Today is Dorothy Day’s birthday! She was born November 8, 1897.
It’s a good day to point out that one of the newest Catholic Worker communities in the United States — the Central Minnesota Catholic Worker, which has developed over the past couple of years in St. Joseph, Minnesota — has a lot going on, both on their own initiative and in collaboration with other local organizations.
Here’s this, from their most recent email update [FYI, regarding the first one: MNsure in the name of Minnesota’s new health insurance exchange]:
1. MNsure Information Session – Monday, November 18th from 6:30-8 pm at the St. Joseph Fire Hall ( note this will BE our regular monthly meeting)
Are you currently without health insurance? Are you curious about MNsure, the new Health Insurance Exchange? Do you want to know more about healthcare reform and how it will impact you? This presentation will answer those questions and will focus on the portions of the federal health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, that impact people who are currently uninsured or who purchase individual coverage in the private market. Learn about Minnesota’s new Health Insurance Exchange: how it works, who should use it, financial supports available for people with incomes up to 400% FPG, and the future of public programs like Medical Assistance and Minnesota Care.
Presenter: Ralonda Mason is a supervising attorney at the St. Cloud Office of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. She has over 25 years of experience working with public benefit programs including healthcare programs such as Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare. Ms. Mason advocates on healthcare access issues at the state legislature and with state agencies. She was appointed by Governor Dayton to serve on the 2012 Minnesota Health Reform Task Force.
2. The CW along with area churches and our ‘Poverty in St. Joe’ group is looking at organizing a Community Meal in St. Joseph once a month. We are meeting on Thursday, November 7th at 7 pm at the Legion to discuss further details and share ideas. All are welcome.
3. Muslim/Christian Understanding: Sunday, November 17th from 7-9 pm. @ St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sartell, Jama Alimad, the Executive Director of Community Grassroots Solutions of St. Cloud and a leader in the Somali community will be present along with several others from that community to share information about their Muslim faith and Somali culture while also hoping to dispel some of our possibly unfair assumptions.
4. Workers’ Rights: You are invited to attend a planning meeting to support immigrant workers around St. Cloud through the Greater Minnesota Worker Center. We will be planning an action to highlight abuses by temp. agencies. I Saturday, November 9th 3pm:St. Cloud Public Library: Mississippi Room. This comes from the East Central Area Labor Council.5. Immigration Reform – Our immigrant brothers and sisters are counting on more of us to step up and voice our support for immigration reform. If you have not done so already, please call our MN Congressional Representatives to ask that they support it. A group from Waite Park has been very active on this issue.
Faith Meets World 