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, May 20, 2025 - 10:00am - 11:30am
 ESTHER Finance Committee Meeting Zoom Meeting
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 3:00pm - 4:30pm
 ESTHER Communications Committee Meeting Zoom Meeting
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
 ESTHER Immigration Task Force Meeting Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
 The Power of Community Organizing (5-part series) Zoom
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm
 ESTHER Environmental Justice Task Force Meeting Zoom meeting
more
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Madison Action Day 2025 / Building a Beloved Community

Submitted by Sara Companik on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 11:45am
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Madison Action Day 2025 CrowdAbout 400 leaders from the WISDOM network across Wisconsin met in Madison on April 10 for a day of action to get our values and issues on the minds of legislators while they are making state budget decisions. Northeastern Wisconsin was well represented, with delegrations of almost 50 from ESTHER in the Fox Cities and a similar number from JOSHUA in Green Bay.

Please Help ESTHER Give Away Books at Juneteenth, Saturday, June 7

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ESTHER’s Juneteenth book give-away has been so successful in the past, we want to celebrate reading again.  We’re asking you to share in this effort by purchasing a book or two by authors of color from Black-owned bookstores with stories about Black people.

You can drop them off at the office in First Congregational UCC, 724 E South River Street, Appleton, 9-3 weekdays, before June 7.

Then come to Juneteenth at Fox Cities Exhibition Center, 355 W. Lawrence, Appleton on Saturday, June 7, 1- 4 pm, to celebrate with our Black friends and neighbors. No reservations needed. No admission charge (food available for purchase).

Some Black-owned bookstores in Wisconsin

NICHE BOOK BAR - https://www.findyournichemke.com

ROOTED MKE - https://www.rootedmke.com            

Other Black-owned bookstores: 

https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php

https://awesomelyluvvie.com/2025/02/black-owned-bookstores.html

Or any POC book will do.

 

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The Power of Community Organizing (5-part series)

Date: 
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
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Wednesday, May 14, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
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Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: 
Zoom

5-Session Community Organizing Basic Training

The Wisconsin-based WISDOM network, of which ESTHER is a part, is offering a 5-week training series on community organizing. The sessions will be held over Zoom from 6:30-8:00 on five consecutive Wednesday evenings starting April 23. They will include a mix of presentations and discussion designed to sharpen your organizing skills and connect you with local efforts in Wisconsin.

WISDOM’s top organizers from across the state will equip you with tried-and-true methods that strengthen organizations, empower people, and change communities. Some sample topics that will be covered include:

Course outline:

  • Week One — Intro to Organizing
  • Week Two — One-on-ones
  • Week Three — Issues and Actions
  • Week Four — Effective Meetings
  • Week Five — Building a Team

Register Here

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Postponed: Understanding Your Mental Health

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Date: 
Monday, May 5, 2025 - 6:30pm
Location: 
First Congregational United Church of Christ, 724 E. South River Rd. Appleton

This event has been postponed. Watch this space for information on the new time.

Winnebago County Executive Candidate Forum

For those of you who couldn’t make it in person please watch our recording:

 
Passcode: m*&Kx!8a
 

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How to Effectively Advocate for Housing Justice

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Date: 
Monday, March 3, 2025 - 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: 
First United Methodist Church of Appleton, 325 E. Franklin, Appleton
 
 

Register here . You can identify your plans to participate in person or via livestream.
You can participate in person at First United Methodist Church

 

ESTHER's Promise in 2025

ESTHER’s Promise in 2025
Empowerment, Solidarity, Truth, Hope, Equity, and Reform
Connie Kanitz, ESTHER President

ESTHER is rooted in the commitment of knowing there is inherent worth and dignity in each and every person. Everyone deserves respect, access to rights and to the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

ESTHER is committed to acting in love for one another. When we expand our understanding of “family” to include everyone; when we welcome cultural, racial, economic, and gender diversity AND a diversity of ideas and perspectives; AND when we ensure everyone has access to rights and opportunity, we can build a community that is amazing to behold. 

As the new administration begins on January 20, 2025, on the very same day we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., ESTHER will continue to tell the truth and stand up for the truth…

Eye on Oshkosh

Learn more about ESTHER:

On this edition of “Eye on Oshkosh,” host Cheryl Hentz spends the hour talking with representatives from ESTHER, a Fox Valley interfaith nonprofit that seeks to find social justice in all areas of life – whether it be in affordable housing, the prison and court systems, environmental, mental health, race and sexual identity, even transportation. ESTHER works to identify leaders who can focus on and lead others in working to correct problems and injustices in these very issues. You can see the show by clicking on the image to the left or by following this link:

https://youtu.be/lvdPtX_C7Hw

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Book Note: Redeeming Justice

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Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender: My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a Broken System, by Jarrett Adams

Keith Findley, the keynote speaker at ESTHER’s 20th Anniversary Banquet on November 16, is a key figure in this 2021 book by Jarrett Adams. Adams introduced Findley at the banquet and gave moving testimony about the new life Findley’s Innocence Project gave him.

Adams was seventeen when an all-white jury  in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, sentenced him to twenty-eight years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. In this unforgettable memoir, Jarrett recalls the journey that led to his exoneration—and inspired him to devote his life to fighting the many injustices in our legal system. With time running out for him to file his appeal, the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School offered to represent him, both in drafting his appeal and representing him in court.