Shabbat Service Focuses on Educating Maine's Recent Immigrants

Bet Ha’am’s Social Action Committee presents a special Shabbat service on Friday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. about the educational needs of Maine’s recent immigrants and how congregants can help. This is the first in a yearlong series of programs about new Mainers.

Immigrants from Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Rwanda and many other countries have moved to the Portland area in recent years. About one-quarter of the children who attend the Portland Public Schools speak a language other than English at home - and more than 50 language groups are represented.

Learning English is a critical first step in integrating immigrants into our community. But programs such as Portland Adult Education are overwhelmed by the demand for English language instruction and adult students often have to wait several months or longer to begin classes. Once they enroll, many face the challenge of learning a new language while raising children, working to support their families and adjusting to life in a new country. Volunteer tutors can make a big difference by working one-on-one with adult learners and by helping them prepare for the U.S. citizenship test.

An immigrant who is working to earn her GED give the d’var Torah at the October 21st service. The service will include special recognition for members of Bet Ha’am who teach English as a Second Language and those who volunteer as tutors. If you are among those teachers and tutors, please e-mail Elaine Falender at gayerfal@maine.rr.com so that we can be sure to include you in the service.

The service also will include a moving song by Bet Ha’am member Rita Kissen about her immigrant grandmother’s long-held desire to learn how to write her own name. During the oneg, congregants will be able to find out about opportunities for volunteering in adult education classrooms and as mentors and tutors.

Bet Ha’am is collecting children’s books and easy-to-read adult books in decent condition to donate to the free bookshelf at Portland Adult Education. These books are available for English language learners to take home for practice and to read to their children.

Please bring books to the October 21 service. We also have a collection box at Bet Ha’am so books may be left at any time. We would love to see a B’nai Mitzvot student take on this project and continue it throughout the year. If you are interested, please contact Abby Zimet at planetz@gwi.net.

Survey Shows Bet Ha’am Members Value Social Action

Earlier this year, the Bet Ha’am Social Action Committee developed a survey to help us determine our direction, as well as projects and activities for the upcoming year and into the future. The survey was available to the congregation on-line and in hard copy throughout the spring of 2011.

Nearly 60 people completed the survey. The Committee was impressed by the strong interest in social justice issues that was apparent in the responses and by the desire for the synagogue to more fully integrate social action into services, the religious school and other contexts. Many of the people who completed the survey are already involved with social action activities; the Committee sees its challenge as getting more people to participate in activities in a Jewish context as part of Bet Ha’am.

The major issues identified in the survey for future projects include poverty in Maine; marriage equality; and immigrant and civil rights. Survey responses reflected a strong interest in partnering with other organizations; examples might be working with LearningWorks or Portland Adult Education on refugee issues, Interfaith Power and Light on energy issues and/or working with National Council of Jewish Women on its Darfur project. The survey suggested interest in having speakers about current events at services.

The Committee now is working with Rabbi Saks on plans for a series of speakers and other activities related to immigrant issues in Maine. The series will kick off in the fall with a program about immigrants’ educational needs and how Bet Ha’am members can get involved. We also will hold a book drive to provide books for the free book shelf at Portland Adult Education. Stay tuned for more details.

The Committee also discussed working on marriage equality. The referendum drive to put the issue on the ballot in 2012 will make this issue front and center. We are checking into how the congregation can be most helpful.

A number of other ideas were discussed at recent Committee meetings and ideas will continue to be solicited.

Volunteer Opportunities at Wayside

The Social Action Committee is happy to announce two opportunities for Bet Ha’am members to volunteer with Wayside programs that feed the hungry.   

We are serving dinner every fourth Thursday of the month at Woodford’s Congregational Church in Portland.  The Woodford’s meal provided by Wayside reaches groups not previously helped, specifically the elderly, women, and children.

If you would like to serve, arrive at Woodford’s at 5:00 pm and stay through 7:00 pm. Please come at 4:00 pm if you are interested in cooking the main dish, or making a salad or desert. Serving dinner and cooking is a family- friendly option and children ages 7 and up are invited to participate.

