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Zero Waste: Programs Zero Waste Action Team Towards a world without waste. Our goal is to reduce the waste created by individuals and industry to prevent exacerbating the climate crisis. We also work towards a Green New Deal vision of better resource management, including water, focusing on waste reduction from production to consumption and support of a circular society through research and policy. Past member of Zero Waste Canada. The Zero Waste Action Team became inactive in Winter 2023 but one of our members, Ángela Viviana Ramírez-Luna, has launched the NL Community Composting Cooperative Network with the support of the Social Justice Co-op and the NL Federation of Co-operatives! The mission is to bring composting to every neighbourhood in St. John's and communities in NL. I'm recruiting members for the Steering Committee, which will define the committee members' responsibilities, co-op benefits and services, business plan and by-laws and other logistical necessities to incorporate. Check out out their website and social media to learn the details and sign up! Like Our FB Page INSTAGRAM WEBSITE TWITTER LINKEDIN Zero Waste: Welcome Zero Waste: Text WE WON... LEWISPORTE INCINERATOR REJECTED! As a result of swift and strong community organizing across the province, community groups and members have successfully pressured the NL gov to REJECT the incinerator planned by synergy world power in Lewisporte! Thanks to everyone's vigilance and effort, we did it!! Members of the SJC, Council of Canadians - Avalon Chapter, and community groups came together to celebrate this victory in February 2023. Letter to the City of St. John's re: Climate Crisis Plan "We were elated to see the City of St. John’s declare a climate emergency and join the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy in 2019. These actions recognized the threat of climate change and the vital role that cities must play to prepare. Since then, we have faced significant challenges, from “Snowmageddon” to COVID-19, highlighting the need for solid emergency preparation. We believe the City of St. John’s could be a climate action leader in Canada and well prepared for climate change’s challenges with active consultation." Read full letter Community Composting Pilot Project In partnership with Stella’s Circle and Planeet Consulting , in summer 2022, we installed three composting bins in downtown St. John’s to collect organics from a group of neighbours and produce compost for the use of Stella’s and participants. Our long-term vision is to replicate this program across the city providing social, economic, and environmental benefits to individuals, neighbourhoods, community gardens, schools, businesses, and more! You can learn more about our vision in this blog . A big thank you to our sponsors: City of St. John’s (Community Grants ), MMSB (Solid Waste Management Innovation Fund ), and Food First NL (St. John’s Food Assessment ). Zero Waste: What We Do Plastics Study & Brand Audits Our team undertook a Brand Audit as part of the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement, a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Your participation will help us collect the data we need to work with the provincial government and the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board (MMSB) to implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), holding corporations accountable for the plastic pollution crisis. Brand Audit 2020 Read The Report Brand Audit 2023 Read The Report Spread The Word Watch Our Video Past Events The Road to Zero Waste Waste is a significant part of our economies, our cultures and our everyday lives. A number of waste reduction programs and policies have been promoted across the globe but with varying levels of adoption and success. With the mounting challenges of climate change and oceanic pollution, dealing with our waste is a pressing issue. This event highlighted two specific, yet related, approaches to waste reduction that have gained recent attention: Zero Waste (ZW) and the Circular Economy (CE). Read The Report What's in Your Trash? On May 20, 2020, we joined Sophie Wells and Sarah Sauvé to learn about zero waste theory and how to do a trash audit so we can all have a better idea of what we throw out and how we can throw out less! This webinar was organized by the Zero Waste Action Team for anyone interested in reducing their waste at home. Watch Here COVID and Our Throw Away Culture On May 27, 2020, we had a conversation with Kathryn Kellogg , Jamie Kaminski and Dan Rubin about our consumer make-take-throw away culture. The discussion addressed the following questions - How did we become a throw-away culture? Have we actually reduced what we throw away? Has COVID made us think about what is truly important? What strategies can we use to create a healthier way of life? What are we already doing that we can build on? Watch Here Green New Drinks: Barriers to Living Low Waste On February 3, 2021, panelists Debbie Wiseman, Sarah Sauvé, Jess Puddister and Rob Salsman got togteher at Bannerman Brewing Co. to discuss 'Barriers to Living Low Waste'. They addressed the following questions: 'How did we get so wasteful? How do we reduce waste under an economic system that encourages and profits from waste? What stands out as a barrier to reducing waste, that you couldn't solve as an individual? How might we address this barrier structurally? The event was organized by The Social Justice Co-operative NL as part of 'Green New Drinks'. Watch Here

