Racine Interfaith Coalition

Through community-organizing strategies of education and advocacy RIC works with marginalized members of the Racine community, training leaders and assisting them to work in partnership to create a more just community. RIC is an affiliate of the statewide WISDOM network and the international Gamaliel Foundation. With our partners in WISDOM we work together to encourage constructive policy change at the statewide level (e.g., encouraging the state legislature to enact interest rate caps to put an end to predatory lending in Wisconsin.) In a major effort through our Sacred Ground Committee we have been advocating this year to establish a women?s residential AODA treatment center in Racine. Previously, Sacred Ground organized a Mentoring Summit, which strengthened mentoring programs in Racine and Kenosha. Their work has also steered many low-income people into sustainable home ownership. Our ?Dare to Dream? initiative is a pilot program that provides fifteen, at-risk youth a combination of mentoring, skill training, and non-violence education. The Immigration Committee is working at a local level with the city to establish an Immigration Commission to improve relations with the immigrant community. At the national level we are partnering with other Gamaliel affiliates to seek comprehensive immigration reform.

The Racine Interfaith Coalition (RIC) is a congregation-based community organization with a mission to address the root causes of social justice problems and to provide leadership for new ways of thinking and acting. RIC was incorporated in 1995. The organization has grown to include almost twenty member congregations from various Christian denominations, as well as the Jewish, Moslem and Unitarian Universalist faith traditions. We have enjoyed successes in raising public awareness in order to close local drug houses, organizing local banks to provide affordable loans for new home owners, and developing community-wide conversation about effective alternatives to the County Jail expansion. Our newest task force is developing community partnerships to provide better job opportunities for disadvantaged youth in Racine.