Second, Wayside is increasing their efforts to establish a program of mobile pantries for areas without food pantries in Portland. There are two opportunities here:  1. Setting up the boxes of food for distributions (i.e. packing food items into boxes for distribution), and 2. Going out on the distribution runs to deliver the food. If there is enough interest in mobile pantries, then specific times for Bet Ha’am will be assigned.

Please contact Molly Bergman Quaid at mquaid@gmail.com for more information about both opportunities and to sign up to participate!

Maine Legislature Considers For-Profit Prison

"LD1095, An Act To Facilitate the Construction and Operation of Private Prisons by Authorizing the Transport of Prisoners out of State” would approve a for-profit Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) federal prison in Milo, Maine and also allow Maine's prisoners to be sent to for-profit CCA state prisons in other states, far from their families and any oversight. A hearing date has not yet been set.

You can read more about this bill and the problems of corporate for-profit prisons here: www.maineprisoneradvocacy.org . More background on CCA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrections_Corporation_of_America

National Council of Jewish Women Events

Please join us as we launch our first COMMUNITY BOOK READ/FORUM about "Tears of the Desert", by Halima Bashir with Damien Lewis. on APRIL 7TH at 7:00 p.m. at TEMPLE BETH EL, Portland (400 Deering Avenue). Discussion of the book will take place with members of the local Darfur Community.

Participants who feel moved to take action may contribute to the SOLAR COOKER PROJECT to benefit the women in the DARFUR refugee camps. Each solar cooker cost $15.00 and each family should have two. Contributions toward purchasing the cookers may be made the evening of this event through the Southern Maine's Section of NCJW. NCJW has already purchased 30 stoves and is willing to match an additional 70 to bring our local totals up to 100! Donations can also be made through the Jewish World Watch, 17514 Ventura Blvd, Suite 206 Encino Ca. 91316 (www.SolarCookerProject.org) 818-501-1836

Books are available through local libraries, online and through, our local book stores (Longfellow books - Portland, Nonesuch Books and Cards - South Portland)

On Monday April 11th at 7PM, a complimentary program will be presented in Hannaford Auditorium on the campus of USM in Portland. John Prendergast is the 2011 Douglas M. Schair Memorial Lecture. He is an author and an internationally known human rights activist. Along with the actor George Clooney, he has led the movement against some of Africa's worst human rights crimes including the ongoing genocide in Darfur. This free lecture offers admission on a first come first serve basis. Free parking is available. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...Please contact Roberta (Bobbie) Gordon at 329-3353 (robertakgordon@yahoo.com) or Roberta Zuckerman at 712 -1784 (zuckerman.roberta10@gmail.com).

Legislative Advocacy Opportunities

Planned Parenthood Day at the Statehouse: On April 7 from 9 am to noon, we will lobby our legislators at the State House to defeat bills that threaten the safety and privacy of Maine women. We will fight against any rollbacks to access preventative, lifesaving health care.  Rides to Augusta and childcare will be offered to those who need it.


Girls' Day at the State House - Thursday, March 24th at 8am, Augusta: The Maine Women's Policy Center is sponsoring the 15th Annual "Girls' Day at the State House" next Thursday, March 24th, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Girls' Day brings together 100 8th grade girls from across the state to learn about the legislative process first-hand and to encourage them to have a voice in the issues they care about. The girls will participate in a mock public hearing and mock press conference, a State House and Legislative “scavenger hunt,” and meet with the Governor and other legislative leaders.


Alliance for Clean and Healthy Maine Lobby Day - Thursday, April 14th at 8:30am, Augusta: We know that Maine can grow healthy kids and a healthy economy. We know that with safer chemicals, Maine’s families and businesses will thrive. Our legislators need to know this, too. And they need to hear it from you. Join Planned Parenthood of Northern New England  and the Alliance for Clean and Healthy Maine as we advocate for legislation that will get toxic chemicals out of the products we buy and use on a daily basis. If you can attend, please contact PPNNE Grassroots Organizer, Jenna Vendil.

Volunteers Needed for Mobile Food Pantry

The Kraft Mobile Food Pantry is coming to Jewish Family Services, 57 Ashmont St, Portland on April 22. Volunteers are needed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help serve food, take photos and pass out information.