Our Objectives To research, analyze and speak to the structural causes of social injustice locally and globally; To provide policy alternatives to all levels of government that will address and redress matters of social, economic and political inequality in Newfoundland and Labrador; To develop and provide public education on the links between global and local structural causes of poverty and increase awareness of the need for and the value of social justice in Newfoundland and Labrador and around the world; To be an example of an active and engaged citizenry, initiating and supporting campaigns and activities that give voice to people and the environment that become the victims of social injustice; To develop partnerships with other social justice groups and collaborate with them to achieve common social justice goals; To provide educational/training services in social justice issues and any other relevant services to our partners and other interested parties; To promote membership and active participation in the Social Justice Co-operative; To create and maintain a physical symbol and focal point for social justice activities in Newfoundland and Labrador; to engage in any and all activities that will enable the Co-operative to achieve its general mandate and objectives Our Objectives: Welcome

The Team Who We Are Nintendo's betrayal of Sony Write a bio for each team member. Make it short and informative to keep your visitors engaged. 123-456-7890 info@mysite.com Ashley Jones Tech Lead Write a bio for each team member. Make it short and informative to keep your visitors engaged. 123-456-7890 info@mysite.com Tess Brown Office Manager Write a bio for each team member. Make it short and informative to keep your visitors engaged. 123-456-7890 info@mysite.com Lisa Rose Product Manager Write a bio for each team member. Make it short and informative to keep your visitors engaged. 123-456-7890 info@mysite.com

Teams We are so thankful for all of the volunteers and partners working on many fronts in the Revolution of Care. This page shows some of the teams that have formed within the SJC over the years. Some of these groups are still active and meeting (AxA Book Club, Challenge Car Culture, Prison Pen Pals, 2SLGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Pod. Transformative Justice Working Group) and others are less active or dormant at this time (Coalition for a Green New Deal, Food Sovereignty, Zero Waste). There may still be content updates on team pages that aren't currently meeting or active, if the SJC participates in something that fits into one of the sub-group themes. While sub-group activity and meetings ebb and flow, the work continues on many fronts, and you can learn more about the projects and initiatives the SJC is involved in on the Social Justice Spotlight section of the website. Challenge Car Culture Challenging the idea that cars are the default way to get around. Advocating for accessibility, pedestrian safety/rights, public transit, and mobility justice. Learn More Anti-Capitalist x Activist Book Club Reading together for revolution! Learn More Prison Pen Pals Connecting and building solidarity through letter writing with incarcerated community members. Learn More Our Work: Programs 2SLGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Pod Organizing mutual aid efforts within the 2SLGBTQ+ community Learn More Transformative Justice Working Group Thinking through how to address conflict and harm in transformative, restorative, non-punitive ways that recognize the value, dignity, and potential of everyone Learn More Climate Action + Coaliton for a Green New Deal Confronting climate crisis and working towards a sustainable and just future Learn More Food Sovereignty Thinking critically and eating ethically Learn More Poverty Elimination Working to improve the well-being of low/no income people in NL Learn More Zero Waste Working toward a world without waste Learn More

Join the Social Justice Co-operative Join: Welcome INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP SJC BY-LAWS Co-operative Values & Principles Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. The co-operative principles are guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice. Join: What We Do 1. Voluntary and Open Membership Co-operatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

Acerca de SJC Grant Approval The Revolution of Care is dynamic, flexible, inquisitive, and courageous. It requires many moving parts to respond to the complexity of community and how we can live sustainably and kindly on this land. To build a movement, we need to envision and support an ecosystem of change, which can include partnering with outside organizations to fund project goals. In 2020, for every $1 that the SJC spent, we were able to leverage $0.92 in grants from external organizations thanks to the dedication and determination of our members To support the brilliant ideas and inspirational activities needed to craft a Revolution of Care, the SJC encourages our members to apply for external funding and can help connect you with different opportunities.. SJC can lend institutional support to external grant applications since this can: a) be a funding requirement and; b) help solidify confidence in the application to an external funder. However, as a largely volunteer organization with limited resources, the Board is charged with assessing our co-operative capacity to take on new projects and whether the external funder aligns with our values. A few of our favourite grants include: Rising Youth (for 30 and under) Community Grant Program (within City of St. John's) Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement (need partner from Memorial University) RULES TO SUBMIT Applications will be reviewed by the Board based on the following considerations: To maintain political independence, the SJC will not accept outside funding for permanent staff positions. The organization will take funding from non-profits, academic institutions, unions, religious organizations, and government for short-term positions and project costs. It will not take