shoutforjoy.net

Philadelphians Convene on Barnes Museum Opening Gala to Condemn Ban on Sharing Food Outdoors

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:03:47 +0000

May 19 – In protest of Mayor Nutter’s unconscionable and imminent ban on sharing food outdoors in city parks, human rights advocates, religious groups, and affected individuals will be holding An Alternate Opening of the Barnes Museum: An exhibit on poverty, class warfare, and hunger, sponsored by Food Not Bombs.

Saturday, May 19th
6:30pm
20th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Press Contact: Niko Rayer (215) 881-5734

Mayor Nutter is on his way to outlawing sharing free food with homeless Philadelphians because of money and tourism. The newly opening Barnes Museum is one of the biggest reasons the mayor wants to starve homeless folks off the Parkway, keeping Philadelphians he has done little to help out of sight and out of mind.

On May 19, the Barnes Museum will hold a cocktail reception, with dinner and dancing – at a cost of $1,500 per plate. Those who attend will say they’re there to observe and celebrate art, valuable because it reveals truths about the human condition.

But the truth is, for most of us, $1,500 isn’t a plate of food — it’s more than a month’s income, more than a winter’s worth of heating bills, more than six months worth of food stamps allotments. And that’s for Philadelphians who are squeezed tight in this economy, but nonetheless more fortunate than many who may be displaced from the Parkway by Mayor Nutter’s ban on sharing free food outdoors.

So we’ll be holding our own art show. Outdoors, for all to see. And, this show will focus on class warfare, on hunger, on being poor. These are not abstract themes. Pennsylvania may soon cut General Assistance, for example, even while major homeless shelters in our city are closing down. These are the parts of the human condition we face here in Philadelphia, real people’s problems that need to be confronted instead of swept under the rug.

To illustrate these themes, we’ll show artwork from Barnes’s own collection, alongside art by those outraged by the city’s ban on sharing free food outdoors. And while the city’s upper-crust dine, we’ll be sharing free food, home-cooked by volunteers – because we believe that no one in our city should go hungry.

Join us for an unforgettable evening.

Community Service Inoculations

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:10:27 +0000

It is now the policy of The King’s Jubilee that we will not sign the community service forms of students other than regular volunteers with us. We disagree with the community service requirement in the curricula of schools as it has the opposite of its intended effect. We have seen that it actually inoculates young people against participation in voluntary service by, in effect, making it mandatory service. Young people are now required to do X number of hours of “voluntary” service to graduate high school. This turns it into homework. How many of us voluntarily picked up homework right after high school? You catch my drift. This requirement has put a damper on volunteerism among twenty-somethings for a while now. We’re dropping out.

We do not need tourists or kids who are here to be taught a lesson, either. We welcome anyone who wants to try it. Come join us for an evening. If you enjoy serving with us, come back. If you do not, we trust God will lead you to something that you are more suited to.

OPA!

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:34:07 +0000

On Memorial Day weekend, Holy Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Elkins Park, is hosting their annual OPA Festival. Thousands of people come for the food and the crafts and the dances. Again this year, someone is sponsoring ads for both The King’s Jubilee and “Come and See” Icons, Books & Art to help this ministry. In fact this year, there will be two ads for TKJ. Since they asked to sell the magnets at the Resource Center, we are using the business card ad to advertise the magnets.

Here are the PDFs of the ads:

The King’s Jubliee color ad

TKJ business card ad

“Come and See” Icons, Books & Art ad

Spring 2012 Report

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:54:37 +0000

The Spring 2012 Report is available for download in PDF for printing and distributing with church bulletins, etc. Please feel free. We need to spread the word and increase our bases of support: financial, prayer and volunteer.

Here it is: TKJ Spring 2012 Report

Thank you for your support.

May God bless you.

Update on Philadelphia Hijinks

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:25:53 +0000

The Philadelphia City Council unanimously censured Mayor Nutter over his misuse of power to use regulatory decrees of the Parks and Rec Dept. and the Health Dept. to make serving of the poor and homeless outdoors illegal. They pointed out that there were no funds available for the enforcement of these new regulations, much less to make up for the services that would be lost due to their enforcement. Add that on top of an anticipated $43 million cut in state funding for social services next year, they said it looks like Mr. Nutter must be taking crazy pills. Since the decrees were contested, the depts. had to hold more public hearings.

