There is so much that is broken in our country and our world. After a divisive election season, when people across Wisconsin and the nation are expressing everything from; jubilation, to a sense of divine intervention, to disinterest and distrust, to existential threat and heartache – I find solace in identifying what is working in our diverse democracy.
On Nov. 19, JOSHUA, a faith-based coalition in Northeast WI, will celebrate its 20th year of non-partisan work to improve the lives of its community, and beyond. I am curious, in a purple state, in a contentious time for a nation plagued by polarization – what is working in WI, and how?
JOSHUA is an organization in Northeast Wisconsin that “inspires and equips people to work together on systemic justice issues in Northeast Wisconsin.” JOSHUA members work alongside RUTH – another local faith based organizing group.
This group is composed of lay and ordained leadership and members from faith communities in the area, that often partner with a statewide network, called WISDOM . Thier specific campaigns focus on ending lockdowns through the Department of Corrections, the end of “287(g) agreements” relating to Immigration Customs and Enforcement and protecting waterways.
Nancy Slattery started getting involved with JOSHUA the year she could stop driving carpool for her kids. Now with grandchildren and graying hair, Nancy’s relentless drive and clear sense of justice is still pointed at uplifting her community.
I first spoke with Nancy on a beautiful day in August while she was coordinating a brat fry at a Mobile gas station near the intersection of Highways 41 and 46 in Wisconsin.
“I got involved to help those who got waylaid by a bad choice. If the structures in society don’t help, don’t give band-aids as a plan, change the plan,” she said.
Nancy was born in Kaukauna, about 30 minutes southwest of Green Bay, where I was raised. She grew up in a family of 11, studied elementary education at St. Norbert’s College and after a few years as a teacher, moved to Boston to work in retail.
She had never lived away from home but moved across the country in search of independence; eventually she got married, then lived in Iowa, New Jersey and Tokyo, raising her children, and ultimately moved back to the dairy state. Nancy’s husband was raised on a farm, and then managed farms in Wisconsin, raising steer until he ran for Congress. Now a grain farmer, he is invested in – and raising money at the brat fry for – supporting the watershed and cleaning up the land through the farmer union’s board.
Nancy, who worked as a program coordinator in a Catholic Church earlier in her life, is involved with the interventions she sees working in the community. Her love and care for people translate into her dedicating time to the organizations that she sees making a tangible impact on the problem and improving people’s lives. That includes working with local churches serving unhoused people.
Beyond her love of serving, Nancy often participates in the prayer vigils and the expansive work of JOSHUA. Those in the prayer vigil have received letters from inmates sharing that it means a lot that there are people thinking about, paying attention to and praying for them, and that they need the change groups like JOSHUA are calling for.
I called Nancy after returning from a prayer vigil with my six-year-old son, my dad, and 16 other community members in front of the Green Bay Correctional Institution.
The vigil happens on the 23rd of every month, representing the average number of days, and the number of hours each day, an inmate in Wisconsin prison is subjected to solitary confinement. The international standard limit for solitary confinement is 15 consecutive days.
The vigils are held at noon to bring awareness to and pray for; the inmates in the overcrowded jails. The wardens and employees who are understaffed and underfunded, and the decision-makers who are rightfully under pressure after the death of five inmates at Waupun Correctional Institute last year.
My dad, Rev. Steve Hartman, was a founding member of JOSHUA in 2004. Institutional membership and individual participation in all of these justice focused groups ebbs and flows with the broader climate and leaders’ appetite for collaboration and taking public positions.
Leadership and governance of this effort, in a purple state, in moments of profound cultural change and polarization, has required the patience, humility, love of neighbor, and generosity of spirit that my dad – and so many others – exude.
These faith-based justice seeking networks and organizations have named themselves after Biblical prophets: Joshua was a leader of the Jews after Moses’ death, who helped lead the Israelite tribes into Canaan. Ruth – who has her own book in the Bible – was the great-grandmother of King David and she remained with her mother-in-law, Naomi, even after the death of her husband. Gamaliel (a Chicago-based national network) was Saul’s mentor and Rabbi before he converted and changed his name to Paul. These are leaders who courageous and prophetic models remain examples and inspiration for the members of their namesake organizations today.
A few weeks ago my kids, sister, and I were playing Apples to Apples. The adjective “deadly” was turned over and of the three cards we played, my sister chose “solitary confinement” as the best match. My six-year-old son had played that card. He went on to tell my sister how many inmates are in the jail near grandma and grandpa’s house, and how many hours inmates are in solitary confinement on average there.
My husband and I talk to our kids every day about being brave and kind, but my son’s experience of holding up a sign alongside his grandpa with a small, determined and kind crowd of strangers, on a hot August afternoon, made an impression that my daily words can’t.
Kind and caring people have been building relationships and working for dignified systems in their communities long before each election cycle, and they will continue.
My prayer is that their numbers grow.
We need people leading brat fundraisers on the highway to secure the watershed for farms. We need people developing real solutions for the needs we see around them. We need neighbors modeling for the next generation what it means to care for one another. I’m grateful for what’s happening in WI; with people like Nancy Slattery, Steve Hartman and all of the remarkable communities they represent.
Their work builds community while making tangible change for people who need it; we can do both, and in fact, they strengthen one another.
