Social Justice News

Social Justice invites us to live the call of Catholic Social Teaching for further engagement as community to live out our faith.

Fair Trade Coffee-Decaffeinated now available
We have added decaffeinated 1 pound French Roast Decaf – Ground, 
French Roast Decaf – Whole bean, Peru Decaf and Peru Decaf – Whole bean. We still have fair trade coffee from San Lucas Mission. It is available from the lovely display cabinet made by Rich Pierret in the social hall for $10.00/lb. This is an opportunity act on our Catholic Social Teaching by being in solidarity with our Guatemala brothers and sisters. It provides a fair consistent wage for more than 650 families and allows only the highest quality of beans to be produced.
Coffee can be found in St. Joseph Hall

SafeJourney – Give. Advocate. Volunteer.
SafeJourney, a program serving North Memorial Health Hospital and Maple Grove Hospital, helps patients and individuals in the community who are experiencing domestic abuse. Volunteer advocates are needed to provide a listening ear, emotional support, safety planning, information and referral. You do not have to have previous knowledge or experience, but rather looking for people who are sensitive to the issue, caring, and non-judgmental. Advocates sign up for 2 on-call shifts per month. Shifts are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., 5-10 p.m., and the overnight shift which is 10 p.m. - 8 a.m. Flexible scheduling – will work around your schedule. Our greatest need is weekend and overnight shifts. Training includes four weeks of online material, and includes orientation scheduled on Thursday, May 9th, 5pm-9pm at North Memorial, Robbinsdale. Apply online: https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?ap=1699520493

Save the Date- Habitat for Humanity Our coalition of churches will be partnering with a family to fulfill their dream of homeownership this summer July 15-19, 22-26. The home we will be working on it located at 609 Fillmore St NE, Minneapolis. If you would like to be part of the leadership team from SJTW please contact Roxanne Smith at 763-400-7208 or rsmith@sjtw.net.

Thank you WOW! We packed 1.29 million this year and 5.91 million in our 4 years for starving children around the world! SJTW was a major sponsor again this year. Thanks to each and every one of you who donated, packed, volunteered as certified volunteers and supported our local food shelves with food. We saw many of you come pack for multiple shifts. We also want to thank your local businesses for the food they donated for the staff and certified volunteers. Buffalo Wild Wings, Clive’s, 3 Squares, Hy-Vee, Broadway Pizza-Champlin, Perkins MG, Osseo Meats and Willy McCoy’s feed us well over the 5 days. We also want to Egan Companies and staff for their awesome support of this event over the 4 years. Special thanks to Bob and Sandy Johnson for your amazing support of this event and your role on the leadership team.

The Caring for Creation group at St. Joseph the Worker will be sponsoring a Green Fair on Sunday, April 28 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in St. Joseph Hall.  There will be master gardeners from the U of M on hand to give you advice on your spring planting, exhibits from various environmental groups such as MNPCA, as well as green artwork and food and beauty products made from natural, organic sources that can be purchased.  To participate as an exhibitor or vendor, please contact Stephen Kriz at (763) 354-9580.

Mobile Hope - Dayton is looking for a volunteer to assist in our Thursday evening 6:30 - 8:30 English Language Class. Classes are held at the Dayton Mobile Home Park (about 9 miles from here). You will be under the guidance of the Elk River ELL Staff. Training is provided and a foreign language is not required. This is a perfect opportunity to accompany individuals from another culture! For questions or to sign up please call Sharon Burns 612-325-9791 or email sharonburns50@gmail.com.

Cell Phones We are no longer accepting cell phones for Home Free Shelter. You can recycle them at many retailers. Thank you for being good stewards and recycling them.

We have decaffeinated 1 pound French Roast Decaf – Ground, French Roast Decaf – Whole bean, Peru Decaf and Peru Decaf – Whole bean. We also have fair trade coffee from San Lucas Mission. It is available in the social hall for $10.00/lb. This is an opportunity act on our Catholic Social Teaching by being in solidarity with our Peruvian and Guatemala brothers and sisters. It provides a fair consistent wage for more than 950 families and allows only the highest quality of beans to be produced.

Age-Friendly Maple Grove
Age-Friendly Maple Grove, an initiative working to make Maple Grove an even better place to grow older, is looking for volunteers. There are six active subcommittees; Outdoor Spaces and Buildings, Transportation, Housing, Social Participation, Communication and Health Services. Your time commitment will be entirely flexible. If you are interested, please call Kris Orluck at (763) 494-6514 or visit our website at www.maplegrovemn.gov/age-friendly.

Your neighbors need food
CROSS our local food shelf meets the needs of our neighbors when there is financial hardships.
Items most needed at this time include: Cannned meats and fish, peanut butter, childrens’ healthy snacks, spaghetti sauce, cereal, pasta and jelly. Paper products such as paper towels, tp and kleenex are also appreciated. Please place items to share in the bins in both gathering areas. 
Thank you for being the hands and feet of Christ to your neighbors.

Families Moving Forward helps a young Mother Gains Stability
Taking care of your family is hard work, and can be a significant challenge when you are 20 years old. Yakiana came to Families Moving Forward after losing her home. Case managers were able to get her into Audubon Crossing, where she could grow independently as a mother. Read more of Yakiana's journey towards self-sufficiency on our blog. St Joseph the Worker will be hosting FMF guests here August 12-26. Sign up will begin in May. http://www.beaconinterfaith.org/blog/

Helping Hands assistance thank you
"Thanks for the great assistance through your church with my home mortgage payment. I appreciate it and God bless."
K F in the Jobs Transitioning and Networking Group

Thank you for supporting our Helping Hands Justice fund. It allows us to support those in transitions in their life. For more information contact Roxanne Smith at rsmith@sjtw.net or 763 400 7208.

Fair Trade Coffee for Sale
St. Joseph the Worker sells ground and fair trade coffee from San Lucas Mission. It is sold in the social hall for $10.00/lb. Checks should be made payable to St Joe's. This is an opportunity act on our Catholic Social Teaching by being in solidarity with our Guatemala brothers and sisters. It provides a fair consistent wage for more than 650 families and allows only the highest quality of beans to be produced. It is located in the parish social hall as you enter from the worship area.
 

St Joseph the Worker parishioners were living their faith out in the community in support of Cranberry Ridge development. Present were Roxanne Smith, Louise Rau, Jason Wittak, Deb Carlson and Jane Warren.
The Plymouth City Council approved the land use change to allow Beacon Interfaith to build a new 47 unit affordable housing for families. Providing these families with housing they can afford will create stable families that can care well for their families.

We would love to know your story!
St Joseph the Worker is blest to be a culturally diverse parish. We would love to get to know you better. Leading up to our January 13-14 Immigration Sunday Celebration we will be sharing stories of members of our community who have journeyed a long way to get to SJTW.  If you would be willing to share your story with us please contact Roxanne Smith at 763-400-7208.

Home Free Shelter Needs your used cell phones
SJTW collects used cell phones for Home Free, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic abuse. The phones can be any brand and do NOT need to be in working order. Please do not include accessories. The collection boxes are located in the hallway outside the social hall. THANK YOU – recycling used cell phones provides much-needed revenue for the shelter.