Announcing the 2023 Fall Social Justice Grant Recipient: RISE Task Force and the Bloomington Refugee Support Network
Each Fall the Social Justice Funds Committee seeks applications from the UU Social Justice Task Forces for grants that further the mission of the Bloomington Unitarian Universalist Church. Funds are available from interest on the Lundin SJ Endowment Fund.
This year the social justice fall grant is going to the RISE Task Force, helping the Bloomington Refugee Support Network. $1000 was awarded for dental work and surgeries for refugee families in Monroe County. This grant was submitted by Barb Backler - learn more below.
UU Social Justice Funds Committee: Denise Ogren, Steve Mascari, Sarah Kopper, Sandy Davoren, Scott Sanders
From Barb Backler, Refugee and Immigration Support and Education Task Force:
The UUCB RISE task force has a great partnership with the Bloomington Refugee Support Network. They support us with their wisdom and years of experience in supporting refugees. We support them by helping to make sure they are financially able to do their good work. We were able to offer them 25% of our Sunday morning offering for a year in 2022. Also, we nominated Pete Lenzen to receive the Be More Award for 2023. $1000 was given to RSN in his honor.
Right now, there is a pressing need for dental work and surgeries and RSN is very low on funds. Local dentists no longer accept Medicaid insurance and the local Healthnet nonprofit medical office provides very limited dental care. Pete Lenzen, the pretty much full-time volunteer for RSN, has been taking refugees to Indianapolis to the IU Dental School for root canal repairs and other oral surgery. One refugee mother has had 6 trips to IU Endodontics Dental School this year, with 4 more visits needed, then to be followed by 6 cavities to be taken care of. Another refugee mother has 5 difficult deep cleaning appointments (4 visits just to remove the plaque) at Healthnet Indy SW, and then 12 cavities. There are three women from Colombia with very difficult problems that need different surgeries. These women are working in pain every day and the conditions seem to be getting worse.
We are grateful to the Social Justice Funds Committee for the $1000 grant. It will not cover all of these expenses, but it will certainly help. Fundraising for BRSN is an ongoing process, and BRSN continues to welcome new immigrants who often bring more serious needs. In 2023, BRSN added 31 new families to the list of clients. With new immigrants coming to Bloomington each month the needs just keep increasing. If you would like to make a personal donation to Bloomington Refugee Support Network, please send a check to BRSN, P.O. Box #8143, Bloomington, IN 47407. You can also use Paypal or Venmo, both linked to bloomingtonrefugees@gmail.com.