Newtown Represented At CWU Spring Assembly

Four members of the Church Women United the Newtown unit attended the State Spring Assembly last weekend in Glastonbury. The event was held at First Church of Christ Congregational, UCC, on April 14.

Highlight of the event was speaker Susan Campbell, a columnist for The Hartford Courant, who spoke with elegance, compassion and humor on “Seeing Connecticut through the Eyes of the Poor.”

“Homelessness is not a problem of society, but a symptom,” she said as she went on to tell of her friend, Billy Smith, who she met in a visit to the Immaculate Shelter, where the addicted can go before they are “clean” of drugs or alcohol. Most shelters only accept those who are already “clean.” This association led Ms Campbell to talk to her editors about doing a series of portraits on the homeless.

She elaborated on Billy’s life and others she had encountered in doing the series. She said that 30 to 40 percent of the homeless suffer mental illness.

Ms Campbell is an award-winning columnist at The Hartford Courant. Her work has been recognized by the National Women’s Political Caucus, New England Associated Press New Executives, the Society for Professional Journalists, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, and the Sunday Magazine Editors Association. Her column about the shootings at lottery headquarters in March 1998 was part of The Courant’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage.

One workshop at the assembly was “Free the Slaves/Trafficking” led by Helen Armstrong, a Quaker, who served in the Peace Corps in Kenya for 16 years and is now a volunteer for Free the Slaves in Washington, D.C. She told her group that there are 27 million slaves worldwide and tens of thousands right here in the United States.

Government corruption, high birth rate, and poverty are the targets for enslavement. Corrupt politicians and criminal syndicates promise a “better life, more education, etc” to lure women into domestic servitude or prostitution. Men are lured to agriculture, construction, drug running, etc, to earn money for starving families.

Mrs Armstrong is working to prevent enslavement, and also to rehabilitate those who escape. She has written a manual for the rehabilitation of slaves.

Another workshop was “Mission to Biloxi, Mississippi,” led by the Rev Ruth Martz, associate pastor for Discipleship Ministries at the host church, who shared experiences from her trip to Biloxi.

The third workshop was “Emergency Shelter Management Service,” led by Wesley Lee Thorpe, Sr, the executive of Emergency Shelter Management Service in New Haven; and Anne-Marie Brungard, a prolific writer, trainer, and speaker, who has been a consultant for a variety of not-for-profit agencies. She is president and CEO of New Day Global, LLC, and holds an MBA with a specialization in training.

A worship service opened the day led by State CWU Co-Presidents Molly Dean and Janis Hoyle, along with the Rev Martz and Rev Agnes R. Johnson, deacon. Half of the offering that was collected will go to the Connecticut Food Bank and the rest will go to CWU in Connecticut.

Quiche, salad, and dessert made and served by church members followed. Deacon and State Vice-President Jonnie Lewis-Thorpe gave the grace. Phoebe Chandler, state ecumenical coordinator, called on the area chairmen to introduce their unit presidents. Jeanette Mayer of the Greater Danbury unit led the Fellowship of the Least Coin.