Instead of backing down, the mayor doubled down in his defiance against the people of the city and is making a mockery of democracy. Parks & Rec. scheduled their hearing with ten days notice. It was scheduled for May 2 at 7pm. At 10am on April 25, they changed the hearing time to 6pm that evening, in the hopes that no one would show up. This was a deliberate attempt to subvert democracy. Nutter should be impeached and run out of town on a rail! Shame on him!

In spite of this shady tactic, about 50 citizens showed up. All were opposed to the proposed regulation. About half spoke,including Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and a couple of lawyers, who pointed out the unconstitutionality and illegality, gross stupidity, and general injustice of this regulation. It was called a hearing. I wonder if anyone was truly listening.

The charter is such that the mayor, if he is bullheaded and obtuse enough, can go ahead and enact and try to enforce these regulations without city council’s approval. However, the budget process is about to start. Council may want assurances from the mayor that these regs. will disappear for good, if he is to get certain things he may desire in the budget.

The regulations had better disappear or they will hurt the city financially, not just in added enforcement costs. There will be services lost. With that, there will either be added service costs or added human costs in the forms of theft, illness or starvation. The disorder and tension this mess is bringing is not a friendly climate for tourism and entertainment and there is talk of a boycott of Philadelphia if it persists on a course of violating a basic human right of being able to share food with one’s neighbor.

This, in the “City of Brotherly Love!”

Mount Moriah Cemetery Clean Up Days

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:42:54 +0000

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery are organizing several cleanup days over the next several months. We want to encourage participation in this worthy work. We would like to participate as a TKJ team. So shoot me an email or give a call if you plan on attending so we can coordinate and fellowship as we work. There are two sides to the cemetery, one on either side of the Cobbs Creek Parkway: Philadelphia and Yeadon.

The following is from the FOMMC website:

Join the Friends on May 19th from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM for a cleanup event at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Friends, relatives, historians and anyone interested in Mount Moriah Cemetery are asked to meet at the Yeadon entrance to the cemetery on Cobbs Creek Parkway starting at 8:00 AM.

The Friends and its partners are working to developing a sustainable future for the cemetery and the greater Mount Moriah community. Volunteers are needed to continue the work of clearing the cemetery of weeds, tall grass and debris. Individuals and groups of all sizes are welcome and encouraged to participate! While hand tools and gloves will be supplied, the Friends would like to remind you that volunteers are permitted to bring power equipment, such as mowers and weed whackers, with them to the event. If you will be bringing equipment, please let us know by sending an email to info@fommc.org so that we can better plan our activities.

The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery will coordinate future volunteer efforts and have scheduled additional cleanup events as follows:

June 9, 2012
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Philadelphia

July 14, 2012
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Yeadon

August 11, 2012
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Philadelphia

September 8, 2012
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Yeadon

October 13, 2012
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Philadelphia

We hope that volunteers will consider returning to the cemetery to support the efforts to restore this iconic treasure.

Bundling: It’s not just for babies and politicians.

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:18:15 +0000

Nearly everyone who reads this blog is unaware of my misspent youth as a rich, suburban kid. Yes, I grew up around money. Thankfully, my dad never forgot his working class roots and never was snooty about being successful. And my mom learned as much about life from the maids growing up as she did from her parents. As a baby, I was kissed by Ike. We entertained governors, senators, congressmen and captains of industry in our home. We had connections. If I had stayed in Minnesota and toed the party line and followed my first choice of a career in architecture, I could be sitting pretty, financially, that is. When I was just shy of 16, I experienced a call from God to abandon architecture to serve the Lord by building up people instead.

My entire adult life, I have spent working among the poor, either in factories with a fair amount of immigrant labor or in prison ministry or in homeless ministry. I have come to the conclusion that among all of my allergies to antibiotics, I also must have picked up an allergy to money. This is a problem, because I need money in order to be able to continue to serve the poor. We cannot best help the homeless by joining their ranks. I find that I have painted myself into a corner. I have not cultivated rich friends. I have not had much time for any kind of normal social life. There has been prison, church and the street. Now, it’s church, icons and the street. We are at a place in the ministry where I am taking more time to develop it. I cannot afford to do this. Because of my allergy, this does not stop me. I can make appeal after appeal, but it is to the same 150 or so who are paying attention, maybe a half dozen or so are in the upper middle class. The rest are on the edge scratching by with their hearts wide open and their checking accounts clean empty. This is where bundling comes in.