If you can help, please contact Ani Helmick at 772-1959 or ahelmick@mainejewish.org.



Free groceries will be available to all members of the community.  There will be fresh produce, meat, canned goods and baked goods.  The pantry will take place rain or shine and no registration is required. 

Climate Change Conference on April 9

"Exploring Faith & Sustainability in an Age of Climate Change" is the title of a workshop on April 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell. The event is being billed as "a summit for people of faith who care about protecting life on the planet."

Malcolm Burson, climate adaptation program manager of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, will be the keynote speaker. He will present on the challenges and opportunities for Maine in adapting to climate change.

The cost of $25 includes lunch. Register at www.meipl.org or call 721-0444 or write to info@meipl.org. Some scholarships are available.

Social Action Committee Speaks Out Against Welfare Cuts

Shoshana Hoose, chair of the Social Action Committee, gave the following testimony on behalf of the committee at a March 7th hearing of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Health and Human Services Committee about the governor's proposed welfare cuts.

We urge you to vote against the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cuts in Governor Paul LePage’s proposed budget.  At a time when so many Mainers are struggling financially, it is unconscionable to cut off benefits after a defined period.

We also are deeply concerned about the proposed restrictions on benefits for recent immigrants. Most Maine families have ancestors who came to the United States as immigrants. They worked hard, appreciated their freedom and contributed in many ways to our state. The immigrants who have settled here in recent years are doing the same.

Our state suffers from a slow growth rate and an aging population. Immigrants are helping to staunch those trends and thus boost our economy. We need them as workers and we appreciate them as neighbors. This legislation, however intended, sends a message that immigrants are not welcome in Maine. That is against our long-term economic interests, and it does not reflect the Jewish values that we hold dear. For all of those reasons, we urge you to reject these proposed cuts.

Express your views about the proposed welfare cuts to your state representatives and senators.  You can find their contact info here: http://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/lookup_voter_info.php

Rally Against Cuts to Maine Welfare

A legislative hearing will be held on March 7 at 10 a.m. on the welfare cuts proposed in Governor Paul LePage's budget.  A rally will take place that morning at 9 a.m. in the Statehouse's Hall of Flags to oppose the cuts.  

Here is a summary of the proposed cuts prepared by Maine Equal Justice:

Preliminary Analysis of Selected Items in the Proposed Biennial Budget—2012-2013

Revised February 21, 2011

(We understand that some of these proposals may change.  This analysis is based on the language of the printed budget presented February 11, 2011 unless otherwise indicated.)

1. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Parts PP and LL

·      Proposal:  Imposes a strict lifetime 5-year time limit in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).  This would place a life-time cap on the length of time families can receive assistance from the TANF program. Those families who have received benefits for 5 years in total as of July 1, 2011 may qualify for an additional 6-months of assistance only if their case manager decides to make an exception to the 5-year limit. After this time period families will not be able to receive assistance regardless of whether they are able to work.

General Fund Cut: $1,250,000 (biennium)

Impact:  Only a small percentage of families receive TANF for 60 months or more, but those who do face serious barriers to work.  Recent research has found that nearly 90% percent of families that receive TANF for more than five years include a family member with a disability.

Since this is a lifetime limit, it also means that families that cycle on and off of the TANF program due to the instability of jobs in the low-wage labor market would be accruing time toward the five-year time limit every time they had to return to TANF over the course of their lifetime.

·      Proposal:  Implements sanctions against the entire family, including children, if a parent does not fully comply with TANF/ASPIRE program rules.  Currently only the parent is sanctioned resulting in a reduction of the benefit.   

                        General Fund Cut:  $3.75 M (biennium)

                        Impact:  This proposal would take all cash assistance away from the family, in many cases leaving them with no income at all. In the past, sanctions have been improperly applied in some cases where families had “good cause” for not participating, but were not able to convey that to their caseworker.  This proposal will place very poor families with children at greater risk of homelessness and hunger.

·      Proposal:  Requires any parent that has been convicted of a drug-related felony to show proof of ongoing drug testing in order to be eligible to receive TANF for their family.  The consequence of a positive test result will be the immediate termination of assistance for the entire family. 

