IMPACT 2023 Nehemiah Action Wrap-up
On March 21st, 45 of Crozet UMC’s Justice Ministry members and their guests joined over twelve hundred other justice seekers from 26 faith congregations affiliated with IMPACT Charlottesville. The gathering, both in-person at the MLK performing Arts Center and by Zoom, was IMPACT’s Annual Nehemiah Action. This was IMPACT’s opportunity to obtain commitments from County supervisors, City Council Members, and the Charlottesville School Superintendent in response to IMPACT’s issues of affordable housing, public transportation and the environment, and early childhood education and care.
The meeting was a resounding success in that:
– City Officials agreed to push for dedicating at least one third of resources spent on affordable housing to new construction.
– County Officials agreed to focus near term efforts on establishing an Ordinance for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
– City Officials agreed that future planning for the bus system will consider transition to alternative fuels with the goal of lowering carbon emissions.
– The City School Superintendent promised to assess and accommodate the need for after school care for all preschool students.
The above steps are small but do represent real progress towards achieving justice for our less fortunate siblings in our area. To quote Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”