ESTHER

At ESTHER’s 2019 Banquet on Sunday, November 3, attendees will hear directly from one of today’s most authentic, original, and prolific voices on the subject of climate justice.

The event is currently sold out, and we are building a waiting list. Please contact us at office@esther-foxvalley.org or 920-843-8083 to discuss options.

Winona LaDuke shows us how to connect environmental sustainability and social justice in a unique, exciting and productive way. She explains that the exploitative practices that have degraded our environment have also produced the oppression and poverty of Native Americans and other people of color. Because, our society values short-term profits over other considerations, we ride roughshod over powerless people and over sustainable use of our land. We do this because we adhere to destructive values that endanger our survival. We can end the cycle of environmental degradation and oppression only if we adopt values that stress our relationship to the land, to all created beings and to those who come after us.

Please note that because ticket sales have been exceptionally strong, we have closed online ticket sales at 3:00 pm Central time on Wednesday, October 30.

Homicide is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous Women. More than half of Native American women report having been raped or assaulted. The media have largely been silent or, worse, blamed the victims. It is time to shine a light on this atrocity, and come together to work to end it.

Join the Women of Menīkānaehkem to call on the Wisconsin legislature to take up LRB 2698/1, which creates a 17-member Wisconsin task force on missing and murdered tribal women and girls. The task force will examine factors that contribute to violence against tribal women and girls and prepare a report on actions that can be taken to eliminate this violence.

Your help is needed now!

This bill has been introduced to the legislature, but it will die unless it is referred to a legislative committee.

1. Contact Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov / 608-266-9171) and ask him to assign this bill to the Criminal Justice Committee before the current legislative session ends.
2. Contact your legislators (find them here) and ask them to communicate their support for this bill to Speaker Vos.

Linking Health and Transportation: Voices of
Oshkosh Walkers, Cyclists and Transit Users

The Fox Valley Thrives Transportation Team conducted a series of focus groups in the spring of 2019 to understand user perceptions of the Oshkosh area’s transportation system. These focus groups allow for better understanding of the connections between transportation and health, identify what facilities enhance or impede a person’s ability to use walking, biking, and transit in the Fox Valley, and determine what changes might need to be made in the built environment to improve access to transportation.

Link to report: Linking Health and Transportation: Voices of Oshkosh Walkers, Cyclists and Transit Users

Fox Valley Thrives, a local chapter of THRIVE WI, is an alliance between East Central WI Regional Planning Commission, ESTHER, and Outagamie and Winnebago County Public Health Departments. Its mission is to advance health equity through aligned efforts, co-learning, and strategic action. The Fox Valley Thrives Transportation Team works to improve health equity and make healthier communities by focusing on the connections between transportation and health.