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Building community, sharing hope, and standing for justice since 2004

Upcoming Events

Please join us for any of these upcoming ESTHER and related events!

  • To learn more about a particular event, click on its title
  • To see the complete ESTHER calendar in a new tab, click here
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Oshkosh ESTHER Task Force Meeting Zoom and Various Locations in Oshkosh
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
EXPO/FREE Meeting Most Blessed Sacrament Church 448 High Avenue Oshkosh
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
The Forgiveness Project Exhibit Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2600 Philip Lane, Appleton WI
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
The Forgiveness Project Exhibit Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2600 Philip Lane, Appleton WI
Friday, April 5, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
The Forgiveness Project Exhibit Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2600 Philip Lane, Appleton WI

Northeast Wisconsin Housing Policy Institute

Date: 
Friday, April 12, 2024 - 2:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: 
UWO Fox Cities Campus, Midway Road, Menasha

A regional housing policy training for people who have experienced housing challenges (including eviction, unaffordable housing and homelessness) in Northeast Wisconsin. Learn how local and state decisions have caused how we experience housing and what we can do to advocate for change. Connect with other advocates and know that you’re not alone.

Participants are asked to attend both days of this two-day event.

Scan QR code or click on image below to register.

Registration deadline: April 1, 2024

Contact: Lynnsey Erickson lerickson@winnebagocountywi.gov (920) 252-5928

Help spread the word! Download and share the attached flier.

The Forgiveness Project Exhibit

Posted in
Date: 
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
Date: 
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
Date: 
Friday, April 5, 2024 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
Location: 
Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2600 Philip Lane, Appleton WI

The exhibit is also open on Sunday, April 7 from 12:30-4:30 pm and
Monday, April 8 from 10:00-3:30 pm

Come view this international exhibit which features 18 personal stories of challenges in forgiveness. 

At the heart of The Forgiveness Project is an understanding that restorative narratives have the power to transform lives; not only supporting people to deal with issues in their own lives, but also building a climate of resilience, hope and empathy.

Here are quotes from three of the stories:

  • “In that instant, I realized how much negative energy it takes to hold hate inside.”   Zak Ebrahim
  • “I'm beginning to realize that no matter which side of the conflict you're on, had we all lived each other’s lives, we could all have done what the other did.”  Jo Berry, daughter of a bombing victim
  • “Through forgiveness, I've learned that love doesn't die.”  Kia Scherr

PLEASE NOTE the exhibit is NOT available for viewing on Saturday, April 6, due to a prior commitment at the Fellowship. 

This exhibit is sponsored by: The Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, ESTHER, and Charter for Compassion.  See more description, photos, and a donation option to Forgiveness Project at www.theforgivenessproject.com

Rising Together: Amplify Love!

Date: 
Saturday, March 23, 2024 - 9:00am - 1:00pm
Location: 
Fox Valley UU Fellowship, 2600 E Phillip Ln, Appleton

Rising Together: Amplify Love!

Rising Together flierDo you want to become more connected to your community? Do you wish you could share your values with more clarity and impact? Do you want to create local impact to amplify the power of love in your community? Then join us for Rising Together: Amplify Love!

Saturday, March 23, 2024 - 9 am to 1 pm
Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
2600 E Phillip Lane,
Appleton, WI 54915

Breakout sessions include:

  • Getting Out of the Echo Chamber
  • Actually Working Across Difference: Strategies for Genuine Engagement
  • Entering the Fray of State Legislative Advocacy 
  • Local Engagement: How Working with County, City, and Town Entities Can Create Change
  • Telling Love's Story: Crafting Powerful Messages for Change

The event is free, open to the public (but  please register to help us plan!), and includes light breakfast, snacks, lunch, and childcare.

Click Here to register now!

How I Lost BadgerCare and What Happened Next

Testimony given by Joyce Frohn at the Poor People’s Campaign March in Madison, WI, on March 2, 2024. Thank you, Joyce, for sharing your testimony with ESTHER in this blog post.

2024 Poor People’s March Wisconsin

In December of 2023, I knew that I might be losing BadgerCare.

I should first explain why I was on BadgerCare. My husband is on disability. He has an auto-immune disease that makes him not only unable to work but also in pain almost all the time. I am also a caregiver for my elderly parents who are in senior living and can’t move to assisted living until financial matters beyond my control are finished. Since I need to make sure they take their pills twice a day, I can’t take most jobs. I’m trying to make a living as a freelance writer, but that income is neither sufficient nor predictable.

