WORKSHOPS AT TRINITY, CAMP HILL

Hunger-Free Homes: Achieving Food Security at Hunger Free Lancaster County

Learn about a coalition of more than 20 nonprofit, for profit, religious, government and grassroots organizations committed to one mission: building a hunger-free Lancaster County by creating a nutritious, accessible and sustainable food system. Our goal is 21.6 million meals to close the meal gap in Lancaster County by 2018. In this workshop we will describe the development and structure of HFLC, the practices we expect to implement to achieve our goal and why we believe we can eliminate hunger here. We will discuss the importance of collaboration and the challenge of organizing a county-wide effort to address this systemic problem that every one of the county’s 16 school districts and many local municipalities face.

Leaders:

Michael McKenna, Chief Operations Officer, Community Action Program

Beth Koser-Schwartz, Lighten Up Lancaster

The Rev. Matthew Lenahan, Peter’s Porch Neighborhood Outreach.

Mastering the Advocacy Basics and ELCA Advocacy Priorities

In this introductory workshop, we’ll explore the Lutheran theological basis for being involved in advocacy ministry.  The policies our officials write, amend, and ultimately vote for or against deeply affect our neighbors living in poverty and struggling with hunger, as well as God’s creation. It is important that we understand the basic “how to’s” of advocacy, to make ourselves better advocates and to encourage others to become involved. This workshop will also provide opportunity to become better acquainted with federal level ELCA advocacy on food, nutrition and other programs.

Leader:  John Johnson, Program Director, Domestic Policy, ELCA Washington Office

Living Up to Luther’s Legacy in Learning – Fair Education Funding

One of only three states without a formula for funding basic education, Pennsylvania has the distinction of being the most inequitable in the country. According to a Washington Post analysis of new federal data, Pennsylvania’s state and local per-pupil spending in its poorest school districts is 33 percent lower than per-pupil spending in its wealthiest districts. Learn how we got here, the implications for our commonwealth, and what can be done to make quality education accessible to ALL of our children. The Campaign for Fair Education Funding, of which LAMPa is a founding member, shares its proposal for adequacy, equity, accountability and dependability in school funding.

Leaders:

Jay Himes, CAE, Executive Director, Pa. Association of School Business Officials

David W. Patti, President and CEO, Pa. Business Council

Susan Gobreski, Executive Director, Education Voters of PA

Home Economics: The State Budget and Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage

Governor Wolf’s first budget proposal has been called “bold”. Find out What does this year’s state budget proposal really mean for hungry people and addressing poverty in the state? How do line items for housing, job training, education and other areas impact hunger? How might taxation proposals impact faith communities and service ministries? What advocacy is important now? This workshop will also review current legislation to raise the state minimum wage and advocacy implications.

Leader:  Jeff Garis, Outreach and Engagement Director, PA Budget and Policy Center

Home and Away: Walking with Our Brothers and Sisters in Central America

During Lent, ELCA leaders traveled to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to understand the reasons why thousands of children and their families are fleeing these countries and to better understand what happens when they are deported. Learn what they witnessed – from violence that was worse than imagined to stories of those they met who stood with strength and boldness through incredibly difficult situations and the U.S. policies that affect the people in Central America. Then, learn about the thousands of immigrants and refugees, including children, who are imprisoned in Pennsylvania every year and how you can walk with them on that lonely and frightening journey.

Leaders:

Alaide Vilchis Ibarra, Associate Director for Immigration Policy and Advocacy, ELCA Advocacy

The Rev. Linda Theophilus, Chair of the LAMPa Immigration Leadership Circle


AT THE STATE CAPITOL

Briefing on the Pennsylvania House Majority Policy Committee “Gateways Out Of Poverty” Initiative. Find out what the year-long process of studying the causes of poverty and listening to solutions to it. This briefing will review learning and outline upcoming legislation associated with it.

Leader: Representative Brian Cutler, Majority Whip, Pennsylvania House of Representatives

When Home Hurts: Advocating for Trauma-Informed Schools

The impact of trauma on children is increasingly well documented, but its implications not yet broadly understood within our education system. Child neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, exposure to violence, grief and loss, homelessness, natural disasters and other events that result in unpredictable and unsafe environments leave their mark on young minds. As new neuroscience can illumine the trail of trauma throughout the brain, we can also see the scars it leaves across our commonwealth in statistics of drug use, incarceration and the widening achievement gap in our schools. Learn about successful models making a difference for the most vulnerable children, their classmates, families and communities and how you can advocate for trauma-informed schools.

Leaders:

Kristy Robinson, MSA

Tracey DePasquale, LAMPa Associate Director

 

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