The first edition of “Belleville Bridges Bulletin” arrived in the mail boxes of the over 200 people who attended either North American workshops on systemic change in the Vincentian Family. The title derives from the place of the first such meeting in Belleville, Illinois (2010) and the theme of the second such meeting in Indianapolis (2011) “Building Bridges out of Poverty. Although it is geared to those who participated in either of these workshops BBB might be useful to other members of the family interested in systemic change from a Vincentian perspective.
The following provides the contents of the first edition.
Do you believe it has already been almost a month since 150 of us gathered in Indianapolis to build on the momentum for Vincentian commitment to Systemic Change generated last year in Belleville? I am sure we all have our own memories but who of us can forget Jodie Pfarrr?
Knowing how we are all pressed for time I will get right to the facts!
Follow these links if you want to…
- connect with others from your area who attended with Belleville or Indianapolis…
- review a database of Vincentian Family Systemic Change projects …
- review formation resources for systemic change …
- view or download Sr. CJ WIlle’s presentations …
- learn how the SVDP facilitates political advocacy …
- access the many fine presentations from Belleville …
Future plans
The planners met immediately after the meeting and decided two things:
- Not wanting to lose the momentum we will take on another face-to-face meeting next year instead of alternating with virtual meetings. There is a committee trying to identify date and place on short notice.
- The planned virtual meeting for next year will remain in place as a supplement to the physical meeting.
So we all stay on the same page, here is the definition of Systemic Change in the North American Context:
Systemic Change among those living in poverty aims beyond providing food, clothing, shelter and alleviating immediate needs. It enables people themselves to engage in the identification of the root causes of their poverty and to create strategies, including advocacy, to change those structures which keep them in poverty. Systemic Change requires transforming attitudes.(Revised: Oct., 2011)
Stay in the conversation
We invite you to stay in contact, share your experiences and continue tolearn from each other.
If you haven’t already done so, sign up at VirtualVins.organd join the Systemic Change group.
If others are interested in being added to the list for this occasional bulletin (about once a month) please click the Contact Us link.
PS Monica has added new albums of photos taken by Sr. CJ Willie, SC, Paul Starkey and Beth Nicol.
Tags: Belleville, Bulletin, Featured, Indianapolis, Systemic change