funding from corporations and industries that exploit and extract from people and the planet, even if it is filtered through a different organization. We reserve the right to deny any funding from organizations that do not share our values. Notice of approval for grants will be 7 days for grants under $1,000 and up to 60 days for grants greater than $1,000. We encourage members to fill out the form as early as possible to ensure that we can do our best to support the success of the project. APPLY HERE! Submissions may be made by through email or the web form below. Email submissions can be sent to socialjusticecoopnl@gmail.com . Applications can be downloaded here. Name Email Are you a member of SJC? * Required Yes No Unsure How will you identify the project in your grant application and any promotional material? * Required As an SJC project As an SJC action team or working group project As an external project through another organization with SJC as a partner As an external project as an independent social citizen with SJC as a partner If this is a partnership, do you have the consent of the other organization(s) to partner with SJC? Yes No How will SJC be recognized by the project? * Required As a partner: the project will give equal billing to SJC and use its logo As a supporter: the project will acknowledge the contribution(s) or role(s) of SJC but will not use its logo As a participant: the project will invite SJC members and the SJC community to participate in the project if the external grant is successful, but will not use its logo Which of the following SJC Objectives from our Bylaws does your project fulfil? Check all those that apply. * Required To research, analyze and speak to the structural causes of social injustice locally and globally; To provide policy alternatives to all levels of government that will address and redress matters of social, economic and political inequality in Newfoundland and Labrador; To develop and provide public education on the link between the global and the local structural causes of poverty and increase awareness of the need for and the value of social justice in Newfoundland and Labrador and around the world; To be an example of an active and engaged citizenry, initiating and supporting campaigns and activities that give voice to people and the environment that become the victims of social injustice; To develop partnerships with other social justice groups and collaborate with them to achieve common social justice goals; To provide social justice related educational/training services and any other relevant services to our members and other interested parties; To promote membership and active participation in the Social Justice Co-operative; To create and maintain a physical symbol and focal point for social justice activities in Newfoundland and Labrador; To engage in any and all activities that will enable the Co-operative to achieve its general mandate and objectives. Briefly describe the grant application Who is the funder? Please include link to website When is the application due? Some projects may require hiring staff and/or financial reporting. Would the project require administrative support from SJC? * Yes. The budget for the grant proposal contains an administrative fee for SJC that represents 5% of the total budget. No Some projects may require in-kind or sweat-equity support from partnering organizations. Would the project require in-kind labour from SJC board members, action teams, working groups, and/or individual volunteers? * Yes. The project will independently build relationships within SJC and plan and execute recruitment of in-kind contributions of volunteer labour within SJC. No Some projects may require social media promotion and/or public relations work. Would the project require promotional support from SJC? * Yes. The project will supply SJC volunteers with a scheduling plan, images, text, and image descriptions for all promotion work. No Is there anything else you would like to add? Send Thank you for your submission! We will contact you when a decision has been made.

2SLGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Pod This group was created by Trans, Two spirit and Queer people with support of the SJC in 2020 , to organize mutual aid efforts during Snowmaggedon, and beyond. Our Community Aid Fund can be availed of for help with essentials including but not limited to: food, rent, utilities, gender affirming gear, etc. Our ability to help with a request depends on how much is in the fund, which fluctuates. We will do our best to help, but may not always be able to, even though we wish we could, because no one deserves to go without necessities. To request help from the fund, please email us at: 2slgbtqaidnl@gmail.com The 2SLGBTQ+ or "Queer" pod runs a small Community Aid Fund, hosts events online & in person, and connects community members to each other to build solidarity and facilitate mutual aid. You can help make a difference by donating to the Community Aid Fund: If you'd like to support, you can do so, here: donorbox.org/caf2020 Want to get involved in organizing mutual aid efforts with the 2SLGBTQ+ mutual aid pod? We'd love to have you join us. Reach out via our email: 2slgbtqaidnl@gmail.com for more information about getting involved, or to request a link for our next zoom meeting. All welcome! No experience expected :) ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Publicly available community supports including helplines, mental wellness supports, COVID-19 information, and more. Start with 211 Looking for help navigating programs and services? 211 Website 211 is an Information, Assessment, Referral and Follow-Up service that can be the frontline in connecting people in Newfoundland and Labrador with valuable Government and Community-based programs and services, as well as the non-clinical health and social services. 