Our speaker at Lincoln South Rotary Club on October 27, 2023 was Olivia Butts, Associate Organizer for Justice in Action.
What is Justice in Action? Olivia explained that it is an interfaith, grass roots coalition of faith communities who are harnessing the power of organized people to address big community problems.
She explained that the organization started out of a meeting of clergy considering Lincoln and Lancaster County as a good fit for this type of program. Funding would be provided by the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church Mercy & Justice Team.
A series of Listening Sessions were held. There were more than 600 participants in a number of groups that shared "what keeps you up at night worrying?" They knew that they could not address everything - there were concerns including:
Child Care
Elder Care
School System Issues
Over population
Mental Health
Jail Conditions and Equity of Treatment
Homelessness
Food Insecurities
The group voted and determined the two topics of focus to be Mental Health and Criminal Justice. They then started to work on how to put a plan in place to take action to make changes in those areas.
Olivia explained that the Justice in Action organization is a member of a larger organization that has provide some of the organization processes. The DART organization has provided a structure that works. And, the various member organization share their findings and successes.
The steps in the process are:
- Listen and Connect - the organization is member-based not issue-based; so all issues can be brought forward
- Community-led, Grassroots research - they use members who are impacted by the issues, not just those that are trained researchers
- Direct Action - getting community support, and support of elected officials, is critical to the process
- Monitor for impact - progress measurement is important to ensure the effectiveness of the program and to determine if it is time to move to a new focus area
Olivia explained that we have many organizations that are great at meeting the immediate needs - but are not doing justice work.
Justice is holding decision makers accountable for ensuring our systems are fair for ALL, especially the most vulnerable. It is looking upstream to the cause of the problem and trying to solve it from the source.
Olivia stated that one of the findings of the group is that there are a number of diversion systems available within the criminal justice system. They believe that making those programs more readily available we can reduce criminal recidivism.
She talked about power. Some of the big systems - the government, healthcare systems, utility companies, banks, police, etc. hold power that we cannot penetrate. With the congregation of the Justice in Action members, which includes an annual meeting with elected officials and others in power, it is hoped that there can be some influence for positive change.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION AND SPEAKER
Justice in Action has approximately 20 member faith communities. Each year, member communities host a series of Listening Sessions to collect information about the concerns of persons living in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Themes emerge from the stories shared and members gather to democratically select priorities for the coming year. Last year the concerns about access to mental health services and use of diversion programs for persons convicted of non-violent crimes were the focus of 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 joined the staff in January, 2023.