By Zack Katz
For the CVPost
You might not yet know this modestly sized band of altruists who are steadily pushing for progressive reform throughout the Chippewa Valley, but chances are you’ve encountered their influence in some capacity.
Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope, or JONAH, is a collection of self-described “task forces” comprised of individuals from a variety of religious backgrounds collaborating to propagate fairness and equity in the Chippewa Valley.
According to John Stedman, the group’s lead organizer, JONAH arose in 2007 as a more formalized version of an assemblage that for almost 15 years had primarily been advocating for reform – by way of public awareness – of the Eau Claire County court system.
“There’s a place for direct service work, but that would not describe what JONAH is about,” Stedman said.
Stedman was a key player in JONAH’s original branch, the Criminal Justice Reform Team, and he said that group’s current work is unquestionably “more comprehensive than it was back in the day” when it was known as the Treatment Instead of Prison task force.
“Then it was singularly about treatment instead of prison. Today it’s about keeping people out of prison, treating them with compassion when they’re in prison,” Stedman said. “Essentially, to view addiction as a disease rather than solely a criminal offense (and to foster) public acceptance and a will to see alternatives to incarceration.”
Compassion upon release also is a key goal for the Criminal Justice Reform Team.
Rather than asking job applicants if they have been convicted of a felony during the first stage of the application process, the team urges employers to review applicants’ job qualifications before delving into their potential criminal history.
“We’re interested in banning the practice of making (a criminal background check) the first sort of qualifying decision, because the experience is that the consideration stops there,” Stedman said. “Don’t judge (applicants) as nonqualified based on a conviction history.”
Immigration reform
JONAH also is interested in the challenges facing immigrants who live in the Chippewa Valley, with a particular emphasis on making it easier for migrant workers to receive driver’s licenses, Stedman said.
In pursuing this goal, members of a JONAH task force have communicated with a variety of undocumented residents in the Chippewa Valley and held numerous conversations with insurance specialists and some of the area’s most significant employers of immigrant labor, particularly Hispanic workers, Stedman said.
“It’s a safety concern for the community, and we think there’s plenty of room for law enforcement to get behind this,” he said. “People need to drive, they need to get kids to the doctor. Not allowing (immigrants) to legally drive is setting up totally avoidable unfair scenarios.”
Environmental Justice Task Force
Sue Suechting, a member of JONAH’s Environmental Justice task force, said her group was put in motion by Eau Claire’s Unity Christ Center and expanded its outreach from there.
One of the task force’s first major initiatives was to urge local government officials to reform recycling practices at local events, such as downtown Eau Claire’s “Taste of the Valley.”
Rather than having only conventional garbage cans, it’s now standard practice at such events to see transparent bags available for the proper disposal of cans, bottles and other recyclables. In some cases, the Environmental Justice task force has overseen event maintenance and assisted in setting up these recycling stations.
“Collectively, we had the capacity to bring the idea before decision-makers and get them to try it and lead them to discover their volume of collected recyclables increased radically with just a couple of very simple, cost-effective changes,” Stedman said of the task force’s work. “A simple idea produced some pretty significant changes.”
Suechting said that in addition to its work regarding waste management, Jonah’s Environmental Justice task force has hosted community brainstorming sessions in which locally sourced meals have been served while people have discussed issues related to frac sand mining in the Chippewa Valley.
The task force now has shifted its focus to publicizing Eau Claire’s Token Program, which helps income-eligible residents to double the value of the benefits they receive from the state-run FoodShare program when using those benefits to buy fresh, nutritious food at the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market at Phoenix Park.
“It’s about helping people who really have to stretch their dollars know this program will allow them access to fresh food for their families,” Suechting said. “I think continuing to make healthy food readily available to the community is our next step.”
Economic Justice Task Force
The Economic Justice task force was one of JONAH’s original such groups, formed in 2007 with a goal of finding an alternative to the practices of payday lenders that often adversely affect low-income people.
Joyce Anderson, a leading member of the task force, said that during the final year of Gov. James Doyle’s administration her group advocated for legislation that would have capped the interest rate on payday loans at 33.5 percent interest, but that bill failed to pass.
The goal of the task force was to prevent the practice of payday lenders doling out loans with exorbitant interest rates to those in emergency need, which in some cases leads to impounding the vehicles of borrowers who are unable to repay their loans on time.
Betty Hurst, also a member of the Economic Justice task force, said that with Anderson’s help the group sought alternative lending options for low-income people in the Eau Claire area, but to no avail.
When a legislative alternative proved unworkable, “we decided there had to be another way,” Hurst said. “We decided we’d just do something ourselves.”
Enter the Advancing Hope Fund.
Under this JONAH-affiliated program, interest-free microloans – no greater than $1,000 – are issued to income-eligible applicants on an as-needed basis. Often, borrowers are referred by a social worker or someone at The Community Table.
To be accepted for a loan, potential borrowers must first interview with the fund’s financial counselor, Adrian Klenz..
Once an Advancing Hope Fund loan is granted, Klenz designates a “walking partner” to assist in guiding the borrower back to a state of financial stability. This term was coined to avoid the hierarchical implications of “mentor,” Hurst said.
Hurst, who chairs the Advancing Hope Fund, explained that it operates under a pay-it-forward concept, as the money repaid by borrowers goes directly into funding the next loan to be disbursed.
“Our expectations of payback are really just having a goal in mind, even if it’s as modest as two dollars at one time,” Hurst said.
“People who have lived in generations of poverty don’t often see a way out of it, it isn’t part of what they hope for or believe,” she said. “We’re just beginning to learn that.”
The Advancing Hope fund is run by an eight-member group operating under the umbrella of JONAH and its status as a nonprofit organization.
After 18 months of research turned up little in the way of similar programs that could serve as a model, the Advancing Hope Fund made its first loan in 2012. Since then, Hurst said, 14 loans have been issued to a total of 18 individuals.
“We decided our goal was to create a prototype that, ideally, could be taken on by other groups, churches and organizations like Western Dairyland (Community Action Agency) or Feed My People,” Hurst said.
Despite low profile, JONAH open to new members
Some may find JONAH’s relatively low profile after eight years of operation curious, but that might have something to do with the “horrible” state of the group’s website, Stedman said with a laugh.
However, that website is now under reconstruction thanks to a host of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students. JONAH hopes to introduce an interactive, vibrant website by late summer.
Stedman said that – as its nonpartisan, nondenominational nature suggests – JONAH tries to listen to and work with everyone in the Chippewa Valley.
“We tend to be viewed as political; we are political. But we’re intentionally nonpartisan,” he said. “Our criminal justice efforts are just one example of us working with very conservative folks, as well as some you might consider progressive.”
JONAH actively invites community members with specialized skills and passions to find a fit within its existing task forces – or to help in establishing new branches for the organization.
Stedman urges anyone interested in joining JONAH to contact him by phone at 715-579-1186 or by e-mail at jonahorganizer@gmail.com.
Those wanting to support the Advancing Hope Fund can make a donation at any Royal Credit Union branch in Eau Claire or mail at donation to Ken Ripp, the fund’s treasurer, at 127 E. MacArthur Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54701.
Zack Katz, a native of Corpus Christi, TX, is a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire print journalism major. In addition to the CVPost, Zach reports for Volume One Magazine, covering arts & entertainment in the Chippewa Valley.