211 can link people to supports for food, income and housing; seniors, people with disabilities, and newcomers; violence and abuse; mental health and addictions, and the list goes on. 211 is now another access point for the Public to find a naloxone distribution site near them! 211 is 24/7, 356 days a year, it can support over 150 languages, it is free and confidential, wait times are minimal, and we do warm transfers to clinical services and programs. All calls are answered by trained and certified professionals who are ready to listen, assess and advocate when needed. The 211 motto is: Help Starts Here. Domestic Violence Helpline If you're in an unsafe home situation or relationship, there is the Domestic Violence Helpline. The province-wide (Newfoundland and Labrador), toll free number is 1-888-709-7090. Call: 1-888-709-7090 Call Domestic Violence Helpline Did you know the Red Cross is offering support to self-isolators? If you don't have a safe place to isolate, or if you are isolating and need help with food or medication, give them a call and they can help you out. Call: 1-800-863-6582 Call Red Cross Domestic Violence Helpline Red Cross Helpline Bridge the gapP Mental Wellness online resources Bridge the gapp is an online resource designed to support mental wellness. You can visit https://bridgethegapp.ca to access age-appropriate programs and services that are available locally, confidential and free. Visit BridgeTheGapp.ca NL Public Health COVID-19 Information Take care of yourselves and one another, while following public health guidelines of course. You can find update guidelines from NL Public Health here: https://www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19 Visit gov.nl.ca/covid-19 GovNL.ca/Covid-19

Get Involved! Join The Movement Get Involved: Welcome Come Say Hi! We are happy to provide a variety of ways to start getting involved, from our Monthly General Meeting to a personalized chat with our Welcoming Committee. We also have numerous monthly meetings and public events that anyone is welcome to come to! Lunch 'n Learn with Lea Join our staff, Lea, for lunch every week on Wednesdays for 2pm to say hi or discuss projects further. Email Us Monthly General Meeting Find out what we're up to! We meet online on the 2nd Thursday at 7:00pm NT every month Email Us Welcoming Committee Looking for the best place to volunteer your skills? Book a session with our Welcoming Committee! Email Us Get Involved: Programs Not sure where to start? We're here to help :) Volunteer Form Help us get to know you better by completing our volunteer form & our Volunteer C oordinator will reach out to you. Community Calendar Subscribe To Our Calendar Become A Member The SJCNL is a not-for-profit, member-owned co-operative. Become a member and vote at our upcoming AGM! Join Get Involved: Welcome Join our Anti-Capitalist x Activist Book Club! Join our book club to read about capitalist oppression and what we can do to resist. We read about 50 pages/week and meet once a week at 7:30pm (exact date changes week to week depending on our schedules). Email for more information Donate You can help us keep momentum going by sponsoring our work. Independent donors allow us an uncompromising political voice! Over the coming decade, we will need to educate, advocate, and organize with as much courage, conviction, and independent funding as we can muster! Donate Here

Poverty Elimination: Programs Poverty Elimination Action Team Working towards a world without poverty The Poverty Elimination Action Team aims to improve the well-being of all people living in Newfoundland and Labrador. Email Us Poverty Elimination: Welcome SJC responds to City's no fault eviction of Shirley Cox Call For Equitable Pandemic Response Read Our Open Letter To Government Here Poverty Elimination: Image 2SLGBTQ+ Neighbouring Pod This group was created by Trans, Two spirit and Queer people to help out during the pandemic and beyond. We will share and connect people to resources, bring people essentials and host online workshops and social events. We have fundraised a small Community Aid Fund for folks needing essentials hampers, so please reach out if you're looking for support. Love and solidarity! If you'd like to support the Community Aid Fund you can do so, here: donorbox.org/caf2020 Please read the rules and contact our email if you need help or have questions: 2slgbtqaidnl@gmail.com Join Our FB Group Email Us Basic Income Basic income is an opportunity to rebalance our province’s social and economic models, which leave thousands of people behind. Nobody in Newfoundland and Labrador should be forced to choose between vital medical care, heating their home, or having enough food to eat. There are many complex issues that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians face, and a basic income is not a solution for all of them - but largely eliminating poverty in this province would certainly be a good start. That is what a basic income would do. Read the recently launched policy paper on Basic Income by Basic Income NL. Learn more. Share your story. Become a signatory. Read the Policy Paper Email Us Poverty Elimination: About Us Partnerships Coalition Canada Basic Income Coalition Canada Basic Income is a cross-country alliance of basic income advocacy groups and networks. We are advancing the development of a national movement for basic income in Canada, building alliances and collaborating with advocacy groups, networks and individuals supporting a just recovery in Canada from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn More $15 and Fairness NL Do you support the motion to raise the minimum wage to a living wage for all workers in our province? If so, please join $15 and Fairness NL + and urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to legislate