Advocacy

Joint Finance Committee Hearing in the Southwest Region on the biennial State Budget.

WISDOM’s Madison Action Day

A day of collective action with leaders across Wisconsin in our state capitol.

Time is Short - Register Now!

It’s less than a week until Madison Action Day! There’s already a large group going from the Fox Cities, you can still be part of it.

Here’s your chance to join leaders from all parts of Wisconsin in a day of action and movement-building to get our issues and values on the minds of legislators while they are making their budget decisions. We’ll be emphasizing the values of the Beloved Community: radical inclusion, reconciliation, and living for the seventh generation. $40 cost includes transportation. Sponsorships available on request.

Register Now!

Buses will be transporting people to the event from Appleton and Oshkosh. Click Read more below for details.

Follow Madison Action Day 2019 on Facebook.

ESTHER is looking for volunteers to participate in our second voter engagement canvass in Appleton.

Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) is a nonpartisan, volunteer-driven, direct voter contact program. It reaches out to those who feel most overlooked in our society and to working families typically ignored by partisan politics to say, “Your lives matter. Your vote matters.” It is among the most effec­tive ways to increase voter turnout. IVE groups like ESTHER train community members to reach out to their peers in a continuous, ongoing effort that increases the number of voters and leads to policy changes. The most effective IVE organizations add new people to the voter registration rolls, educate voters about election issues, make sure new and unlikely voters actually cast their ballots, and ensure that misinformation and intimidation don’t inhibit people from voting. In addition, IVE has a long-term impact by developing local leaders and involving people in shaping the public policy decisions that affect their lives.

I Want to Help

Like a similar canvass in November, this one will be conducted in Appleton’s Aldermanic District 2 (Ward 3 and a small part of Ward 1) near Edison School. We will gather at Emmanuel United Methodist Church at 5:30 for orientation and training, then fan out into the neighborhood from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

A group of women formerly incarcerated in Illinois will share their thoughts and feelings about being incarcerated when a play called “The Power of Grace” is presented by ESTHER-Fox Valley and Fox Cities EXPO (Ex-Prisoners Organizing). The presentation is supported by a Bright Idea Fund grant from the Community Foundation and will be follow by a panel discussion.

The short theatrical piece was created from poetry written by the women. The script communicates the story of incarcerated women to the general public in order to break down stereotypes and encourage awareness regarding the U.S. criminal justice system. Presented from the prisoner’s point of view, the play is a window into the personal experience of incarceration, and represents a ritual of self-liberation.