                        General Fund Cut:  $100,000 (Biennium)

                        Impact:  This proposal provides no funds to pay for testing for parents or rehabilitation services for those who test positive and are struggling with drug addiction. Instead this proposal would take all assistance away from families, including children, with no access to help in coping with the serious problems that they face. 

·      Proposal:  Makes Alternative Aid available only once in a lifetime.  Currently, an eligible applicant can receive Alternative Aid once a year.

   Impact:  This proposal would limit short-term assistance to once in a lifetime to a parent struggling to obtain or retain employment.

2. General Assistance; Part JJ

·      NOTE:  This proposal has been withdrawn by the Administration. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Spokesman-says-LePage-doesnt-intend-to-limit-Mainers-general-assistance-to-once-a--year.html

Proposal:  Limits the General Assistance (GA) program to once in a calendar year.  Currently eligibility is determined on a monthly basis, but in many towns it is provided on a week-to-week basis.  Assistance is based on need and benefits must be provided as long as the applicant is without sufficient income to meet basic needs.

                        Impact:  Families and individuals often apply for GA when they are in crises, such as the loss of a job, causing them to fall behind in paying their rent or paying for heat.  These types of emergencies can often last for more than one month. The great majority (76%) of GA is for housing.  In 2009, an average of approximately 5,000 people a month received General Assistance.  This proposal will increase homelessness for many Maine families and individuals.

           

                        Many families apply for and receive GA while they are waiting for a SSI determinations. In the City of Bangor, which operates the State’s 2nd largest General Assistance program, 36% of those who received GA in State Fiscal Year 2010 were waiting for an SSI determination. While the average processing time for initial SSI claims is approximately 3 months, it is not at all unusual to wait more than a year before qualifying for SSI.

                       

·      Proposal: Increases the number of days that an individual is ineligible for GA benefits from 120 days to 180 days in cases of false representation or for not complying with work requirements.

                        Impact:  These individuals are already ineligible to receive benefits for 120 days.  Moreover, there is significant variation in the way General Assistance is administered throughout the State with differences in the number of people served in different municipalities that cannot be accounted for based on poverty population. This data raises important questions about whether the GA program is administered uniformly and in accordance with law throughout the state.  As a result, determinations such as whether a person has left work with “good cause” and cannot be disqualified under Maine law may be made differently in different towns.  Therefore, some may be unfairly penalized.  Adding additional months to this penalty will exacerbate that problem.

·      Proposal:  Requires that benefits from the Maine Residents Property Tax Program (“circuit breaker”) be counted as income for the purposes of applying for GA when it is received even though it is meant to repay households for past expenses.  Currently Maine law does not allow this benefit to be counted.

                        Impact:   The purpose of this program is to offset the cost of property taxes for people with low income who pay a high percentage of their income on this cost.  The circuit breaker program reimburses renters and homeowners for a share of the property taxes that they paid during the past year.  Renters receive a reimbursement for the portion of their rent costs that go to cover the cost of the property taxes paid by the landlord. The circuit breaker program recognizes that these costs are high and gives families a chance to “catch up” with this critical benefit.  Using these funds to reduce the amount of GA that a person may qualify for now undermines that purpose.

·      Proposal:  Disqualifies a GA applicant who voluntarily abandons a resource without cause from receiving assistance for 120 days.

                        Impact: Under current law GA applicants must apply for any assistance that they may be eligible for in order to get GA.  This proposal goes a step further.  It would deny a GA benefit for 120 days to an applicant who gave up a resource that they had in the past.  The unfairness of this is obvious.  Applicants would be disqualified for something they did in the past with no knowledge of how it would affect their eligibility for GA.  For example, this new provision could be applied to a family that left a subsidized housing unit in another state because of the high crime rate to come to Maine to raise their children where crime is low, or one that was fleeing domestic violence, or to care for a sick parent.  In some towns these reasons may be considered “good cause” and in some they would not be.  As noted above, there are dramatic differences in how GA is administered throughout the State. We have no confidence that the “good cause” provision in this bill would be fairly and correctly administered in all municipalities.

