(Para informaci\u00f3n en Espa\u00f1ol visite este enlace<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Young adults can register for no-cost bus transport<\/a> from Philadelphia to BCRC, plus lunch for the day of the action. For Friends who are driving themselves, parking is available at the buildings across the road and down the hill from the center behind the Berksheim Nursing Home.<\/p>\n Registration for Continuing Sessions<\/a><\/p>\n RSVP on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n Note: If you own a folding chair, or several, bring them along! Friends who might need to take a seat for part of our time at Berks will appreciate this, as PYM will not be able to provide chairs at the action.<\/p>\n What will the action be like?<\/span> \u2014\u00a0The action at Berks will take the form of extended, multi-generational, semi-programmed worship. Contributions from Young Adult Friends and our partners at the Shut Down Berks Interfaith Witness, as well as music, will ground and structure our time together. Much of the action will be devoted to deep, centered silence, out of which all are invited to bring messages of prayer, protest, and all the other energetic movements of the Spirit that rise among us.<\/p>\n Accessibility info:<\/p>\n What if I’m not a young adult\/Quaker\/PYM member?<\/span> \u2014 The most impactful change, and care for the Light in all people, happens across generations, faiths, and communities. Whether you’re younger or older*, identify with Quakerism or not, or intend to take part in meeting for business, your spirit will be an important addition to our action. Please consider joining us!<\/p>\n *Please note that the D’Olier foundation has provided grant support specifically for transportation and food costs for young adults. If you know an 18-35ish F\/friend who needs a ride to Berks, send them along<\/a>! However, space permitting, we want everyone to be able to reach the action, and if you are not a YAF but will be unable to attend without transportation, please get in touch.<\/p>\n March 23? But that\u2019s the same day as Continuing Sessions!<\/span> \u2014 Youth programs<\/a> and business meeting will follow the action in the afternoon, so that all concerned Friends can participate in the witness of the body around migrant justice. Find info and register for Sessions at pym.org\/continuing-sessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s also the same day as FCNL Spring Lobby Weekend!<\/span> \u2014 Yes! Many YAFs are interested in attending FCNL Spring Lobby Weekend<\/a>, an annual training on lobbying for young people interested in influencing the legislative process and making their voices heard in Washington. In fact, the focus of Spring Lobby Weekend this year is\u00a0laws that protect the rights and safety of immigrants, migrants, refugees, and their families. This is an important, complementary continuation of the efforts beginning at Berks, and all kinds of action are necessary for change. If you would like to attend, indicate that on the YAF registration Google form at the top of the page.<\/p>\n What if I can’t make it to Berks that day, but want to support this concern?<\/span> \u2014 We need you to hold those at Berks in the Light; your spiritual support is important. Here are some steps you can take:<\/p>\n Pennsylvania may not be at the southern border of the United States, but family detention is taking its toll around the country. The Shut Down Berks Coalition<\/strong><\/a> provides this summary of the situation here in PA:<\/p>\n \u201cPennsylvania is currently home to the Berks County Family Detention Center (BCRC), one of three detention centers for immigrant families, where children as young as two-weeks-old have been incarcerated, and families have been held for more than a year at a time. In August 2015, a Federal Court determined that the practice of detaining children in jail-like settings is illegal, and ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately release all families held in immigrant family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania (see full report on federal litigation<\/a>).\u00a0 In January 2016, the PA Department of Human Services revoked the license<\/a> to operate the Berks County Family Residential Center, and the facility license has been under legal review since February 22, 2016…<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past two years the Shut Down Berks Coalition has repeatedly presented PA DHS and the Governor\u2019s office with information on the human rights violations taking place at BCRC and what actions he can take to protect and release these families (see Human Rights First reports from Aug. 2015<\/a> and Feb. 2016<\/a>). Extensive legal research was presented directly to Governor Wolf outlining the specific powers that he and PA DHS has to shut down BCRC, and yet they have refused to take action.