We received very short notice about the June 9 webinar inviting faith communities to collaborate with a pharmacy partners to become COVID19 vaccination sites. The webinar recording, a toolkit, and answers to questions about this mission opportunity are available in this article.

A vaccination partnership is a great ecumenical or interfaith project! Thanks for prayerfully discerning whether your church can be a vaccination site in your community.

Recent studies have warned that in low and middle income countries, a majority of people will not have access to the vaccine until 2024, if at all, unless more is done to ensure equal access to vaccines and treatments. If we have learned anything from this crisis, it is that we are all connected as one global community and our safety depends on everyone being given access to vaccines, tests, and treatment.

Please join us in letting Congress know we expect them to pass legislation that does more than help corporations and protect businesses, they need to pass legislation that helps people stay in their homes, feed their families and weather this storm.

The College of Science and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona have joined forces to present an online series this summer on the past, present, and future of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The series, titled “Science + Society: Transformation during COVID-19,” will provide an interdisciplinary perspective on a pandemic that has upended the health and economy of the world, worsened systemic inequality, and challenged our interpersonal ties and personal well-being. Drawing on a range of fields, the series will examine the ways the pandemic has changed our lives.

Read updated resources for renters assistance, stay of evictions, and homeowner assistance in Arizona.

Please contact Gov. Ducey and ask him, in the name of God's commandment to love his neighbor as himself, to:

• Extend the moratorium on evictions due to COVID-19 beyond the current July 22 deadline;

• Streamline and simplify the process for applying for COVID-19 rental relief;

• Advocate for the increase of funds available for COVID-19 rental relief.

All people have a right to the most basic needs of human life: food, water, and shelter. It is within Gov. Ducey's power to ensure that the most economically vulnerable Arizonans do not end up as secondary victims to the COVID-19 pandemic due to eviction.

There is only one way to get back to a new normal which is to wear a mask. Since the Governor of Arizona will not seriously promote wearing a mask it is up to us to do something about it.

[written by Peter Fox, PhD, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University since 1990]

Thank you, Peter, for your strong and compassionate advocacy on behalf of the people of Arizona. Thank you for allowing us to share it.

We need sustained and consistent support for vulnerable communities, and we need to strengthen our safety net programs to ensure that all are housed, cared for, and fed. Please ask your Senator to support swift passage of the HEROES Act.

So proud of First Congregational UCC Flagstaff!

When: Saturday, May 23rd, 8 am-12 noon

Where: Rincon Congregational UCC parking lot, 122 N Craycroft Rd., Tucson, AZ 85711-3232

Drive in, pull-up curbside by the narthex/sanctuary entrance

What: Priority food items for the ICS (Interfaith Community Services) Food Bank and priority personal-care items for care partners of TIHAN (Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network.) Both nonprofits are located in Tucson and will directly benefit our community neighbors and friends.

Please join with us in urging Congress to making funding for tribes and Native communities a priority in future legislation and to ensure that tribes can make allocation decisions for themselves. This includes funding for health resources, education, broadband access and housing assistance. 

Some thoughts from Michael Curry.

As people of faith, we must call on our government to provide more funding, not less, to ensure that the WHO and other global health institutions have the resources needed to ensure all nations have the medicine and equipment needed to fight COVID-19.   

As we move forward, the Census must be agile and flexible, committing to new ways of counting hard to reach populations. Since the Administration has been less than forthright in their management of the census thus far, we are calling on Congress to take an aggressive oversight role calling for transparency in methodology and timing – not truncating the census or using the COVID crisis to manipulate the census count. Please join with us, both in encouraging those you know to take the census, but also to advocate for the best count possible.