a $15 per hour minimum wage. We believe that a $15 minimum wage would be a good first step in improving health outcomes in this province. It is abundantly clear that there is a direct relationship between income, food insecurity, and health. Income is the leading social determinant of health and, as such, a living wage would provide significant health benefits to the 48,900 workers in Newfoundland and Labrador who earn $15 and hour or less. Email Us Poverty Elimination: What We Do News & Views Poverty Elimination: News Household Food Insecurity in Canada 2021: Report November 2022 Following the inclusion of food insecurity as an indicator for Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018, the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) began the annual monitoring of household food insecurity. Drawing on data from the CIS, this report presents a portrait of household food insecurity in Canada in 2021, examining who is most affected and how food insecurity rates differ across the country. The report also uses CIS data to examine food insecurity rates in 2019 and 2020, providing a look at food insecurity before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report linked below is designed to provide a tool to describe the problem of food insecurity in Canada, monitor trends, and identify priorities for interventions to address this major public health issue. It builds on the extensive work of Health Canada and Statistics Canada in measuring and monitoring household food insecurity. Get the report NL CERB Clawbacks Push People into Poverty: Advocates July 3, 2020 In Newfoundland and Labrador, social assistance = $11,800/year. This is a poverty wage. If CERB is good enough for Canadians, it should be good enough for those on social assistance as well. Learn more The Stink of Poverty July 7, 2020 A beautiful and moving short story by our Co-Chair, Mark Nichols. Thank you for sharing this heart-wrenching yet powerful piece on poverty. Learn more Past Events Poverty Elimination: Past Events Is Our Healthcare on the Chopping Block? The Poverty Elimination Action Team organized an online chat about Health Accord NL on March 25, 2021. The Health Accord presents us with an opportunity to provide the provincial government feedback on our medical and health care systems. We talked about ways to engage and discussed the contracting of a private company (Change Healthcare), by our provincial government, to reduce our health care costs. We brought together participants to discuss through concerns about this approach, and ways to challenge austerity. Learn More Poverty Elimination: Pro Gallery PEAT TV Play Video Search videos Search video... All Categories All Categories Nonprofits & Activism People & Blogs The Cost of Poverty in the Atlantic Provinces, Report Release Play Video Green New Drinks on a Living Wage Play Video Poverty Elimination: Videos

Status For All Rally Sept 24, 2023 Hosted by the Migrant Action Centre Scroll down for a digital action! The Social Justice Co-op NL believes in a world without borders. We are imagining and working toward a Revolution of Care , a future that puts care at the core of social organization, instead of profit. We dream of a future where the destruction of thriving ecosystems for profit is brought to and end, where everyone's needs are met, and everyone's dignity is respected, everyone's value is celebrated. Where colonial, capitalist governments no longer decide who is worthy of rights, services, or protections. We know this future is possible and is coming because people, particularly Indigenous, Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Poor, Disabled, and Migrant feminists & abolitionist dreamers, organizers, and activists have been fighting and working for generations to bring it into being. Citizenship is a category that exists only to exclude, and reinforce the power of a colonial, capitalist state. It renders people who do not have it: excruciatingly vulnerable to brutally harsh exploitation by employers, without access to medical care, and other essential services, vulnerable to detention and deportation, The precarity a lack of status forces people into means that it is scarier and riskier for them to raise their voice against the inhumane treatment that is commonplace among people who are denied status. That is why it’s so important that we raise our collective voice, to speak up for people’s humanity and dignity. There is safety in numbers, and it is often unsafe for migrants to raise their voice and speak up for their rights alone. We must all join the call for Status For All, until none of our neighbours are forced to live without it. Last fall, the SJC attended a meeting with the Migrant Action Centre, Anti Racism Coalition NL, and the Worker Action Network with Minister Seamus O’Regan. He told us he was in favor of Status for All and that he would advocate for it in cabinet. He asked us to hold his feet to the fire on Status for All. And so we humbly ask for your help in doing so! Could you email Minister Seamus O'Regan? His email is: seamus.oregan@parl.gc.ca Ask him for an update on his efforts to advocate for Status for All in cabinet. Ask him if we can count on seeing the federal government move forward with Status for All, and when he expects this to unfold. Go to bit.ly/migrantrightsNL for a template email , which you're welcome to use in full or part. And then, Join the Migrant Rights Network's federal call at https://migrantrights.ca/ Thank you all for taking action! And let’s keep the energy and fight going all week, all year long. Let’s keep it going until we win Status for All! Email Minister O'Regan View Email Template Join #StatusForAll Migrant Justice Week Hosted by the Migrant Action Centre Sept 24 - Oct 1, 2023 Details at MigrantAction.ca

