ESTHER Spring Gathering 2012

ESTHER Spring Gathering – Everyone Welcome!

DATE: Thursday, May 3, 2012
PLACE: St. Bernard Parish Hall, 1617 West Pine Street, Appleton
TIME: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with an Art Walk and silent auction of art work by prison inmates. You will enjoy a delicious “Mexican Fiesta Buffet” prepared by Chef Chuck Spanbauer. The keynote speaker will be Tamra Oman from the Wisconsin Resource Center and Jerome Dillard from Voices Beyond Bars.

After her incarceration, Oman went to college, earned a degree in social work and now works with Voices Beyond Bars. Jerome Dillard, also a formerly incarcerated peson, received the 2008 Dane County Martin Luther King, Jr., Humanitarian Award for his work in developing resources and providing support for persons returning to Madison-area communities from prison.

Both speakers will address incarceration and 11x15 For Safer, Healthier Communities. 11X15 is a project of WISDOM, a statewide network of congregation-based community organizations of which ESTHER is a member.

The 11X15 campaign calls for a reduction of Wisconsin’s prison population to 11,000  (half its current level) by the end of 2015 through:

• Creating awareness of the limitations and costs of the current justice system
• Showing that alternatives to incarceration are more appropriate in many cases
• Ending racial disparities in the criminal justice system and treating mental health and addiction problems as public health issues

To learn more about 11x15 go to www.prayforjusticeinwi.org

We are sure you will find the evening informative.

For more information, contact ESTHER at 920-216-0891.