DEKALB - February 14, 2013. On the fifth anniversary of the tragic shooting at Northern Illinois University, Governor Pat Quinn today attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Cole Hall in memory of each of the five lives lost. In 2010, the governor dedicated $8 million through the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program to repurpose and renovate Cole Hall following the tragedy.

Following today's ceremony, Governor Quinn issued the below statement:

"Five years ago we lost five innocent souls in a tragedy that shook our state and our nation. That dark day was full of sadness, fear and despair and we will never forget it.

"But the day after, and every day since, has been filled with hope, strength and compassion. The NIU family came together to mourn those we have lost by celebrating what they brought to our lives.

"We repurposed Cole Hall to ensure it will be a place of learning and achievement for thousands of students for years to come. By supporting each other in good times and bad, we made our community stronger. 

"Today we honor Catalina Garcia, Daniel Parmenter, Gayle Dubowski, Julianna Gehant and Ryanne Mace. May God rest their immortal souls."

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"Dream for All" Prayer Vigil" For Action on Immigration Reform

55 people gathered in front of the Irish Memorial in Davenport on February 6th to call on Congress and President Obama to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The vigil was the kick off to the Dream for All campaign of the Gamaliel Foundation, and similar events were held in 17 states calling on comprehensive and compassionate reform. 

"The Legalization of undocumented immigrants living in the United States must be a just and fair process; efficient and quick; and as one undergoes this process, the person's civil, human and labor rights should be protected; the process should include a clear path to legal citizenship," Elaine Kresse of member congregation, Unitarian Universalist congregation of the Quad Cities said. Kresse went on to say, "..We call on President Obama to stop the separation of families by halting the deportation of non-criminal immigrant workers and call for an administrative moratorium on work-place raids."

Margie Mejia- Caraballo, Chair of the QCI immigration task force from the Spanish Mennonite congregation Moline,  also spoke at the prayer vigil. "People of faith, community and business leaders are coming together today across the country to call for swift action, a departure from politics-as-usual, and for leadership in enacting just and compassionate immigration reform. The time for reform is now," Mejia-Caraballo. 

This Prayer Vigil kicked off the "Dream for All" Campaign. This campaign will focus on individual rights, family unity, labor rights, and correcting our present unfair immigration process. Immigration reform must also focus on the fundamental principle of protecting individual rights as well as the sanctity of the family unit that is often broken due to deportation. 

55 individuals gathered by the Irish Memorial for the prayer vigil

Strategic Planning Meeting

QCI is beginning a strategic planning process for 2013-14. Our initial gathering will be Saturday, February 9th from 8 am -2 pm. We encourage all QCI member organization to have at least one representative there to ensure that your perspective is heard. Help us chart our course so we may take advantage of all the powerful opportunities that are coming are way. The session will be facilitated by Sam Finkelstein of the Gamaliel Foundation. Our allies, supporters and other interested parties are all welcome to join us. We will be serving a light breakfast as well as a lunch. We need all those planning to attend this meeting to RSVP to the QCI office by February 8th. Breakfast is at 8:00 am and the session starts promptly at 8:30 am.

8:00 am to 2:00 pm at Church of Peace, UCC -  1114 12th Street , Rock Island. 12th Avenue and 12th Streets

QCI Trivia Night Fundraiser!

Quad Cities Interfaith Trivia Night Benefit will be on Saturday, March  2nd, 2013 at the Knights of Columbus (Downstairs).The location is 1111 W. 35th Street Davenport.    Doors open at 6:30 pm, Game starts at 7 pm. Bring your own food. ALL beverages must be purchased there. $10 per person, tables of 8. Gather your team and join us for fun and fundraising! 50/50 raffle, basket prizes, mulligans! Tables are limited so reserve your table now. Call QCI 563-322-4910.

What's New at QCI

Fire of Faith - A movement to Rekindle Our Congregations!

Quad Cities Interfaith is leading a Fire of Faith campaign for 2013  to support building strong congregations by developing a local Fire of Faith Cohort of 6-7 congregations that walk together on a year long journey of congregational development and strengthening .

Through this Cohort QCI will help lay leaders and clergy assess and identify the needs of a congregation and work to develop leaders for the congregation's ministries. The FOF Cohort will meet and receive training, intensive technical assistance and mentoring . This cohort of congregations will journey together, but each member congregation in the cohort will develop and work on their individual plans.

The purpose of QCI and Congregational Based Organizing, is to identify and develop lay leadership in a cohesive and active congregation so they can fully proclaim their faith in the public sphere, increase membership and engagement and create long term sustainability. Using the arts, attitudes and disciplines of the faith based community organizing, Fire of Faith will strengthen a congregation in ways that are measurable to that congregation. While often it is community issue work that draws and keeps a congregation engaged in QCI, this Fire of Faith process focuses in on what a congregation can do using our tools to build their congregation and make sure they are growing and building community. When congregations are strong , QCI is strong. Curious? Interested in learning more about this process? Call Leslie Kilgannon at 563.322.4910. The Cohort invites interested congregation to a Fire of Faith Mini Retreat on Saturday, Feb 23rd 8am -12 noon- FREE . Location TBA. Call QCI .

Please Consider Becoming a Sustaining Donor!