Acerca de The SJC offers a prescription coverage benefit to our members! In partnership with Genrus United and our apex provincial organization for co-operatives, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives (NLFC), SJC is proud to offer our members and our volunteers a health benefit. This prescription program will support members and volunteers without prescription coverage through other sources such as a private or group (employment) health benefit plans. In particular, this program will help people who often have to choose between purchasing necessities like utilities/rent/food and purchasing necessary medications. Cost: $21.95 plus tax per year per person Savings: most people save an average of 30% to 50% on generic medications The Highlights: any SJCNL member or volunteer can join, regardless of age, health history, employment status, or existing medication coverage only operates using independent pharmacies and therefore keeps $$ circulating in the local economy prescription list of more than 150 everyday generic medications, including meds for mental health, birth control, and impotence, as well as meds for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, ulcers, reflux, and asthma Check the meds list for meds you are already prescribed here . How it works... Are you an interested member, who may or may not also be a current volunteer? Contact the Membership Director at sjcnlboard@gmail.com . The director will confirm your membership details with you and provide the SJC code for registration with Genrus United. Are you an interested volunteer, but not yet an SJC member? Make sure you have registered with Lea, our volunteer coordinator, as a volunteer by filling out this volunteer form . Lea will confirm your volunteer details with you and provide you with the SJC code for registration with Genrus United. After receiving the SJC code, visit genrusunited.ca/community . Sign up for the Genrus United program online using the SJC code. You will receive the first 3 months free; a one-time payment for the year only starts after that time (similar to a Netflix subscription!). You should then inform either a) The Prescription Shoppe in Churchill Square (St. John's) or b) Conception Bay Pharmacy in Holyrood that you are switching to their pharmacy from another pharmacy. Note: Both pharmacies offer free local delivery within a certain radius and paid delivery outside their free radius. The pharmacy in Holyrood is responsible for province-wide delivery through Canada Post which typically takes 24-72 hours. The pharmacist coordinates the switch for you. Tada! To learn more about Genrus United, visit: genrusunited.ca/ Image Description: A smiling, white-coated and Genrus-registered pharmacist helps a client fill their prescriptions at the counter in a pharmacy. Stocked shelves can be seen behind the pharmacist. The photo background is white and beside the image is text that reads "Genrus United: Spend less on the prescription drugs you trust."

We Are The Movement Learn more about the people who make up the SJC Sarah Sauve (she/her) Where does Sarah call home? Sarah was born in Hull, Quebéc, which is now Gatineau, but as a teen moved to Nova Scotia, then Newfoundland and Labrador, completed grad school in London, England, and has since found her way back to YYT. When asked about her origins, Sarah contemplated, “I think of myself as a bit of a nomad – I really enjoy travel, moving around, and I haven’t stayed in one place for more than a few years in my adult life. Thinking about staying in one place for longer than a few years still kind of makes me uncomfortable (though less than before). I feel like there’s so much I’ll miss out on if I stay in one place.” It is SJC that has given Sarah a sense of belonging here. She considers Newfoundland & Labrador her home “and it’s because of the Co-op” she states. “I feel like I’ve found a community with which I can put down roots.” Sarah’s Life Experiences all Led her Toward Social Justice Work Sarah’s path to social justice started around age 16 when she attended the CISV Canada National Camp, an organization promoting cultural understanding and global leadership. A ten-year commitment to the organization honed Sarah’s ability to organize events on a local, national and international level. The ethos of CISV is to promote self-reflection, communication and the knowledge that people can truly affect change. Sarah recalls her experience of working with youth in China through her work with CISV. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme, with its focus on physical fitness, skill, service, and adventurous journeys also cultivated leadership and determination in Sarah; she impressively completed gold, which is not an easy task! Through her multitude of experiences, Sarah ended up completing Grad school in the UK and even sailed partway around the world. All of these life experiences, coupled with her recent membership in the anti-capitalist x activist book club, have influenced Sarah to engage in social justice with great commitment. Sarah reflects, “[The book club] has been instrumental in fundamentally challenging and changing my worldview and, I think, made me a better activist because of my increased understanding of structural issues like capitalism, the prison industrial complex, border imperialism and settler colonialism to name a few, and how they interact.” All Roads Lead to SJCNL Sarah: “It was kind of a no-brainer for me. When I first moved back to NL, I had decided that from then on, I would focus more on myself instead of giving so much of my time to activism – things like Argentinian tango and friendships new and old. Over time, however, I couldn’t keep not doing anything about the global problems I kept coming up against. When a friend brought me to a Green New Drinks event, I knew I’d found my people here. ”Let’s Talk Core Beliefs Sarah: “I identify as a feminist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist, anarchist, white, cis-gendered, highly educated, middle-class, neuro-typical woman. I essentially identify my sources of social privilege, which help frame where I’m coming from.