August 8 at Lincoln South Rotary - Justice in Action

Olivia has spoken to Lincoln South Rotary Club in the past and stated that she would update us on progress of the organization's activities.

 

She opened with a power point slide describing Justice in Action as "We are an interfaith, grassroots coalition of faith communities who are harnessing the power of organized people to address big community problems".

 

Justice in Action is made up of over 25 member Faith Communities. Those Faith Communities are represented on the Board of Justice in Action. The members participate in Listening Sessions where they state the major concerns that they have. Those are brought to the Board to direct the focus areas of the organization.

 

There is an annual Nehemiah Action Assembly in March / April which is a large gathering including local officials in the areas of focus. Last year there were over 1300 that attended the Assembly which demonstrated to the local officials the numbers of people with the shared concerns. They brought the issues to the people who can do something about them.

 

Olivia explained that there is a difference between mercy and justice. Many organizations provide immediate relief of things like food and homelessness. But, with justice it an attempt to reduce the needs. An example is a church that provides food distribution - seeing lines that just get longer and longer. With justice the hope is to reduce the number of people in line.

 

The annual cycle is:

There are current three member-chosen issue campaigns:

Olivia explained that the Mental Health Initiative is making great progress. When in place, there would be a navigation system that would help individuals find their way around the services available. It would include accessibility regardless of insurance of ability to pay.

 

In the area of Pre-Trial Diversion, she explained that the programs that are in place work well. But, they believe that more people should be eligible for the programs - that everyone deserves a second chance. There are some cases where, if a person has a conviction from years ago, that continues to keep them from entering a diversion program now. The focus is on nonviolent crimes. Lutheran Family Services will be the lead organization.

 

Olivia spent time discussing the challenges of individuals who have been evicted. They are often denied housing in the future. She said that there were 2300 children in Lancaster County that were subject to eviction last year. They have worked on a pilot program that would provide mediation between tenants and landlords to try to reduce the evictions.

 

Shared her email address:  olivia@justice-in-action.org

Website: https://www.justice-in-action.org/

 

 

Associate Organizer - Justice in Action

Olivia was born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and a master’s degree in Recreation Administration from Illinois State University. She served as an Instructional Assistant Professor at Illinois State University for seven years, with a one-year hiatus to teach at Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok, Thailand. While in Illinois, she dedicated her time to community organizing around local justice issues. She planned and organized issue campaigns around policing and police accountability, ending for-profit systems in the local county jail, court-watching, and cash bail. She served as a representative on the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice for more than four years, working with communities across the state of Illinois to end money bond. She joined the staff of Justice in Action in January 2023.