\u201d<\/p>\n Just one week before Sessions gathered in July 2018, the New York Times<\/em> had published an article titled, \u201cWhistle-Blowers Say Detaining Migrant Families \u2018Poses High Risk of Harm\u2019<\/a>.\u201d As the community sat in business meeting on Friday, July 27, readers saw \u201c\u2018Why Did You Leave Me?\u2019 The Migrant Children Left Behind as Parents Are Deported<\/a>.\u201d Coverage of the crisis of family detention, from NPR’s \u201cFollowing Up On 1,500 Missing Immigrant Children in the U.S.<\/a>,\u201d at the end of May, to TV and magazines throughout the summer, made it very much present to Young Adult Friends and to the PYM community at large.<\/p>\n The leading to take action on the pressing crisis of family detention was readily taken up by the YAF community, and several members drafted and wrote an epistle that broke with tradition. Instead of acting as a report from Sessions, it laid out a call to action to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cAs Friends, we believe in the light in others. We stand in solidarity with those actively abused and traumatized within the walls of Berks Detention Center\u2026We see a direct connection between the need to address violent structures in our meetings, and to take action towards justice for migrant communities. In both cases, what we are seeking is affirmation of the Light in all people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The meeting minuted its support for the leading described in the YAF epistle:<\/p>\n \u201cOur community, at all age levels, is committed to the work of ecological and social justice, and to deepening our relationship with God and each other. We were particularly moved by the observation in the Young Adult Friends\u2019 epistle that they have grown up during the war on terror. The body recognizes the role we have all played in contributing to the world our children have grown up in, and our responsibility to support their work to improve it. We received these epistles with gratitude…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Young Adult Program epistle contained their intention to hold a worship outside Berks Detention Facility as a form of direct action. They requested spiritual, financial, and logistical support and participation from the Yearly Meeting to act on this leading. The Yearly Meeting was moved by the epistle, and minuted its commitment to support the Young Adult Friends in carrying out this work. We invite the Young Adult Friends program to be in further conversation with the Yearly Meeting about any spiritual, financial, or logistical support they may require. We recognize that there [are] other Friends also under the weight of this concern and the Resource Friends program has offered help in connecting the Young Adult Friends to the other work underway.\u201d<\/p>\n Several members of the YAF community immediately began the efforts to act on this leading, both with respect to the proposed worshipful resistance and more generally. A small, but growing, circle formed to coordinate these efforts.<\/p>\n At our Fall retreat in October 2018, the small group of Friends present focused on the experience of leadings and discernment in business meeting, worship sharing, and meditation reflection. We discussed progress on the Berks action and the way forward with YAFs\u2019 engagement with racial justice. In the evening, we opened space for discussion and planning, and the community expressed its collective support for the continued leadership of those Friends who had been actively involved since summer Sessions.<\/p>\n At fall Continuing Sessions at Arch Street Meetinghouse in November 2018, the guiding query to the community was \u201cHow do we as Quakers ground ourselves in trust and love?\u201d In that spirit, YAFs presented additional queries to the community:<\/p>\n Various small group meetings succeeded the retreat and Continuing Sessions, and brought further progress planning and building relationships with other spiritually led activist groups in the area. The most active few members brought this progress to the much larger winter YAF retreat in early January, 2019. Since then, several Friends have been intensively involved in finalizing logistics and envisioning the action on March 23. We plan to take the concerns, joys, and\/or reflections of the community back to retreat in April 2019, once the action has finished, and consider how PYM will carry the leading forward, beyond this spring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Join us on March 23, 2019 at Berks Detention Center, where Young Adult Friends will lead a worshipful resistance of family detention for all ages. 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\nWhat\u2019s going on in Pennsylvania?<\/h2>\n
How has the PYM Community been involved?<\/h2>\n
Annual Sessions<\/h4>\n
Fall 2018<\/h4>\n
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Winter 2018\u201319<\/h4>\n
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\nWho are our partners in this work?<\/h2>\n
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