“ Sarah Explains the Facets of her Ideology: Feminism to me means equity between all genders. I’ve also read feminist critique of scientific research which is much more widespread as a politic than just equal access to opportunity, but I haven’t looked into it enough to articulate that particular politic properly. Feminist science is a whole scientific epistemology. Anti-capitalism is taking action against capitalism. Though none of us can really live outside of it, we can do many small things in our everyday life to chip away at it (like reading radical literature, discussing and dreaming different futures with friends, refusing plastic wherever I can, refusing to buy what isn’t necessary). Abolition is about removing prisons, policing and surveillance from our society and in its place, building communities based on care where everyone’s needs are met. It sounds like a utopia, but it really needn’t be. We’ve been tricked into believing that hardship and violence are necessary to a functioning society but we don’t need those things to be happy and safe. Abolition is about building a new future just as much as it is about taking down the prison industrial complex. Alternatives to cops and prisons will be different for each community based on its needs and there will be mistakes made, but we need to try hundreds of different experiments and just do it until we get there. Those are all lessons learned from Mariame Kaba’s We Do This ‘Til We Free Us. Anarchy to me doesn’t mean fire, violence and chaos, as I’ve seen it portrayed in the media my whole life. It means community-based leadership and deep democracy, where we all have a say in what affects us. It’s decentralization and a focus on the local context. Interested in Joining SJC? Sarah feels that “feminism, anti-capitalism, abolition and anarchy are closely related politics and work together to combat systems of oppression and also build a better world. If this sounds at all appealing to you, check out the SJC’s Revolution of Care manifesto. ”Though joining was a no-brainer for Sarah, she recalls, “it took me a while to get used to the SJC’s structure; To understand the difference between the Co-op, the Coalitions, the board and membership. It took me a whole year after being involved to actually become a member; this is even though I’d been working with teams already. Once I got used to the decentralized organizational structure, I started to feel more comfortable and knew that this is where I can build community. This is where I can really both make a difference and put down roots.” What Makes this Work Worth it Despite the Challenges? Sarah: “The relationships I’ve built through my social justice work have been everything. I think it’s because being involved in leadership and social justice work has allowed me to be myself unapologetically, and I’m very open to new people. I’m happy to share all of myself, and I try to be as open and non-judgemental as I can and accept all of someone else. ”Are There Wins? “It’s incredibly rewarding to see the small wins we achieve through our work. An event, protest, march, or campaign might not have the desired effect on the seats of power that we want to influence immediately, but if we’ve brought one more person on board to the Revolution, it’s a win. In Mariame Kaba's book, she states that our ‘losses’ aren’t really losses because we are learning things and building momentum through our organization all the time.” How Does this Fit into the Big Picture? One day, we’ll achieve the big changes we want to see, but we have to keep working at it. ‘Do it with others –nothing worth doing is done alone’” (Mariama Kaba). In addition to reading Mariama Kaba’s We Do This ‘Til We Free Us, Sarah highly recommends that we all read Pollution is Colonialism by Max Liboiron. Anne Malone (she/her) Q: Where do you call home? A: I call St. John's, NL home. I have spent a lot of time in Costa Rica but have never had residency there. I love Costa Rica because the country is so environmentally focused and they have a very socialized approach to education and health care. The University of Peace is there and they are in general an incredibly progressive county. Q: Tell us about how your background and life experiences have led you toward social justice work. A: I was always drawn to social justice issues but had never aligned myself with a specific organization. I was part of Project Ploughshares, which formed in the 1970’s and is a group who worked with governments, and civil society, in Canada and abroad, to advance policies and actions to prevent war and armed violence and build peace. For me I connected with them when world peace was an idea in the 1980’s anti-nuclear movement . Then I focused on child rearing and in 2008 I acquired a disability. My sight loss was something that I could not ignore and my status in the world had changed. Opportunities evaporated. I experienced chronic unemployment. That, coupled with all of the barriers, led me to advocate for an accessible urban environment. From there I moved my focus on pedestrian rights and I began to encounter barriers one by one. As my vision decreased, I understood intimately how moving through an urban environment with ease and safety was paramount. Then the next barrier that came with my vision loss was to print media. Through that experience, I learned two things: It was important to advocated for accessibility in our municipalities I realized that many people who have disabilities struggle with poverty because of under employment and lack of government support. They struggle with