J&P to launch Local Exchange Trading System

Sometimes referred to as "barter," a Local Exchange Trading System helps break through the limitations of money to unlock the true wealth of our community. Each member of the J&P can provide services or other resources to another and earn credits ("Locos") to exchange with other members. You can offer skills you use professionally or as hobbies (arts and crafts, accounting, automotive, childcare, computer, food and gardening, home repairs, legal, transportation, etc.) and seek the help you need from someone else - all paid in Locos!

This new Justice Exchange Network will be launched on June 2 at our "Local Economy Fair," to be held in conjunction with World Environment Day. The global theme is "Green Economy: Does it Include You?" and the fair will include exhibits on time banks, ride-sharing, local food directories, crowd-sourcing, local currencies and the swap-shopping Repeat Boutique. In the meantime, we need you to set up an account and register your offers so we can build the initial service directory. If you received a registration form and account holder's agreement in the recently mailed Active for Justice, please take a moment to complete and mail it back to the office. If you would like a form emailed to you, contact Steve at exchange@ppjpc.org. To join or help the Local Economy Working Group, email sustain@ppjpc.org.

The Green Dream: Creating a Demonstration Center for Sustainable Urban Living

The J&P is launching a new Green Dream project to create a demonstration center exploring how people can survive and sustain themselves in the urban environment - for the duration of this century and beyond. We actually have the technology and expertise, they’re just not getting the needed attention and funding as our country clings to its extravagant, consumptive past.

Got land? We need it – donate it to us, sell it to us, lease it or loan it. Got professional skills – legal, financial, planning, technical? Volunteer some time as a Green Dream Guru. Want to employ hundreds of people in urban farming, biofuel production, construction, transportation and renewable energy? Bring your capital and business expertise to our table. For more information about how you can make a difference, contact sustain@ppjpc.org.

All People’s Breakfast calls for criminal justice reform, abolition of death penalty

About 250 people gathered to celebrate the national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday at the All People's Breakfast at Colorado College's Cornerstone Arts Center. The theme was "Ending Mass Incarceration in America" with keynote speaker Rosemary Harris Lytle, president of the Colorado Springs Branch NAACP. Rosemary (pictured) rightly pronounced that little has changed for communities of color in terms of the justice system since Dr. King challenged Jim Crow some 50 years ago. All three men on Colorado's Death Row are African Americans. Freedom songs were delivered by the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

We collected 60 surveys about action steps people in attendance are willing to take. Proceeds of more than $700 will benefit the PPJPC Peace Scholarship Fund. The breakfast was co-sponsored and co-organized by the Colorado Springs Branch NAACP, Colorado Springs Diversity Forum, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado College, Hooked on Books Bookstore, SGI-USA and Carter Payne Historic Event Center.

To donate to the Peace Scholarship Fund, please visit our website.

Can we end homelessness?

Almost 70,000 people in El Paso County live in poverty, according to new statistics from the U.S. Census. The poorest of the poor are homeless people suffering from mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and disabilities. Is there anything we can do to reduce and even eliminate poverty in the Pikes Peak Region?

In partnership with Catholic Charities, Peak Vista Health Centers and Care & Share Food Bank, the J&P has launched a community discussion of the new federal Interagency Council on Homelessness strategy document, "Opening Doors." We hope to form a Housing Advocacy Coalition soon to address affordable housing, mortgage reform and tenant's rights. For more information, contact Steve at econjustice@ppjpc.org. "Opening Doors" can be found at www.ich.gov.

Jerusalem Project invites you to Interfaith Holiday Tour

More than 40 people participated in one or more events on the J&P’s Interfaith Holiday Tour. This was an opportunity to sample some holiday traditions and build relationships across religious lines, with stops at an Iftar (breaking the Ramadan fast) potluck at the Islamic Society on Aug. 27, a Sukkot dinner on Oct. 14 at Temple Shalom and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. The purpose of the Jerusalem Project is to provide a safe, social environment for Jews, Christians, Muslims and people of other faith traditions to meet, make friends and develop an united voice for peace and justice. To get more information, contact Steve at dynamic@ppjpc.org.



9/11 remembered with “Evening in Jerusalem 4”


“Never Forget Peace” was the theme of Evening in Jerusalem 4,” held on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. While Colorado Springs was awash in flag waving and saber rattling, we organized a dinner and commemoration by Christians, Jews, Muslims and other friends in search of world peace through dialogue, mutual respect and the breaking down of dangerous enemy images. About 100 people attended the Middle Eastern dinner at Colorado College. This was our “fourth cup of tea” - our three previous evenings (July and October, 2010; March, 2011) drew about 100 people each to further the process of interfaith dialogue in Colorado Springs.  For more information about how to get involved, contact Steve at dynamic@ppjpc.org.

Iraq vets to speak out for soldiers’ right to heal

A group of Iraq Veterans Against the War stopped in Colorado Springs in July on their way from from Ft. Hood to the national IVAW convention in Portland. They gave a report from the field, “Operation Recovery: A Campaign to Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.”

Earlier this year, IVAW deployed the team to Ft. Hood to begin a year-long outreach drive and lay the groundwork for a fight to win service members and veterans right to heal. The military depends on the deployment of service members with traumas (PTSD and brain injuries) to continue the wars. The J&P not only advocates for immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, but supports the right for veterans to heal - at Ft. Hood and Ft. Carson as well. For more information on reaching out to at-risk soldiers, contact Steve at dynamic@ppjpc.org.