Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice

ICPJ is a founding organizational member of a statewide climate justice table called Michigan Alliance for Justice in Climate (MAJIC) which centers racial equity, social justice, and systems change in climate activism. MAJIC is a coalition of organizations in Michigan that have come together to achieve and actualize Climate Justice for the house of the Great Lakes. MAJIC is a group of organizers, volunteers and professionals creating a sustainable future where the people of Michigan can thrive without suffering the negative physical and economical effects of environmental decline. This program includes time to recruit and onboard new organizations, create internal structures for how the alliance operates and communicates such as with a conflict resolution process, and meeting with elected officials to educate them on the priorities of communities most impacted by climate injustice. This program area also included local community organizing meetings, hosting public educational forums related to the climate crisis and environmental sustainability, as well as developing new strategy related to community resiliency hubs.

ICPJ participates in leadership and working committees in several coalitions focused on building greater racial and economic justice across Washtenaw County, including justice and healing in (and outside) the criminal legal system. A key project has been Home for Healing, a space to co-create a central space of community safety, where community members gain tools for coping with the unimaginable alongside a network of love and empathy; a group of organizations who practice collective imagining, designing solutions and enacting them. As part of this work, ICPJ hosted educational forums related to equity and justice in the criminal legal system and convened a number of working groups focused on community outreach, system-wide study, and policy action.

Organized educational, advocacy, and direct action opportunities related to our programming area "Building Community Power and Practicing Democracy." Some examples of programming in this area include: Efforts to reach "low-information voters" with non-partisan voter education materials about how, where, when to vote and what the roles/jobs of different elected officials are; how to contact elected. Hosted community conversations and capacity-building meetings to build greater participation in local decision-making, e.g. how to provide public comment and get involved locally (regardless of issue or position on the issues). Begun project to create community resource to amplify voices of those most impacted by violence of houselessness, policing, and incarceration. Convened community conversations to understand and participate in the county budgeting process. Register new voters at community events. Hosted films, panel discussions, community discussions, workshops about voter rights, suppression, and fundamentals of democracy.

ICPJ hosted trainings and workshops to build greater awareness and empathy around issues of racial and economic justice, affordable housing, and ways to end hatred and building communities of belonging. We organized faith communities in issues such as immigration, human rights, support for refugees, affordable housing, and religious understanding and respect. ICPJ supported the Washtenaw Congregational Sanctuary with fiscal sponsorship and capacity-building to address injustice, poverty, and improve quality of life for asylum-seekers. ICPJ also supported a new grassroots organization, Circling Back, through which formerly/current houseless community members assist others to understand and navigate systems to seek support and move toward safety and housing.