ICARE November 2024
On Monday, October 28, seven ICARE network members from St. Philip Neri took part in the ICARE Community Problems Assembly. More than 20 churches and temples participated; Baha’i, Jewish, Universalist Universal and various Christian denominations were represented, and the evening was inspiring. Our own Associate Pastor Bob led the congregations in an individual inter-faith, individual sharing exercise. People were asked to move across the aisle to find a stranger and share “their visions for Jacksonville.”
ICARE board members shared the three problem issues identified most frequently at the listening sessions in October: Criminal justice (domestic violence was highlighted); homelessness and housing (folks having friends and family sleep on their couches due to the high cost of rent – and fear of losing homes because of the high cost of insurance); and finally, mental health and healthcare (the speaker shared that 40% of Americans owe some amount of medical debt whether they have health insurance or not).
Many of you remember Patrick and Amy Finn-Shultz and know that Patrick has worked with all these issues through his outreach role on the Sulzbacher staff. Patrick joined the SPN caucus during the discussion/discernment period of the assembly and he shared some thought-provoking facts and observations about how these three proposed issues intertwine. First and foremost, poverty is at the root. It leads to extreme homeless and anxiety, which can result in domestic violence, crime, and frequently culminates in some form of chronic mental illness.
We voted six (6) for homelessness and one (1) for criminal justice. Finally, we decided to pool all our votes on homeless/housing; that was, in fact, the overwhelming decision of the assembly, over 125 votes. We were very proud to have seven present, as we are such a small congregation.
Now, we move into the research phase of the ICARE year and committees will drill down into the goals we will set for our community with regard to homelessness and housing. If you are a network member, you may volunteer to be a research committee member. I will share more about that in the December newsletter. Contact Joy Viau at (904)635-4496 if you are interested in joining a committee or in becoming an individual network member.
Overshadowing the great turnout is tragic news for the Executive Director of ICARE Jax. Kelly Doyle is a young wife and mother of a nine-year-old, who quite suddenly lost her husband, Paul, this past weekend; he simply did not wake up on Saturday morning…. We are all shocked and saddened for her and her daughter. She will have 38 churches praying and supporting her. There will be a celebration of life for Paul on Friday, November 1, at Riverside Church (Park & King) at 6 pm.
ICARE October 2024
In October, all ICARE Network Members and anyone else interested in the action issues and plans for the upcoming year, are invited to attend the Community Problems Assembly, being held at Christ the King Church, on October 28, 2024 at 7:00 pm. The problems assembly will be the culmination of analysis of all the listening session data collected by our 38 congregations. One new action item will be unveiled at this session based on feedback from over 300 participants who attended the sessions across Jacksonville.
In September, St. Philip Neri ICARE members participated in our ICARE listening sessions, one in fellowship with the Mandarin United Methodist Church. Our SPN meeting was a powerful night of storytelling, prayer and deep sharing. As a group, we were asked to discuss what ‘keeps us up at night” when we consider challenges in the city of Jacksonville.
We reviewed the ongoing action teams studying fair sentencing for youth and adults who commit minor offenses; GVI (group violence intervention) initiatives to combat violence; community mental health intervention in law enforcement response (originating with 911/988 calls); and flooding (care for creation). We learned that the flooding initiative of pressing city leaders to complete the threat assessment/analysis is now complete but there are people in the ICARE community who want more immediate remediation in vulnerable areas.
As a group, there was discussion and concern about domestic violence, gun violence, pet care in vulnerable populations, mental health services, and drug deaths. We learned that beyond a congregational commitment, each person is invited to participate as an ICARE network member by doing the following:
1. Bring 3 people to the Nehemiah Assembly at Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church on April 7, 2025 at 6:45 (this can be friends, family, co-workers, or other church members). 2 Attend three other meetings such as the: Community Problems Assembly: Christ the King Church – 10/28/2024 at 7:00 pm; ICARE Rally: Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church – 3/3/2025 at 7:00 pm; Celebration: Woodlawn Presbyterian Church – 5/19/2025 at 7:00 pm 3. Each member will be asked to contribute $200 at the Celebration (this is not a requirement for network members but is suggested as a commitment). 4. Network members can also become more involved in research and action committees and attend other important meetings throughout the year.
If you want to learn more about ICARE at St. Philip Neri, please contact Joy Viau 904-635-4496.
ICARE September 2024
Many years ago, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops described “A Place at the Table;” a belief that all are invited to dine with the Creator of All that Is, as our host. Each “leg” of the table represents a distinct social group that shares responsibility for meeting the needs of the poor: 1) families and individuals; 2) community and religious institutions; 3) private sector/business; and 4) government. If one leg on the table is missing, the table falters.
We, as Christians, are called to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who ‘stand against the wall,’ those who watch others eat, drink and make plans about the welfare of all. Here, the church (lower case catholic, meaning universal) — the believers — act as hosts, teachers and facilitators to be sure that all are invited, fed and heard in our world. If any one of these ‘legs’ is removed or fails, the table tips and injustice results, as the feast slides from the table. We are all affected as a result. St. Philip Neri’s involvement in ICARE (Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation & Empowerment) represents our commitment to table leg 2 in this powerful metaphor.
In September, we will enter the listening session season of ICARE. We will participate in “naming” the problems we feel are the most important in Jacksonville. All of the more than 30 faith community members of ICARE will meet in church members’ homes to listen to each other and then share their ideas with ICARE. Please volunteer to host a home listening session and if you are unable to host, absolutely plan to attend one of the sessions so that your voice is heard. We are all in this together and “when we work together, great things happen.” See you in September.
