Where: The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, 516 Prospect St, Maplewood, NJ 07040 Date: February 13, 2011 Time: 11:00am–12:30pm Gregory Sullivan, the program director of IRATE & First Friends, will discuss what the organization does, and current issues involving immigration and detention in the state at our Sunday Platform at 11:00 AM on February 13th. IRATE & First Friends (www.irate-firstfriends.org) is a non-profit organization that upholds the inherent humanity and dignity of all immigrants. They provide visitors and non-legal assistance for immigrants held in detention and work for improved conditions.
IRATE & First Friends advocate for the end of arbitrary, mass detention believing detention is morally wrong, legally suspect and wasteful of taxpayer funds. IRATE staff and volunteers visit non-criminal detainees at the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC), in the Hudson County Corrections Center (HCCC) and the Bergen County jail; provide training for those willing to visit detainees; speak to groups on detention or immigration reform; collaborate with partner organizations seeking humane treatment of all detainees, and the end of detainment for asylum seekers; work nationally on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform; organize demonstrations to keep the plight of detainees in the news; and invite you to join our efforts.
Gregory is a resident of Wyckoff New Jersey and a 1954 graduate of Brown University . He retired from commercial banking in 1997 and found his way to community service through the JustFaith Program of his parish in Wyckoff. The program teaches aspects of social justice and includes numerous "border crossings", taking its students out of their familiar comfort zone and exposing them to the lives of those among us who are marginalized. One of the border crossings was to hear about immigrant detention and to visit detainees at the Elizabeth Detention Center. Greg became a regular visitor and in 2007 became the Program Director of the First Friends Visitor Project, a service which has been active since 2001. In 2008, the organization became a 501(c) (3) corporation and adopted the name IRATE & First Friends. IRATE stands for Interfaith Refugee Action Team- Elizabeth a predecessor organization which advocated for immigrant rights. Together as one organization, advocacy and services for immigrants have been united. Reflecting the increased number of immigrants being detained, the First Friends visiting program was expanded to service detainees at the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny and the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in 2009 and 2010. First Friends is currently seeking access to the Essex County Jail in Newark.
Sunday Platforms are at 11:00 AM at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County. The Society is located at 516 Prospect St., Maplewood (at Parker Ave.). Attendance is free. The public is welcome and cordially invited. Call 973-763-1905, or visit www.essexethical.org for further information.
"Building community through shared ethical values"
Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
www.essexethical.org
Features: Free, Open to All Website: http://www.essexethical.org Phone: 973-763-1905 Email: info@essexethical.org Price: Free
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Where: The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, 516 Prospect St, Maplewood, NJ 07040
ReplyDeleteDate: February 13, 2011
Time: 11:00am–12:30pm
Gregory Sullivan, the program director of IRATE & First Friends, will discuss what the organization does, and current issues involving immigration and detention in the state at our Sunday Platform at 11:00 AM on February 13th. IRATE & First Friends (www.irate-firstfriends.org) is a non-profit organization that upholds the inherent humanity and dignity of all immigrants. They provide visitors and non-legal assistance for immigrants held in detention and work for improved conditions.
IRATE & First Friends advocate for the end of arbitrary, mass detention believing detention is morally wrong, legally suspect and wasteful of taxpayer funds. IRATE staff and volunteers visit non-criminal detainees at the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC), in the Hudson County Corrections Center (HCCC) and the Bergen County jail; provide training for those willing to visit detainees; speak to groups on detention or immigration reform; collaborate with partner organizations seeking humane treatment of all detainees, and the end of detainment for asylum seekers; work nationally on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform; organize demonstrations to keep the plight of detainees in the news; and invite you to join our efforts.
Gregory is a resident of Wyckoff New Jersey and a 1954 graduate of Brown University . He retired from commercial banking in 1997 and found his way to community service through the JustFaith Program of his parish in Wyckoff. The program teaches aspects of social justice and includes numerous "border crossings", taking its students out of their familiar comfort zone and exposing them to the lives of those among us who are marginalized. One of the border crossings was to hear about immigrant detention and to visit detainees at the Elizabeth Detention Center. Greg became a regular visitor and in 2007 became the Program Director of the First Friends Visitor Project, a service which has been active since 2001. In 2008, the organization became a 501(c) (3) corporation and adopted the name IRATE & First Friends. IRATE stands for Interfaith Refugee Action Team- Elizabeth a predecessor organization which advocated for immigrant rights. Together as one organization, advocacy and services for immigrants have been united. Reflecting the increased number of immigrants being detained, the First Friends visiting program was expanded to service detainees at the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny and the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in 2009 and 2010. First Friends is currently seeking access to the Essex County Jail in Newark.
Sunday Platforms are at 11:00 AM at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County. The Society is located at 516 Prospect St., Maplewood (at Parker Ave.). Attendance is free. The public is welcome and cordially invited. Call 973-763-1905, or visit www.essexethical.org for further information.
"Building community through shared ethical values"
Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
www.essexethical.org
Features: Free, Open to All
Website: http://www.essexethical.org
Phone: 973-763-1905
Email: info@essexethical.org
Price: Free