A message from The Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford, CLUE-VC Co-Chair
Dear Community:
In these challenging times when very little is truly known about what the outcomes of the recent
election will be for our undocumented siblings, we of CLUE-VC pledge our compassionate
support for their safety and wellbeing. And we will do everything we can to provide the needed
information and protection to them and their families. To quote Cornel West, "Justice is what
Love looks like in public." We are blessed to share this journey with you!
Immigrant allies, it’s time to get to work! Connect with Swap Meet Justice!
Vanessa Frank, immigration attorney and Swap Meet Justice co-director, shares: “Many of us
are deeply concerned about immigrant families and workers in our community. Protesting the
cruelties to come is important. Being in spiritual community is important. But Sundays are also a
day to get to WORK! At Swap Meet Justice anyone, with any level of experience, ages 5 to 105!,
can dive right in and help a family while at the same time learning from that family and the
wider Swap Meet Justice community how public policy and laws directly impact those most
dependent upon them.” 2024 saw tremendous growth in community participation and the number and range of organizations present at Swap Meet Justice. Organizations report that community members soften express how happy they are that we are there at the Oxnard College swap meet.
Emphasis is on providing services on site, so people do not have to take time off work during
the week to access vital services, such as: Citizenship applications, Green Card and DACA
renewals; Medi-Cal sign-ups; eye exams; flu shots; utility bill relief; attorney counseling on
family law, domestic violence, debt; stress reduction techniques; farm worker protections;
expungement; and so much more!
Ayleen Sanchez Zendejas, CLUE-VC Board Member, shares this: “As a front-desk volunteer
at the Citizenship tent, I’ve seen first-hand the eagerness with which people approach our table
and ask about how they can access reliable legal services. Many have heard of our free services
from family and friends, through flyers, and on the radio. Others run into us at the swap meet and
are surprised to learn they can get answers to their questions on their day off work.
“Some days we have been overwhelmed with the community’s need for services and there are
not enough volunteers to meet the demand. I suspect when we resume Swap Meet Justice in
January, with the upcoming presidential administration’s ambitious plans that will affect our
immigrant neighbors, we will be needed more than ever to allay fears and answer questions.”
So come to Swap Meet Justice on the last Sunday of each month (next: Jan. 26 th ). Bring your
family for a lot of fun and some great work in community. To sign up for training as a new
volunteer, go to swapmeetjustice.org/volunteer-voluntarios. Donate there, too! (Donations come
through cluevc.org, SMJ’s fiscal sponsor.)
Together, we will help one another through difficult times!
Housing Justice: People of faith have an important role!
Housing insecurity goes beyond the poor souls now homeless. They are the tip of an iceberg:
Consider our neighbors who invisibly struggle to stay housed in the face of exorbitant and
increasing housing costs. If we, our family and friends, are not personally affected, we still have
an important role as advocates for those struggling in our communities. Here’s our Housing
Justice journey so far:
– During 2022 we interviewed affordable housing experts and experienced advocates to
understand more about the crisis.
– In January 2023 we held an in-person gathering at Bethel AME Church in Oxnard, to begin
educating people of faith and good will about the housing crisis – and what we can do to alleviate
it.
– In 2023 we held six Zooms to educate and to allow affordable housing advocates to
brainstorm how they will work in their cities.
– The January 2023 convening instigated a group to create a Homeless Prevention Program in
Oxnard to keep families housed, modeled on Ventura’s successful Homeless Prevention
Program.
– In January 2024 CLUE-VC and partners Buen Vecino and Many Mansions began outreach to
congregations throughout Ventura County to inform about SB 4. We stressed that the new law
provides a streamlined permitting process that can cut years off a congregation’s affordable
housing project.
– In February-March 2024, our partnership offered Zoom programs specifically on SB 4. Many
Mansions CEO Rick Schroeder and Real Estate Vice-President Doug Menges showed us what
SB 4 could do. The March 18th recording is available on request.
– We have followed the progress that some local congregations have made, most now in the
discerning process among their membership. Ahead of the curve is a 57-unit project on the
campus of the College United Methodist Church in Ventura. Although it started before SB 4
became law, the project now will utilize SB 4 to streamline the process, according to People’s
Self-Help Housing’s CEO Ken Trigueiro.
– We continue as an active participant in local and regional coalitions advocating for affordable
housing, including the Ventura County Housing Coalition and Ventura Homes For All.
We need YOUR help to keep up with it all! If interested, let us know at
cluevc.org/home/contact-us.
Homeless Prevention Programs save families and communities!
In January of this year, a single mother contacted the Oxnard Homeless Prevention Program
(OHP). This young woman had lost her job in September and had exhausted her savings paying
the bills in the intervening months. She was facing eviction. After a review of her financial
situation, a representative of OHP met her at the bank and arranged a one-time grant of $1500,
enough to keep her from eviction while she began work for her new employer.
Since its inception in November 2023, OHP has prevented the double traumas of eviction and
homelessness for 22 households including 32 children by providing over $20,000 in grants
funded through the generosity of congregations and individuals. OHP models itself after the
successful Ventura Homeless Prevention Program (VHP), providing one- time assistance of up to
$1500 for individuals and families facing eviction due to an emergency. OHP’s older sister, VHP
has prevented eviction for 66 households during the current calendar year, including 68 children.
To support either or both of these important programs, go to OxnardHomelessPrevention.com
and/or VenturaHomelessPrevention.org.