discriminatory bias and that is significant particularly for people who need assistive technology to read. Those technologies are not free, they are very expensive; for example, a screen reader costs over $2000.00. Having a disability affects everything in your life. It must be noted that people who have disabilities are often caught in a poverty loop. One of the most devastating aspects of sight loss is that barriers to print. We have advancements with computer technology, but for people with sensory disabilities, you need a technology which will enable you to actually access the technology such as the internet. You feel so isolated. Q: Why did you join the SJCNL? A: I joined the SJC when I was connected with Dr Elizabeth Yeoman. In 2012 she was working on a short documentary called ‘Honk If You Want Me Off The Road' which was about the difficulties pedestrians encountered in St. John’s in the winter. And around that time a group emerged at the SJC, called Challenge Car culture, which was advocating for year-round sidewalk accessibility in St. Johns. It was through Elizabeth that I became aware of and joined the SJC. Q: What are your core beliefs and how do they influence how you participate in the SJCNL? A: My core belief is that we live in a world of abundance with very poorly distributed resources. Therefore, my heart always goes to support people who are living with a burden of poverty and the kind of inaccessible connection between poverty, race poverty, gender poverty and disabilities. I began to understand that these things are not coincidences but rather the result of systems and institutions that were constructed to elevate certain groups of people while oppressing other groups of people. I believe that to be morally wrong in every way. Q: What was the moment you realized joining the SJCNL was a good move for you? A: I realized that, I think it was in Dec of 2020, on International Day for Persons with Disabilities, when a large crowd of disabled and non-disabled people gathered on the steps of City Hall and demanded that the city revise a budget that would have reduced public transit in the city… and they met our demand. It worked! It made me and every other disabled person in that gathering feel seen and feel heard. I also realized that as a minority, we tend to think that the people who we have to win over are people in positions of power, but what I learned was, it is far more important to win the solidarity of the voter, not the politician. Because the voter will determine who holds those positions of power. It was pouring rain that evening and watching the Go Buses pull up and the wheelchairs roll out was incredible. It was dark outside, but the steps of City Hall were illuminated with lights from the media . I was gobsmacked. People were telling their personal stories in front of a mic and a camera. This was really happening! I was crying! Had it not been for SJC it would not have happened. Q: Is there anything that we have not asked that you would like to tell us about? A: Next steps in disability awareness could be the acknowledgement of Disability Pride month, which is in July of every year. I would like to see the month of July internationally. I would like to see our community elevated during disability pride month in particular. And I would like to see events that are accessible and public to increase the visibility and amplify the voices and experience of people who have disabilities in our province. Particularly for people who live on the intersections of race and disability and indigeneity in disability and poverty and disability. Q: What makes this work worth it despite the challenges? A: What makes it worth it , is that every step towards our goal is a step. Every statement that is made publicly by a person with a disability is another chink in the armour . Visibility matters, representations matters and being recognized as a member of a community matters. Q. Is there anything that you are reading, watching or listening to that you would recommend to people for SJC learning and sharing? A. I am reading two books right now. One book is called There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness by M. Leona Godin. It is a combination of memoir and the history and culture around blindness. It is written by a woman who experienced loss of her eyesight in her late 20s. It is on the New York Times Best Seller List. It gives so much insight into the invisible struggles of people who live with sight loss. We begin to understand why things are the way they are in the 21st Century, and we begin to understand how the bias that exists today comes from superstitions that formed during the Middle Ages. For example, the term ‘legally blind’ is a throwback to a time when people with disabilities had no other way to support themselves other than to literally beg for alms in public places. To earn the right to do that, people who had invisible disabilities, like blindness, had to appear before a magistrate and undergo certain tests that certified that the disability was valid. If they passed the test, they were declared to be legally entitled to charity and they were now ‘legally blind’. They would wear a licence on a string around their neck. So even though it is antiquated, this is a term that is still used by doctors, organizations and legalized forms. The other book is called Ain't I a Woman? by bell hooks. I got to know her name from my critical disability theory study group. It’s a study of black feminism. Her language is very conversational and very easy to digest. I am having one ‘Eureka!’ movement after another as I read this book. I am also very drawn to black women and women of colour, and I am so inspired and informed by their activism and their advocacy. We owe them a debt of gratitude in helping to inform us of activism in disability justice.