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Building community, sharing hope, and standing for justice since 2004

Circles of Support Can Help

Community Circles of SupportHelping individuals successfully return to the community after incarceration in prison or jail is the mission of Circles of Support.* Through weekly meetings or individual contacts, volunteers from all walks of life meet with men and women who have been incarcerated to provide support and help to them in dealing with everyday challenges they face in returning to the community. The meetings provide a positive, non-judgmental environment which focusses on individual strengths and the future.

Information about community resources is provided by the participants and volunteers.  Discussions about challenges focus on problem-solving and helping individuals explore effective options that might work for them. Participation is voluntary and there is no cost. Success is celebrated.

A variety of meeting times and places are available in Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, and Neenah-Menasha. Participants describe the groups as a “caring family environment,” a place to get useful community resource information, and a non-judgmental, trusting and respectful setting that gives them hope.

Anyone interested in being involved as a participant or volunteer can connect by calling (920) 840-2918 or emailing circlescanhelp@gmail.com.  A volunteer will contact you personally to answer any questions.


*ESTHER is the fiscal sponsor of Circles of Support.

Documentary: The Letter

Date: 
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: 
St. Bernard Church, Parish Hall, 1617 W Pine St, Appleton

Documentary: The Letter

The Letter / Laudato Si’

Wednesday, August 16, 6:00-8:00 pm
Parish Hall at St. Bernard Church, 1617 W. Pine Street, Appleton

Free and open to the public.

The Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Green Sanctuary Team, along with ESTHER, St. Bernard Parish Social Action and others, are sponsoring this presentation and discussion of a film promoted by Interfaith Light and Power. This gorgeously filmed story features scenes from around the world. It puts a human face on climate change.

Sponsored by St. Bernard Catholic Church, Appleton • ESTHER • Fox Valley UU Fellowship • League of Women Appleton-Fox Cities • Our Wisconsin Revolution • PopEarth • Citizens Climate Lobby Appleton-Fox Cities

American Indian Studies in Wisconsin - Faithful Stance for Equity August Meeting

Date: 
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 - 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: 
Zoom

Wisconsin school boards are required to include in the social studies curriculum some instruction in the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands located in Wisconsin. The legislature is currently considering revising these curriculum requirements. Brian Ward, our August speaker, is an expert on these issues and can provide helpful background. 

An educator and activist who lives in Teejope (occupied Ho-Chunk Land known as Madison, Wisconsin), Brian has also lived and worked on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota Nation. His writing has appeared in The Nation, TruthoutNew PoliticsSocialist WorkerInternational Socialist Review and more. He has also worked with Indigenous people in Guatemala and Peru. His master’s thesis work focused on the representation of Indigenous people in K-12 classrooms.

The presentation will be on Zoom. If you are unable to attend but register in advance, you will be able to view the recording.

REGISTER HERE

ESTHER Gives Away Books and Bikes to Celebrate Juneteenth 2023

ESTHER celebrated Appleton Juneteenth 2023 on Sunday, June 11, with African Heritage, Inc. and many other community organizations supporting diverse groups, causes and community challenges. ESTHER gave away over 100 books for all ages. Members had contributed books by and about Black history, heroes, strengths and struggles.

ESTHER also raffled off four bikes, including one donated by Chain Reaction Cyclery in Appleton (Thank you, Nikki!), and another purchased by ESTHER to give away.  The four free raffle winners were thrilled with their bike wins.

More photographs of the event can be found on the Facebook page of ESTHER and of African Heritage, Inc.

Community Living Room

Date: 
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Date: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: 
First Congregational U.C.C., 724 E South River St, Appleton

Presented in cooperation with Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative and First Congregational United Church of Christ of Appleton.

The Community Living Room is a non-clinical, person-centered environment for people seeking social connection and emotional support. Everyone is welcome. Refreshments provided. Feel free to drop in any time between 5:00 and 8:00.

Film Screening: The Invisible Class

Date: 
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 - 6:00pm
Location: 
First Congregational Church, 137 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh

Casa Esther Catholic Worker, ESTHER, Trinity Episcopal Church Oshkosh, and
First Congregational Church Oshkosh present
a screening of The Invisible Class.

The Invisible Class - Documentary FilmThis powerful film is about homelessness all across America, its criminalization and the devastating impacts of the loss of affordable housing. Mass homelessness in the United States didn’t always exist, so how did we get to where we are today?

The screening is free and open to the public. Cash and material donations will be collected (see more below).

Doors open at 5:30.

Talkback and refreshments to follow.

ESTHER Leader Featured in Indian Civil Rights Documentary

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has just re-released (in HD video) its 2008 documentary on efforts of Native nations and the denomination’s National Indian Lutheran Board to secure sovereignty, justice, and civil rights for American Indians. Much of this collaboration and struggle took place in Wisconsin, involving—among others—the Lutheran Church of the Wilderness on the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Reservation in Bowler. Rev. Joel Schlatenhaufer (d. 2019), pastor of that congregation at the time, and later a founding member of ESTHER and its first president, is interviewed.


The history the video recounts is very interesting, and it would be useful for all of our members to know about the things that the video talks about.

—David Haas, ESTHER Board member

Outdoor Movie Night: Wakanda Forever

Date: 
Friday, June 9, 2023 - 7:45pm
Location: 
Houdini Plaza, 111 W College Ave, Appleton

Join People of Progression, STAR, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Fox City Flix and the Appleton Public Library to celebrate the end of the school year.

Free Event

  • Friday, June 9, Houdini Plaza, Appleton
  • 7:45-8:30 pm - Community Activities
    • Fox Cities PAC Listening Session
    • Public Library Summer Programs
  • 8:45 pm - Outdoor Movie: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Reflections on the May 13 Blanket Exercise: Remembering (unforgetting) 450 years+ of Indigeneous History

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Indigenous Peoples’ Blanket Exercise

The Blanket Exercise acknowledges what has been buried by honoring the truth.

Blanket Exercise Participants“Opening our eyes and unforgetting the past” was the theme of the recent Blanket Exercise, designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land has impacted the people who lived here before Columbus and other settlers arrived.

On May 13 at First English Lutheran Church on Ballard Road, nearly 70 participants gathered for the Blanket Exercise to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Blankets arranged on the floor represented the land before the arrival of Europeans.  Everyone stepped onto blankets that represent the land, and took the role of the Indigenous peoples. As I listened to the history from pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance, I could see the people and the land disappear. At the end of the exercise only a few people remained on the blankets. Going through this visible history of eliminating people and stealing land was an intellectual and emotional experience.

13th Annual Appleton Juneteenth

Date: 
Sunday, June 11, 2023 - 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: 
Jones Park, 301 W Lawrence St, Appleton

Be sure to stop by the ESTHER booth when you come!

African Heritage, Inc., Presents 13th Annual Appleton Juneteenth. Free Admission. Boost your digital skills.<br />
Covid 19 shots. $$$. Black health & wealth is dope! Destiny Child Experience. MC Keith L. Brown Mr. I'm Possible.<br />
Poet 22. Milwaukee African Drum and Dance. Afro Pop Music with Mimi. Comedian Kelly Kelly. 2023 Black Excellence Graduation.<br />
Children's Activies. Food. Music. Community Organizations, Retail Vendors, Black Greek-Letter Organizations. Stone of Hope.<br />
Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark, United Way, Wisconsin Public Radio, Sargento, Walmart, Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region,<br />
Get Boosted, Community First Credit Union.