·      Proposal:  Disqualifies GA applicants who lose benefits from another public assistance program as a result of fraud for the length of the disqualification in the other program or 180 days, whichever is longer.  Under current law the disqualification lasts for the length of the disqualification from the other program.

                        Impact: This adds a potential additional period of disqualification further punishing a person who has already served the full period of disqualification, or punishment, in the other public assistance program.

Note:  While no specific deappropriation corresponds to the above proposals, the budget document does appear to cut $2,909,392 (biennium) from the program.

·      Proposal:  Reduces the reimbursement level to municipalities providing the most GA in the State from 90% to 75% of the amount in excess of .0003 of the municipality’s most recent state valuation. 

                        General Fund Cut:  $1,402,500 (biennium)

                        Impact:  This proposal will likely affect approximately a dozen municipalities providing the greatest share of GA in the State, including Portland, Bangor and the tribal GA programs.  While this proposal does not directly cut aid to people in need, it will inevitably have that result by placing even greater stress on already financially strapped municipalities.

3.  MaineCare

·      Proposal:  Reduces eligibility for MaineCare for parents from 200% to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL).  Freezes eligibility for those parents with incomes from 133% to 200% of the FPL already enrolled so that if they temporarily lose eligibility they cannot return to the program.  

                        Cut: $29,199,898 (biennium)

                                    General Fund:  $8,494.454

                                    Federal Funds: $18,487,514

                                                Other Special Revenue:  $2,217,930

                        Impact:  14,000 parents with income between 133% and 200% of the FPL currently receive MaineCare. This proposal threatens access to health care for many of these parents by preventing them from getting back their MaineCare coverage if they lose eligibility because of temporary change in their income. For example, a family whose income goes over the limits because of a seasonal increase in work hours could not return to the program once those hours were no longer available. 

                        Many more MaineCare recipients with incomes below 133% FPL hope to move their way up the income ladder as the economy improves.  But in many cases this proposal would leave them uninsured once their income exceeds 133% FPL.

·      Implements new premiums equal to 4% of household income for all people, including children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities, with income over 150% FPL receiving health care services through MaineCare, Katie Beckett, the Medicare Savings Program, Drugs for the Elderly and Long Term Care.  Currently MaineCare families with incomes between 150% and 200% FPL pay some of the highest premiums in the country for their coverage. 

Cut:  $13,563,766 (biennium)

            General Fund:  $4,668,848

            Federal Funds:  $8,894,918

Impact:  This proposal will lead seniors, people with disabilities and children to go without needed health coverage.  Studies have clearly shown that increased cost sharing significantly reduces access to health care, particularly for people with low income.  A multi-state study found that when premiums for public health programs rose to 3% of a family’s income participation dropped by half among eligible individuals and families with low income.  Under this proposal, a working mother with two kids and gross annual income of $27,795 will have to pay an annual MaineCare premium of $1,112.

·      Proposal: Doubles the time period for a disability determination for MaineCare from 45 days to 90 days.

General Fund Cut:  $9,000,000 (biennium)  

                        Impact:  Individuals applying for MaineCare based on disability have serious medical conditions and live below the federal poverty level.  Under this proposed change in policy, this already vulnerable population would have to go without critical, medically necessary care, such as prescription drugs, for up to 3 months while they wait to either be determined eligible or receive a temporary MaineCare card.  Doubling the time that they have to wait for coverage will lead further deterioration of people’s health.    In addition, this proposal will shift costs from the State and federal government to local municipalities.  Poor individuals in need of medical care and without coverage will go to local General Assistance programs where many will be eligible for assistance with basic needs, including medical procedures. 

                        Last year, an alternative proposal was adopted in lieu of changing the disability determination time period from 45 to 90 days.  This involved hiring 6 temporary staff to facilitate the disability determination process by assisting both applicants and providers in getting necessary information to the disability determination unit more promptly.  These pilots will generate more than $2 million in savings over this fiscal year and provide a solution that will both create savings and ensure that people with serious health conditions can get the services that they so desperately need. 