Confronting Racism in Our Schools
In October, a Black student at Oaks Christian School in Westlake filed a lawsuit against the school for repeated acts of student-on-student racial harassment he was subjected to, witnessed by staff.
The following letter to the VC Star, from the CLUE-VC Fostering Understanding/Combatting Bigotry subgroup, is a response to the Oaks Christian issue:
Re: your Oct. 20 story, “Student alleges ‘shocking’ racism in lawsuit”:
As members of the faith community in Ventura County who are committed to fighting racism and fostering understanding between people of diverse backgrounds, we are saddened and angered to hear of the racism that was permitted to be acted out upon “John Doe” at Oaks Christian School. All schools should be safe spaces; and especially faith-based schools should be places that respect the dignity of everyone. Yet somehow, all too often, schools are not the sanctuaries of learning that they should be.
We want to acknowledge that Oaks Christian has begun to respond to this issue by taking disciplinary action. And we hope that this response continues because it may not be just an isolated incident, but the effect of the racism that exists in our culture. We mourn with members of the Oaks Christian community who are shocked by this news. We pray for protection not just for John Doe, but for all students of color in Ventura County who may be subjected to racism. And we call upon educators, administrators, and students across the county to do better.
If you would like to join CLUE-VC’s effort to stop racially based bullying in our schools, contact us at cluevc.org/home/contact-us.
Justice Seeker – Fall 2023
In solidarity with those who struggle.
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YIGBY! Yes In God’s Back Yard: What’s next for Affordable Housing on Faith Lands?
CLUE-VC held six Housing Justice gatherings in 2023 to explore the many aspects of the housing crisis and ways we – people of faith and goodwill – could be involved in addressing it. In August we honed in on the issue of encouraging congregations to build affordable housing on their vacant land – a process made simpler by a new law that takes effect Jan. 1st. SB 4, “Affordable Housing on Faith Lands,” is a bill we’ve long advocated for.
Local nonprofit housing developers have called the new law a game-changer. It stream-lines the approval process for building affordable housing by requiring cities and counties to expedite qualified projects with no requirements for rezoning or additional hold-ups or permits. The law thus greatly reduces the time and cost to build – key factors that have played a part in preventing or delaying new housing.
Ventura County’s religious community can have a significant impact. According to the Terner Center at UC Berkeley, in August 2023 religious organizations and nonprofit colleges (both covered in the new law) had 172,000 acres of buildable land. More than 3,200 acres were in Ventura County! That’s a huge amount of acreage for a suburban county like ours – and almost as much as what is available in Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County combined! (No, this does NOT include our SOAR land!)
If YOU are part of a Ventura County congregation that might have unused land or buildings, please contact us for more information! And if you want to be a part of CLUE-VC’s work to address this issue, please let us know!
California has a deficit of millions of homes. SB 4 presents opportunities to address the housing crisis and alleviate the suffering of individuals and families who struggle with finding safe and affordable homes. It is clearly within the mission of all our religions to care for our neighbors and to work for social justice and racial equity.
We are blessed to have trusted and reliable partners among Ventura County’s nonprofit affordable housing developers, who are ready to assist in determining if a site is feasible and how the housing might be configured.
What’s Next: We are in the process of outreaching congregations about this new opportunity to build affordable housing on their unused land, which includes financial benefit to the church, mosque, temple or synagogue. Our hope is to identify congregations with available land and enlist them in the process of building housing.
Some questions for those of us who are homeowners:
What do social justice and the tenets of our faiths mean to us if we cannot make a place in our communities for people who do not have safe and affordable housing?
Are we willing to have our communities change to accommodate the needed housing?
Could we be NIMBYs? (Not In My Back Yard anti-growth people who are against new housing) – when we are facing change?
Swap Meet Justice – bigger and better than ever!
Swap Meet Justice volunteers with the five county Supervisors and CEO, following the young people’s presentations and the Board’s unanimous vote to support SMJ with a significant 3-year grant.
Swap Meet Justice – the monthly Citizenship and Family Resource Fair – has now expanded into a complete social justice fair with more than 30 organizations participating! A regular presence at the Oxnard College swap meet, Swap Meet Justice (SMJ) is unique in California with its consistency and scope, always on a Sunday and in the same well-known place.
In 2023 we were blessed to receive major grants from the Weingart Foundation and the County of Ventura. Together these two grants underwrite the substantial basic costs of the monthly event, which include physical set-up, feeding the volunteers, and Mixteco-Spanish interpretation. Smaller grants have been sought for special projects. (If you have a link to a community-centered grant, please let us know!)
Come and check out Swap Meet Justice! We’re in front of the Gym at Oxnard College. Our first date in 2024 is January 28th. We’re there 9am-3pm.
More than 30 organizations – public and private –offer free help onsite with services like these:
- Assistance with applications for Citizenship, USCIS fee waiver, DACA renewal, and more. Applicants leave with a complete application, reviewed by an expert and ready to mail!
- Lawyers consulting on immigration, employment, and family law;
- Services specific to farm workers and their families;
- Health care organizations delivering vaccinations and health screenings onsite and linking people to low-cost care – services that normally operate only during the work week;
- A wide range of social services for families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities; and
- Environmental and social justice organizations that engage people around how they can work together to improve their community.
CLUE-VC is fiscal sponsor for Swap Meet Justice (at no cost to the project) and is an active participant; and we recruit volunteers and assist in organizing the monthly events.
Typical scene at the SMJ Citizenship booth – volunteers interviewing applicants and preparing applications.
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