We’re looking forward to seeing our friends at our Detroit Community Meeting on Aug. 16, and we hope you can make it.
The Detroit Community Meeting is an opportunity to get to know others who are working to create change in Michigan’s criminal justice system, to connect you with direct service providers in the community and to learn how we’re working on policies and laws at the state Capitol to end the over-reliance on incarceration and help formerly incarcerated people find good jobs and safe, secure housing. Our co-sponsors for the event are Good Jobs Now and We the People.
The event takes place from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16 at the Neighborhood Homebase, located at 7426 W. McNichols Road in Detroit. The event is free to attend, and parking is available. No RSVP is required, but for planning purposes, it would be helpful to send an email to our Community Engagement Specialist Sloan Gibson at sloan@safeandjustmi.org, letting him know how many people you plan on bringing with you, so that we can have enough materials and refreshments available.
We’ll be packing a lot of information into a meeting that will last only two hours, so feel free to show up a half hour early to enjoy some refreshments and to get to know other people at the meeting. These events are a great place to network with others who have been impacted by the justice system or who simply know that we can create a smarter approach to crime, corrections, rehabilitation and restoration. There will also be a quick legislative update, where we will touch on everything from the new medically frail parole law to the ongoing effort to pass Michigan’s Raise the Age legislation and upcoming Clean Slate bills.
We’re grateful to Dominic Sweeney and Jewel Butler of Good Jobs Now, who will help lead a short session on how to identify your state and local elected leaders. Do you know when it’s best to approach your city or county officials for help, or when you should call your state senator or representative? Do you know the names of your elected officials? We’ll help you find the answers to these questions so that you can make your government work for you.
There will also be a panel of representatives from direct service providers including Good Jobs Now, We the People, the Detroit Justice Center, the Michigan Secretary of State and MichiganWorks! who will answer your questions on everything from voting rights to finding good jobs to getting an expungement and more.
Finally, we’ll let you know about upcoming events and activities where your presence and your voice will make a difference in the ongoing effort to bring about real reform to Michigan’s criminal justice system. We are dedicated to making the strongest case for these reforms at the Capitol every opportunity we get. But we also know that the most powerful voices come from people who have been directly impacted by the justice system, so we are asking you to join with us to make change happen.
If you have any questions about the Detroit Community Meeting, please contact Sloan Gibson at sloan@safeandjustmi.org or at 517.258.4613. We hope to see you on Aug. 16!
~Barbara Wieland
Communications Specialist
