Due to demand exceeding the capacity of our venue, we have shut down online registration for the 2017 ESTHER Annual Banquet. Please contact us via email (office@esther-foxvalley.org) or phone (920-843-8083) to discuss options, including adding your name to a waiting list in case there are last-minute cancellations. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

“Our State, Our Budget, Our Voice”

Join over 800 WISDOM leaders from across Wisconsin at the state capitol to advocate and educate legislators and departments about issues in the proposed state budget, including criminal justice, environmental justice, public health, education and public transit!

Thursday, March 30, 2017
9:00 am–4:00 pm. Breakfast and networking at 8:00
Bethel Lutheran Church
312 Wisconsin Ave, Madison, WI

Featuring keynote speakers:

• Rev. Alex Gee, pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church in Madison.
• Ms. Lisa Graves, Executive Director, Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a national watchdog group, investigating and exposing the undue influence of corporations in public policy.

Cost: $25.00 - includes lunch, materials, and bus transportation. Scholarships are available.

Buses to/from Fox Cities locations the day of the event.

REGISTER TODAY!

To mark World Hijab Day in the Fox Valley, a series of events are being held in the month of February:

February 1 in Oshkosh and Neenah, and on Facebook Live:

Pick up your hijab at one of three Oshkosh or Neenah locations, then view the Facebook Live stream from 6:30-8:30 pm

February 11 at the Appleton Public Library

1:00-3:00 pm - Hijab Celebration (meeting rooms A/B/C). Learn how to wear hijab and why it is an important tradition for Muslim women. There will be time to talk, ask questions, enjoy amazing free food! Meet new friends and celebrate diversity in our community!

ESTHER awards its 2016 Community Award for an individual to Norys Piña for her work to improve the quality of life for immigrants throughout our community. She passionately educates immigrants about their rights and has formed a group, Unidos por un Futuro Mejor, to work for systemic change in our community, state, and nation. Her passion rises from her own story and that of those around her.

Norys advocated for driver’s cards for undocumented immigrants and quickly drew together funding and people to fill three buses to participate in a statewide “A Day Without Latinos” demonstration at the state capitol on February 18, 2016. She has been active in ESTHER’s Latino Simulations and Voices of Hope theatre productions. Most recently, Norys has organized a community-wide Latino Voter Engagement campaign.

When asked what sustains her work in ensuring rights for immigrants, Norys says, “I find hope and strength to keep fighting in the faces of my kids, in the stories of my friends, in the lives of all good people who deserve the opportunity to use their full potential, in the humanity in each of us crying out for equity. Just the thought of not fighting for our rights and keep silent scares me more than anything else.”