What if there was a way to effectively impact local policymaking, while remaining firmly committed to the pursuit of human flourishing and bridge-building across parties? Gathered together by that question and sharing a common desire to express one’s spirituality particularly in the work of policy change, a group of folks have launched the Erie Spiritual Coalition (ESC).
What is the Erie Spiritual Coalition?
The name says it all. We are focused on Erie, on our life together in this city. For us, this meant talking to a variety of organizations before even launching ESC. It isn’t as if there are no organizations in this city doing good work: what could we add? The answers from the people and organizations we asked (which included the Blue Coats, Our West Bayfront, Bayfront East Side Taskforce, Erie’s several agencies resettling overseas arrivals, Housing and Neighborhood Development Service, or H.A.N.D.S., the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, and others) indicated that a group committed to pulling people together and having time and willingness to make calls, figure out policies, advocate and do research would be helpful.