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Molly Weyrens, St. Cloud, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
Sister Eunice Antony OSB, St. Benedict’s Monastery
Laura Kutzera, St. Joseph
Travel. Faith communities. Rural areas. These three things have us paying a bit more attention these days to how Greater Minnesota is faring when it comes to funding for many things outside of the Twin Cities, but especially transportation. Governor Mark Dayton has proposed spending money on transportation, however, most of it is to fix roads and bridges with little attention to the transit needs of Greater Minnesota. We need to call for increased funding for bus routes, safe sidewalks and room on the roads for bicycles in addition to roads and bridges.
Many of our rural communities have large populations of senior citizen whose roots are deep. Getting to the doctor, to the grocery store and to church are all being compromised because of the lack of options available to them. Even in the larger cities like St. Cloud, getting around can be difficult. In fact one woman spent eight hours getting from her home to a medical appointment with a stop at daycare. There’s no way most of us would be able to do that.
Our communities of faith have great power to make changes that help the common good. Luckily, we are blessed in our area to have GRIP/ISAIAH which is an interfaith, multi-racial, multi-cultural organization of faith leaders working together in the St. Cloud area whose goal is to create a whole and healthy community, one in which the dignity of individuals and families is placed at the center of decisions.
A recent trip by GRIP leaders to the State Capitol to meet with our area representatives and lift up the voices of Greater Minnesota created such a buzz the Speaker of the House decided to clear a part of his schedule to meet with the delegation. The voices of Greater Minnesota are slowly being listened to, but we need more people to speak out. It was evident in the meetings at the Capitol that showing up and speaking out DOES make a difference. We invite you to help make Greater Minnesota greater.
For more information, visit movemn.org and growthandjustice.org.
Website version
Molly Weyrens, St. Cloud, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
Sister Eunice Antony OSB, Saint Benedict’s Monastery
Laura Kutzera, St. Joseph
Travel. Faith communities. Rural areas. These three things have us paying a bit more attention these days to how Greater Minnesota is faring when it comes to funding for many things outside of the Twin Cities, but especially transportation. It’s vital to much of what we do each and every day. And while Governor Mark Dayton has proposed spending money on transportation, most of it is to fix roads and bridges with little attention to the transit needs of Greater Minnesota. We need to call for increased funding for bus routes, safe sidewalks and room on the roads for bicycles in addition to our roads and bridges.
Many of our rural communities have large populations of senior citizens. They do not want to move from the places where they have set their roots. But getting to the doctor, to the grocery store and to church are all being compromised because of the lack of options available to them once they are unable to drive. Even in the larger cities like St. Cloud, getting around can be difficult. An example of this is a woman who used the city bus to get to a doctor appointment. From the time she left her house, dropped her child off at daycare went to her appointment, picked up her child and returned home, she had spent eight hours of her day. There’s no way most of us would be able to do that.
Our communities of faith have a great deal of power to make changes that help the common good. Luckily, we are blessed in our area to have GRIP/ISAIAH which is an interfaith, multi-racial, multi-cultural organization of faith leaders working together in the St. Cloud area whose goal is to create a whole and healthy community, one in which the dignity of individuals and families is placed at the center of decisions.
Citizens involved in GRIP/Isaiah have done countless research visits to understand more deeply the issues facing Central Minnesota. A recent trip to the State Capitol to meet with our area representatives and lift up the voices of Greater Minnesota created such a buzz the Speaker of the House decided to clear a part of his schedule to meet with the delegation. The voices of Greater Minnesota are slowly being listened to, but we need more people to speak out. It was evident in the meetings at the Capitol that showing up and speaking out DOES make a difference.
The faith leaders of the St.Cloud region are distinctly nonpartisan; we want to work with all of our elects toward meaningful change that will affect the lives of all in our community. We invite you to help make Greater Minnesota greater.
For more information, visit movemn.org and growthandjustice.org.
