Thank You! PJC End of the Year Reflections

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-Kina Thorpe, PJC Educational Program Manager

This year was full of challenges. The pandemic and the protests against racism and police brutality forced many people to reflect on what is best for them and their communities.

The pandemic was quite challenging for the PJC too. We wondered if the organization would continue, braced for the worst, and found new ways to do our work entirely online.

Despite these challenges, the PJC accomplished a lot this year thanks to our volunteers, facilitators, and YOU, our community members. We wanted to share some of the things we were able to accomplish this past year with your help:

Programs
The Peace & Justice Center hosted over 70 programs this year for individuals, groups, and organizations across Vermont. We partnered with 27 different groups and organizations from around the state and worked with a group of about 15 different facilitators to host these programs.

Staffing, Board, and Volunteers
The PJC has continued to grow despite uncertainties about our future, having welcomed three staff members (Joshua Oyetubo, Arima Minard, and Mac Thomson) since July. We became, for the first time, a majority BIPOC staff. We also welcomed three new board members (Jayna Ahsaf, TJ Sangaré, and Emma Schoenberg) and continued to work with a core group of 10 volunteers who assisted with data entry, running tech for programs, and more.

Jayna Ahsaf
Emma Schoenberg
TJ Sangaré

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This year we also added eight new groups to our Allied Group program: Vermont Freedom and Unity Chorus, BrooklynStrong, Randolph Area Asylum Seekers, Step Zero, Extinction Rebellion Vermont, Democracy Creative, and Middlebury Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).


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Thomas Dukeshire, a volunteer IT expert, has helped us keep our security systems up-to-date, restructured internal communications, gave Board members access to the tools we use internally, and much more. These innovations were essential to helping us work effectively from home in a world where communication is handled almost entirely digitally.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are thankful for everyone’s continued support, whether you gave your time or money. We look forward to the day when we can all be together again safely, but we cherish the time we have had to connect with everyone online. COVID-19 will continue to be challenging, but we remain determined to do the best we can despite it.

If you’re celebrating, have a safe and happy holiday. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in 2021.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]