attorney.
Orientation and training are provided right before the Clinic starts. Legal Aid will provide the detailed intake sheets they have developed. The Clinics last 2 hours.
NCJW CS will provide volunteers for 3 clinics, the first of which will be on October 27 during Pro Bono week. In February and May we will provide volunteers the last Wednesday of the month. Attorneys and non attorneys can volunteer. To get involved, please contact Co-chairs Susan Bamberger or Susan Schwarzwald.
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The Brief Advice and Referral Clinic Project | Volunteer, Debbie Meckler interviews a client during the BARC Program |
Committee To Stop Illegal Guns
The Committee to Stop Illegal Guns is an initiative to build grassroots support to strengthen existing gun laws aimed at reducing illegal firearms and secondly to educate the public about issues relating to illegal guns. The committee is doing this in three ways:
Forming a coalition with other like-minded groups that share this common goal.
Working closely with Mayors Against Illegal Guns by encouraging mayors throughout Northeast Ohio to join MAIG. Through the guidance of MAIG, the committee will actively strive to advocate for closing the “gun show” loopholes
Working against the passage of HB129 – the Bill that would allow guns on our state university campuses. The committee is working with The Gun Free Kids Campaign.
NCJW Cleveland Section's Play It Safe Campaign/Committee To Stop Illegal Guns participated in the Ward Five Family Festival. Jan Ginsburg, Susan Reis, and Lee Haas gave out 27 gun locks, 50 bags of play dough and directions for creative play, information on being responsible gun owners, and materials from NCJW, CS's I Will Ask Project. Parents/ caregivers responded positively to the suggestions for keeping their children safe from accessible guns and agreed with the detrimental effects that come from violent play.
NCJW Addresses the Issues
 | Sit Down, Write and Be Counted! Haven’t you ever wanted to make your voice heard, but were unsure of how to do it? As we advocate for women, children and families in need, we meet in public places and make phone calls and write letters. We help one another with feeling comfortable with selected issues: preventing unwanted pregnancies, comprehensive sex education in schools, stopping the flow of illegal guns, paycheck fairness, and many more. Our committee is “Addressing the Issues”, also known as the Writing Campaign. Rita Rome chairs this committee. |
The Annual Lois Zaas Memorial Advocacy Lecture
The Immigration Dilemma
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to be free……." But Emma Lazerus's poem seems to lack validity given the current status of immigration policy in the United States.
Our distinguished panelists will discuss this very complex and controversial issue.
David Wolfe Leopold is a nationally recognized immigration attorney, based in Cleveland, focusing on corporate, family-based, and many other immigration issues.
Veronica Dahlberg is Executive Director of HOLA, Hispanas Organizadas de Lake y Ashtabula. She advocates for Northeast Ohio's Latino community.
Kenneth Kovach is Executive Director, International Services Center whose mission is to accelerate and ease the transition of skilled international workers into Northeast Ohio economy and community life.
Join us at Temple Emanu El
4545 Brainard Road, Orange Village, OH 44022
Thursday, November 17, 2011
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Dessert and coffee to follow.
Free and open to the public but space is limited.
Please RSVP to Julie Hayes at 216-378-2204 ext. 100 or jhayes@ncjwclevevland.org
RSVP Online
Play It Safe
 | This program will be held on February 12, 2012 at Richmond Towne Center. It is an annual community event encouraging non-violent play. All activities are free to the public and parents and children alike enjoy an afternoon to "play"! |