I do not have the connections or the time to make the connections to raise the kind of money we need to make the kind of difference we need to make in Philadelphia in Jesus’ Name. Some of you need to become bundlers. They do this for political campaigns. I think it works something like this: One big shot says to another big shot, “I would think so much more highly about you if you would give $xxx to The King’s Jubilee this month. Make out the check and let me deliver it, so I make sure it gets there. God bless you.”

I’m sure it’s a bit more sophisticated than the above paragraph. Remember, I am not the money expert. Right now, we need about $5,000 to catch up on things and finish the barn, finally. We need to grow as an organization to accomplish the ministry that God has set before us. May God bless you all, those who can bundle, those who can’t, those who are willing to be bundled.

I’ll Ride Shotgun!

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:23:02 +0000

TKJ-mobile

There are certain responsibilities that come with riding shotgun in the TKJ-mobile (well one) that have been explained in the newsletter, yet most who ride shotgun, do not perform these duties (really one lame task) up to standards. So, in the spirit of bad parenting, since I can’t find anyone else to do it up to my standards, I will just have to do it myself. This does put me in a bit of a pickle, since I can’t drive and ride shotgun, too.

DRIVERS NEEDED for Thursday nights. The TKJ-mobile has been upgraded with new stickers, including QR codes so passengers in passing cars can just aim their phones at a fender and get to this blog. It even has a new aoogah horn. I couldn’t resist that for $10 at Harbor Freight. I even washed it. For the right candidate, I may even consider cleaning the inside.

Here’s the real deal. I have continued to have migraines. They have caused some more strokes. I have noticed some more visual field loss. Driving at night is not such a good idea for me. Cars appear out of nowhere, next to me on my left. We need to leave St. Philip’s, Souderton, as the bell chimes 7 or my house by 6:30. We generally get home around 10. Call me: 267-497-0268.

Thank you.

Chosen 300′s Press Release on Nutter’s Shenanigans

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:29:25 +0000

Press Release – Parks & Rec
Attempts To Prevent Public Testimony
By Moving Hearing Up At Last Minute To
Today April 25, 2012 @ 6:00 PM

The city’s attempt to undermine the legal process and pass this unconstitutional regulation is clear. Upon announcement of the Mayor’s ban on outdoor meals to the homeless, the public had 30 days to comment. Public comment was provided both in writing and in person at Philadelphia City Council on April 12, 2012. There was so much public comment that the President of City Council deemed it nessisary to accept the comments and not to proceed with any further in that session.

A hearing by Parks & Rec was to be held on May 2, 2012 at 6:00 PM. This was verified by Councilwomen Jannie Blackwell’s office. We were informed late yesterday afternoon by a homeless advocate that the meeting was changed to today (April 25, 2012 at 6:00 PM).

There was a task force developed by the city which was to address the regulations and the needs of those we serve. I spoke with three members of the task force this morning including Councilwomen’s Blackwell’s office and they were not even informed of the change.

There has to be something legally wrong with this. I encourage everyone to show up a the hearing tonight in the masses to protest this injustice.

I am petitioning the press to continue to follow this story as we stand up for the rights of our homeless friends.

To our supporters, I have created a link on the front of our website which I will keep updated of important dates and meetings I hear of. I would encourage you to check the site twice a day in case something like this happens again.
Members Of The Press Are Encouraged To Cover This
Today April 25, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Municiple Services Building 16th Floor

Brian Jenkins, Executive Director of Chosen 300 and organizations part of the coalition for outdoor meals will be testifying against the Mayor’s Ban on outdoor meals to the homeless.

For more information on Chosen 300 log on to www.chosen300.org or contact Brian Jenkins at 215-837-1642.

More Nutter Shenanigans

Cranford Joseph Coulter — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:42:04 +0000

Mayor Nutter is pulling more shenanigans. They have to hold hearings on these decrees. The first hearing was supposed to be next Wednesday. I just opened my email to find this:

Good morning, we literally just found out that the Parks & Recreation Department
has changed the meeting scheduled for
Wednesday May 2, 2012 at 6:00 PM at the Municipal Services Building on the 16th
floor in rooms X, Y, Z to today. With such short notice I’m not sure who will be
able to make it but if you can attend please email Brian at
brianjenkins@chosen300.org or call his cell phone (215-837-1642) ASAP to confirm so we can try to get your name on the list to present testimony. The time and location of meeting is the same.