ICARE June 2024
On Monday, May 20th, ICARE (Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment) held their annual “Celebration” at the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Northwest Jacksonville.
Most of the member churches from around the City had tables of attendees and St. Philip Neri was represented by Bob, Dianne, Allen, Marcia, Jeff and me, at our table, along with Monsignor Boddie, from Christ the King Church in Arlington. We received an ‘honor’ for turning out 75% of our weekly church attendance to the Nehemiah Conference — pretty impressive!
An important commitment to participation in ICARE is becoming an ICARE Network member, which is an individual who agrees to attend the four major events each year, to bring 3 individuals with them to Nehemiah, to host a house-meeting/listening session in the Fall, and apparently to individually ‘invest’ a minimum of $200/year to support the ICARE organization (administrative salaries, program expenses, etc.). If you are interested in becoming a network member, please let me know.
For me, one of the highlights of the event was a very informative and educational presentation by Anne Coglianese, the City of Jacksonville Chief Resiliency Officer. You can learn more about this important issue and Jacksonville’s plan, at ResilientJacksonville.com.
We also learned the very good news that the murder rate (January 1st to May 20th, 2024) is down 42% from last year. That is VERY good news!
Join ICARE in a Peace March to honor victims & survivors of gun violence as we observe the 10Th Gun Violence Awareness Day & Wear Orange Weekend: FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2024 6:30 PM NORTH RIVER WALK 715 RIVERSIDE AVE (under the Fuller Warren Bridge)
Please contact me if you want more information about these items: Joy Viau at joviau@comcast.net or leave a voicemail at 904-635-4496.
St. Philip Neri and ICARE May 2024
In late 2023, the church council decided to join the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment (ICARE). ICARE faith communities come together from all over the Jacksonville metropolitan area to identify community problems through listening sessions; they study the impacts of those problems and research potential solutions. This annual process includes meeting with civic leaders to address and discuss these issues and culminates in the April Nehemiah Conference, when member churches meet with and request action from city leaders. Last month, 18 members of St. Philip Neri attended the event to show support for ICARE’s efforts related to the following issues.
Care for Creation: Several years ago, member churches expressed concern about continued flooding throughout our city. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection encouraged Florida coastal cities to do a Flood Vulnerability Assessment, advising that cities that complete this task would be eligible to receive up to $100 million dollars each year for projects related to sustainability. In 2021, ICARE pressed city leaders to commit to an assessment and in October 2023, the mayor’s office released the Jacksonville assessment. Anne Coglianese, Jacksonville’s Chief Reliance Officer, addressed the conference. She recognizes ICARE’s commitment to pressing leaders on this important project, which resulted in creation of her position and her mission to devising a cohesive plan to address flooding, extreme heat and other weather impacts.
Reducing Violence: In 2022, Jacksonville’s murder rate was the highest in the state. The City had implemented a gun violence intervention program but murders continued to rise. ICARE has identified a successful and proven solution, Group Violence Intervention (GVI), which was developed by an organization called the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College. ICARE has requested that Sheriff Waters contract with the National Network for Safe Communities to assess JSO’s GVI program. He has been opposed to an assessment and declined to participate in the Nehemiah Conference. ICARE will continue to work on this important problem.
Mental Health and Policing: Last year at the Nehemiah Conference, Sheriff TK Waters committed to assign his 911 coordinator to the task force of a new, 24/7 mental health crisis hotline called 988. He also committed to visit Miami to learn more about the Criminal Mental Health Project (CMHP), which has successfully diverted thousands of people with mental illness from incarceration. The program had also impacted the number of police shootings in Miami Dade County from 91 shootings in 2015, to only 13 police shootings in 2019. In December 2023, ICARE visited the Miami CMHP with Dr. Tracey Polson from the mayor’s office. Dr. Polson addressed the congregations at this year’s Nehemiah and she advised that the 911 and 988 divisions in Jacksonville are now collaborating with one another on call responses. Also, Cindy Swartz, who worked for the Miami project, is now consulting with Sulzbacher on an $8 million grant to expand mental health diversion programs for people with mental illness.
There is an ICARE gun violence vigil planned on May 13th (9AM), at the Historic Mt Zion AME Church on Beaver Street downtown. We are also invited to attend the ICARE Justice Ministry Celebration on Monday, May 20th, 2024 (7PM) at the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, 3026 Woodlawn Road, Jacksonville FL 32209.
If you have questions about ICARE, please contact Deacon Dianne at dlarson@minervamedcomm.com or Joy Viau (904-635-4496).
In the fall of 2010, a group of St. Philip Neri members met to explore what it means to be a Mission-Based Community. Following a program developed by Just Faith, the group read books, prayed together, and learned about the process and challenges of being part of MBC. At the end of the sessions, in a night of impressive spiritual clarity, we committed to support and follow a family of political refugees for one year. We formed the St. Philip Neri Circle of Friends. Lutheran Social Services paired us with a family of seven from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Our journey began on a dark night in February when the Burmese family arrived in their new apartment. Since then, we have been amazed at how the Spirit works through our group and brings out special gifts. Members have assisted the Burmese Family in so many ways. The St. Philip Neri Circle of Friends expanded, adding several ESL teachers (English as a Second Language). We have taught more than 15 adults and tutored children. We sponsored a community garden at Jackson Square, which opened the door to other refugee gardens with the help of funding from a special grant. (jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-19/story/recessions-vacant-lots-jacksonville-area-gardeners-hope-set-roots-citys) These Community Gardens provide sustenance for families in two different refugee communities in downtown Jacksonville.