During the pandemic, both my college student daughter and I could stay on BadgerCare. But as the post-pandemic “unwinding” began we were both worried. What pushed me over the limit was one simple thing: my husband’s disability check was increased.

That increase—$200 a month—wasn’t enough to cover the house taxes that went up, the fuel bill that went up or even the grocery bill that went up. But it was enough to kick me off BadgerCare.

2024 Bread for the World Offering of Letters—Call for Participation

2024 Offering of Letters

Bread for the World

ESTHER leaders Deb Martin, Nancy Jones, and Connie Kanitz bring the Bread for the World letter writing campaign to each of their faith communities every year. This year’s focus is the Farm Bill, which is the nation's most important national food system legislation.  It is critical to the work of ending hunger at home and abroad. The letter (sample attached) features provisions we wish to see included in the bill.

We invite ESTHER friends to join us in writing letters to your US legislators or share info with your church during the month of March. Please watch the short video (under 3 minutes) included in this story to find out more about how you can participate in this important letter-writing campaign. Check contact info in the short video for assistance. Additional information found at https://www.bread.org/offering-letters/.

Click on the image to the left or watch at this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUp6_Pqq9o

Join us for the Black Experience

Date: 
Saturday, March 16, 2024 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: 
201 E Birch St Black Creek, WI 54106

The Black Exerience FlierCome experience a preview of our African Immersion, planned and led by ESTHER’s new organizer, Miracle Wheeler.

A fun-filled educational day with authentic African American Food, African Drumming lessons, African dance tutorials, crafts for the kids, face painting, a powerful movie clip on Black History, Q&A session, hair-braiding experience and much more.

Register Here

Free Admission. Donations Accepted. Proceeds fund ESTHER’s African Immersion.

Oh, No! Not Critical Race Theory!!

Watch Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison, speak on the distortions and misinformation currently being spread about Critical Race Theory and how to challenge and undo these. See her presentation, available on YouTube here, or click on the image below.

Professor Ladson-Billings’ talk was hosted by The Creating Beloved Community team of Taking a Faithful Stand for Equity on November 14, 2023.

ESTHER’s 2023 Yearbook Available for Viewing/Download

ESTHER 2023 Yearbook CoverESTHER’s 2023-24 Yearbook is now available for online viewing or download, along with a limited number of printed copies. The book was produced under the editorial leadership of ESTHER member Jill Smith with significant contributions from other ESTHER volunteers and ESTHER communications coordinator Kayla Nessmann.

Inside you’ll find…

  • descriptions of ESTHER’s goals, values and accomplishments, including the work of each of its task forces and work groups
  • a tribute in memory of Jill Smith, for whom the yearbook was a labor of love
  • many photographs
  • profiles of our annual award winners
  • feature essays about ESTHER people making a difference in the Fox Valley and beyond.

The yearbook also contains notices and ads sponsored by many friends of ESTHER in business, non-profit, and government circles.

The 2023-24 yearbook is available online now for you to review, or to download and read at your leisure (PDF). Click on the cover image (to the left), or use the button below to check it out.

View ESTHER Yearbook

We are enormously grateful to our financial sponsors, who are listed in the book. Please show your appreciation for their support of ESTHER by patronizing them or participating in events they sponsor.

End the Lockdowns Community Forum - Green Bay

Date: 
Thursday, March 7, 2024 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: 
Mulva Library St. Norbert College 400 3rd Street De Pere WI 54115

WISDOM and Partners Host End the Lockdowns Community Forum in Green Bay

End the Lockdowns Community Forum flierWISDOM, ESTHER and JOSHUA host End The Lockdowns Community Forum on Thursday, February 22, 2024 from 6:00-8:00PM at St. Norbert College (Mulva Library) 400 3rd Street, De Pere, WI 54115.

Join us to meet Green Bay elected officials, learn about WISDOM’s End the Lockdowns Campaign and provide input on transformational justice priorities in Wisconsin. This event follows successful events in Milwaukee and Madison with elected officials.

WISDOM’s End the Lockdowns Campaign seeks to:

  • Raise awareness on the detrimental effects of lockdowns to people who are incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prisons and their loved ones.
  • Build build grassroots support urging Governor Tony Evers to use his authority to take action.
  • Close prisons, reduce the prison population, and reinvest spending into community resources that decrease crime and strengthen communities.

Register to attend the event in advance at https://bit.ly/greenbayendthelockdowns. If you would like to participate in car-pooling from the Fox Cities to attend this event, please leave a message at https://esther-foxvalley.org/tjtf.