We are trying to diversify our funding. To do this, the breakfast kicked off the individual sustaining donor campaign. The goal is to get 200 individuals donating at least $20 a month.  Any contributions to Quad Cities Interfaith are an investment in the work for justice in our community. Your tax-deductible donation is essential to our future and the work for justice. Making a monthly (or an annual) sustaining donation is easy and convenient through VANCO services on our website. You are able to make a secure payment using your credit or debit card. Sustaining donors make an on-going contribution. Each month or year you will be charged the same amount. You can also decide to stop or change your contribution at any time.

Ready to Become a Sustaining Donor?

It's Simple with these Step by Step Instructions
1.) Visit our website at www.qcinterfaith.org
2.) On the top right hand side of the site, click on donate now
3.) You will be taken to a secured website provided by VANCO Services to the Online Donation Page which has our logo
4.) Go to Donations
Enter the dollar amount you wish to contribute.
Donation Frequency: Identify how often you will be giving i.e weekly, monthly, one time gift
Donation Start Date: Identify the date you want a withdrawal to begin or to be made
5.) Click on Continue
Fill out donation information including how you would like to pay, your name and address, etc.
Review the information carefully
Make sure you click on process
6.) Confirmation. A confirmation page comes up with a thank you, confirming the donation and a confirmation number.
You can print off a receipt of your donation for your records.
It is recommended that you create a profile so that the system remembers you and you can log in and make changes, etc.

QCI Issue Updates

Transportation and Jobs Equity

The task force met this month to lay out a plan for 2013. Along with continuing our goal of ensuring equitable access to work force hours for minorities, women, low income persons for the rail project, the task force is exploring ways to to address the issue of job preparedness and pre-apprenticeship for members of our community. Representatives from area school systems, the Rock Island County and Davenport NAACP branches, community groups and clergy,  met to plan what this job preparedness program will look like. Leadership on this issue has come from a invitation made by St. John's Lutheran Church, Rock Island, to address systemic issues around pre-apprenticeship opportunities and job preparedness for minorities and low income persons. Thank you for  your leadership, St. John's! The task force believes that the faith community has an important role to play in 1)  identifying candidates for job prep programs and 2.) providing  lay leaders to serve as mentors for people looking to train to find good paying jobs. Place call the QCI office if you are interested in getting involved and check the website for our next meeting date! www.qcinterfaith.org

Health Equity

Imagine this situation:  Your six-year-old child has a fever and a sore throat.  You're worried, so you take him to the doctor. You say, "I notice he talks little.  Little by little and he has difficulty eating and swallowing."  The doctor asks you, "Does he have a sore throat?" Pretty straightforward, right?

But now imagine the same situation when your first language isn't English, and you have to bring someone, in this case a family friend, to interpret for you, and this is how the friend translates what you told the doctor:  "She says he is talking like, like lazy, whatever he says all the time, and plus he is not eating at all."  Then, when the doctor asks about the sore throat, your no doubt well-meaning friend keeps interrupting and doesn't let you answer the question.
Research is starting to show that medical communication problems caused by language barriers are not only distressing, they are also potentially dangerous.
Medical interpretation and translation are key health care services in reducing health disparities.  There are many other issues of disparity, of course: geography, ethnicity, physical and mental limitations, but the disparities caused by language services in our communities are the current focus of the QCI Health Equity Task Force.

Our next meeting is in Tuesday, February 19th at 4:30pm at the QCI office -111 E. 3rd Street Davenport Suite 423.  We will be refining our plans for 2013.  Please join us.  We hope to have at least one representative from every congregational member of QCI as we address the challenges of improving health equity in the Quad Cities! If your congregation would like more information, please contact QCI at 563.322.4910.

Immigration

The immigration task force is working on more actions relate to the push for comprehensive immigration reform.  Immigration meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Harrison Street, Davenport Village Inn.

Education Equity

QCI is in the process of developing a round table on education and is looking for clergy and community leaders to join together to establish round table that will identify and advance local issues and connect to regional and national education  issues. If  you are interested please email us at qcinterfaith@gmail.com. QCI staff is looking to connect with the Gamaliel Education Equity Task Force and will schedule a first meeting in February - watch this space.

Thursday, February 7th @ 1:00 pm

2013 Gamaliel National Training.........
Teaching ordinary citizens to unleash the power within themselves

February 24-March 2 (7-day): Villa Maria, PA
July 14-20 (7-Day): Mundelein, IL
November 11-17 (7-Day): Western Region
National Clergy/Team Training April 24-26: St. Mary's, Mundelein, IL
Strategic Campaign Training June 10-14: Gallaudet University, Washington DC
Gamaliel Leadership Retreat June 2013

Tuesday, February 12th - 6:30 pm 

QCI Leadership Assembly

St Mary's Church , 516 Fillmore, Davenport

SPRINGFIELD - February 14, 2013. As couples across Illinois celebrate Valentine's Day, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon is thanking the Illinois Senate for passing Senate Bill 10, the marriage equality bill. SB 10 passed the Senate today with a 34-21 vote and now heads to the House.

"It's time for marriage equality in Illinois, and I thank Sen. Steans for her leadership and the Senate for taking this decisive action to ensure equality for all families," said Simon, a longtime advocate for marriage equality and LGBT rights. "People across Illinois recognize the importance marriage plays in protecting and recognizing families, and the Senate has heard that message loud and clear."

Today Simon gave each senator a heart-shaped Valentine cookie decorated with an equal sign. If successful, Illinois would become the 10th state to recognize same-sex marriage.

"On Valentine's Day we all take time to recognize the people we love," Simon said. "It is fitting that today we are one important step closer to treating all loving, committed couples in Illinois equally, throughout the year."

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