Side With Love October Update: Hurricane Disaster Response

Our shared values of love, justice, and compassion call on us to respond to the many threats to our future of collective thriving and liberation. While we fight the many causes of climate disasters (extractive capitalism, racial injustice), we also commit ourselves to building communities of care and resilience. As the Southeast experiences the devasting loss from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we are grateful for the many who have taken up the sacred task of care. From spiritual support to life-saving rescue efforts to financial and material relief efforts, it is critical that we show up. If you can make a financial contribution to relief efforts, please support one or all of the vetted relief efforts at the end of this email. 

It is clear that mitigation - working to reduce the polluting emissions that drive climate change -  is no longer enough. We are called to expand our efforts to center justice and prioritize creating communities of care.

Our congregations must become places of refuge in the storms, hubs of resilience in times of climate disaster, and centers of nourishment when things fall apart. This, dear friends, is the work of our time.

We know that climate disasters do not affect all equally. Marginalized communities—including people of color, people with disabilities, low-income families, and unhoused neighbors—are often impacted first and hardest. Consider that people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to die or be injured during climate disasters. Or that Black disaster survivors receive significantly less government support than their white counterparts, exacerbating pre-existing inequities. This is a call to action.

As we reimagine a world where all communities thrive, we must also ground ourselves in the systems of oppression that worsen the climate crisis. Our work must include addressing FEMA accountability, the mental health crisis exacerbated by displacement, and the climate grief and anxiety that many are facing. We must not turn away from these realities but open our hearts to create a new world with this knowledge.

We encourage everyone to support efforts like the UUA's Disaster Relief Fund and mutual aid networks, such as those offered by Highlander, to uplift the most vulnerable. Additionally, the importance of voting for leaders and policies that prioritize climate justice cannot be overstated. Our collective action in these moments will shape the future.

Let us move forward with courage, faith, and an unwavering commitment to justice.

In solidarity,

Your colleagues at Side With Love

UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice

UUs have been at the leading edge of climate action for decades, but how does our faith call us to the work of climate justice?

Image description: a green background with watercolor splotches. Blue text reads UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice, followed by text in black that reads Wed, Oct 16, 4PT / 5 MT / 6 CT / 7ET. To the right hand side there are portrait images of Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt and Rev. Mary Katherine Morn. The bottom of the image has the logos for Side With Love and Green Sanctuary program.

Join the Green Sanctuary 2030 Community on Wednesday, October 16 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET for a watch party of the UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice Fireside Chat with UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt and UUSC President Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, hosted by Side With Love Climate Justice Advocate Rachel Myslivy.

How does your faith call you to this work? Join the conversation!

Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care

How can we center the inherent worth and dignity of every person in climate disasters? Check out our resource for congregations, Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care.

We can use our gifts to offer love, to work for justice, to heal injury, to create pleasure for ourselves and others. We can recognize our mutual independence with all life. We can take actions that are grounded in justice, guided by wisdom, and sustained with hope. We can learn, act, and reflect to cultivate the beloved community.

Every community is different, and climate impacts will vary at the hyper-local level. Some neighborhoods may be devastated by a hurricane while others experience only minor impacts. Adequate preparation and response for climate disasters must center the lived experiences and impacts of climate disasters on those most at risk.

Use our toolbox, worksheets, and recorded trainings to assess your community's climate impacts and mobilize for action. Start today.

UU the Vote: 2024 Mobilization

With just 24 days until Election Day, UU the Vote continues to invite UUs around the country to join us for these important events to engage with voters.  

If you are within driving distance of any of our in-person mobilizations, please join us! Each day includes spiritual grounding, training, lunch, and support (plus gas reimbursement if you bring a group!). Read about our in-person mobilizations in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Dallas! 

Drop into any or all of our upcoming phonebanks - we train at the beginning of each one and provide on-going support. Your personal information is protected as you make calls through our software. 

Image description: Over a navy blue background, white text reads Get Involved with UU the Vote. The image is decorated with stamp style photos of people in groups doing UU the Vote work, with yellow hearts and dotted lines connecting the images.

In-Person Canvassing

Virtual Phonebanks

Tell us about your congregation’s UU the Vote work!

Please update us about the work your congregation is doing on democracy with our Activity and Action Reporting Form!

UPLIFT Access Monthly Accessibility Resource Webinars

Our loving faith calls us to honor the inherent rights and dignity of all people and to fight forms of oppression wherever we find it. However, disabled people (who make up 26% of the population) regularly find ourselves pushed to the margins, being denied our needs, and not receiving the radical welcome UU’s aspire to provide to all members.

Lay leaders, religious professionals, and allies are invited to join us for our monthly lunchtime webinars where you can learn how to be more accessible and inclusive of your congregation’s disabled members and visitors.

Image Description: UPLIFT ACCESS MONTHLY WEBINARS in green and red letters that overly a planet made of gold grid lines and circled by a ring, with stars on the upper right.

Join us for our next UPLIFT Access Resource Webinar on Thursday, October 17 at 12:00pm ET / 9am PT for a discussion of Voting and Disability Justice. Join representatives from Side With Love, New Disabled South, and Rev. Amanda Schuber, the UUA’s Disability Justice Associate.

Check out last month’s recording: Sacred, Collective Care and Safe, Clean Air with CB Beal and Meghan Garvey

UPLIFT Trans/Nonbinary+ Monthly Gathering

Join the UPLIFT monthly gatherings for trans, nonbinary, and other not-entirely-or-at-all-cis UUs and friends of UUism. Join us on October 22 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to connect with other trans/nonbinary+ UUs and co-create support and community across our faith. All you need to bring is yourself (and other trans/nonbinary friends, if you’d like)! 

This is a drop-in space, where folks can come and go as works best for them, and where people can join us at any time. You can be a regular or someone new, someone who's been curious for a while but hasn't yet checked us out, somebody who is rejoining after time away, and all other ways of relating to this space! You are welcome here, and you are loved. 

Learn more: https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/transnb
Register: https://bit.ly/UPLIFTGathering

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