4.  Medicare Buy-In (prescription drug program for seniors and people with disabilities, sometimes referred to as the “Medicare Savings Program” or “QMB; SLMB; and QI”)—Part AAA

·      Proposal:  Eliminates assistance  with Medicare Part B premiums, Part D premiums, some co-payments and deductibles, and coverage through the “donut hole” for certain seniors and people with disabilities This proposal will mainly affect seniors and people with disabilities with incomes between 135%-185% of the federal poverty level.

Fund for Healthy Maine Cut: $14,868,460 (biennium)

                        Impact:  Approximately 25,000 seniors and people with disabilities will lose all or some of help they currently get with the costs of Medicare premiums, co-payments and deductibles, including help with paying for prescription drugs.  Of the 25,000, approximately 10,000 will lose all assistance; 6,000 will lose most of the assistance; and 9,000 will lose some assistance.

5.  Assistance for Legal Immigrants; Part KK

·      Proposal:  Eliminates eligibility for MaineCare, TANF, Food Supplement and SSI benefits for legal immigrants first five years of residency in Maine.  In addition, certain refugees could be left without SSI benefits after seven years of receiving assistance. 

      General Fund Cut: $19,540,902 (biennium)

                        Impact:  Legal immigrants who are currently receiving assistance through one of these programs will abruptly lose this assistance.  DHHS has estimated that this cut will impact approximately 2,500 people, including seniors and people with disabilities who are currently receiving these supports to meet their most basic needs. This is a wholesale elimination of support for legal immigrants during their first five years in this country.

            6.  Dirigo Health: Part A (page 140) and Part BBB (revised)

·               Proposal:  Eliminates Fund for Health Maine funding for Dirigo Health

            Fund for Health Maine Cut: $8,582,622 (biennium)

Impact:  There will be less funding available to pay for DirigoChoice subsidies.

·      Proposal:  Reduces the “access” payment (an assessment on insurance companies and others used to fund the Dirigo Program) from 2.14% to 1.75% as of July 1, 2011; to 1.25% as of July 1, 2012; and .75% as of July 1, 2013 and repeals the access payment altogether as of December 31, 2013. 

Access Payment Cut: $26,677,233 (biennium)

Impact:  There will be less funding available to pay for DirigoChoice subsidies, the MaineCare parents covered by Dirigo, administration of the program, and the Maine Quality Forum.

“In the Shelter of Each Other: A Special Social Action Shabbat”

The Social Action Committee of Congregation Bet Ha’am presents “In the Shelter of Each Other” a special Social Action Shabbat service focusing on the needs of Maine families who are struggling financially and how we can help.

Join us on March 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Bet Ha’am (81 Westbrook St., South Portland) for special prayers, songs and a brief talk by Christine Hastedt, co-founder and public policy director of Maine Equal Justice.

During the oneg, representatives from several nonprofit programs serving low-income Mainers will provide information about how you can get involved. This is a great opportunity for young people to learn about Mitzvah projects, and for all of us to find ways that we can help our neighbors.

You’ll leave inspired, fired up and singing the chorus of a beautiful song by Kim and Reggie Harris: “In the shelter of each other, we are hopeful, we are wise.”


Everyone attending the March 4 service is requested to bring canned goods to donate to a local food pantry.  Here is a list of needed items:

• Non-perishable food items, especially high-protein items such as tuna and peanut butter and things that are regularly stocked such as mac and cheese, tomato or chicken noodle soup, pasta and sauce, pancake mix and cereal.
• Toiletry items.
• Diapers.
• Reusable food containers.

Community Conversation and March Against Governor's Anti-Immigrant Executive Order

Last week, Maine became less welcoming to immigrants and refugees when Governor Paul LePage signed an executive order allowing state officials to inquire about immigration status of those who approach their agencies. Our nation and state have always been beacons of liberty and freedom. Nobody should freeze to death, starve to death, fail to get healthcare, or be afraid to report crimes because of fear of state officials.   

Let’s model a Welcoming Maine

What: Community Conversation at 1pm followed by a March at 2pm

Where: Preble Street Resource Center, March from there to City Hall

Who: At City Hall at 2:15pm, come hear community leaders speak about ways to take action.

In the tradition of community action on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we will stand in solidarity and model a welcoming Maine.