Faith in Texas at Horizon
Email fit@horizonuu.org if you want to learn more about how Horizon’s members and friends work with Faith in Texas.
The Road to Liberation and the Dallas County Budget
In 2021 as part of the Road to Liberation initiative, Faith in Texas, including members of the Horizon FIT Justice Team, petitioned the Dallas County Commissioners Court to make changes to the county budget that reflected a commitment to reducing the county’s incarcerated population. These efforts included:
101 Rapid Action network calls and over 25 emails
Jail canvases - 18 bail canvases and 275 touches by 10 volunteers
12 clergy engagements
3 engagements by 8 volunteer leaders with the Dallas County Administrator's Office
Social media engagement - Too many tweets to count
While the Commissioners Court did not enact FIT’s desired changes, the commissioners devoted extensive on-record time to discussing them, indicating that our efforts had made an impression. We will continue to push for policies that will end mass incarceration and create a better community for everyone in Dallas County.
Email fit@horizonuu.org if you want to learn more.
Join the Rapid Action Network (RAN)
RAN is a great way to support people, who need us to let our opinions be known. Faith in Texas will be using the RAN to communicate with elected officials about the Road to Liberation Campaign. FiTX also uses RAN during the 2021 Texas Legislative regular and special sessions in 2021. Sign-up and get trained now! You can be a part of the RAN network without leaving your home. When you receive a RAN alert, an information link is texted to you which includes:
● The Issue Area in question
● Contact information for whom to call, email, or sign-and-share
● Context for the call, email, or sign-and-share
● Script for call, email, or sign-and-share
You have 24 hours to complete the action and to briefly text your results to your captain. Not everyone is able to participate in every action every time, but with teams, not only from Horizon but from other faith communities in the Dallas area, these contacts add up to a strong voice!
To join a RAN team, you must complete a short video training and register. Soon after that, your Horizon RAN team captain will contact you. To get started, please email FIT@HorizonUU.org.
Horizon Justice Team - Housing Survey
The survey conducted in February 2020 received 124 responses from members and visitors. 80% of respondents live in Denton or Dallas counties and 30% have school age children living in their home.
26% of respondents responded Yes to “Are you or have you ever been concerned about your ability to stay in your residence because of your housing expense?”
21% of respondents responded Yes to “If someone else is living with you (an adult child or other), is it primarily because you or they need to share the housing costs?
25% of respondents responded Yes to “Are you spending more than 30% of your net monthly income on housing expenses, including insurance and property taxes?”
Justice Team members practicing 1-on-1 relational meetings.
Horizon has an active Justice Team, which works hand-in-hand with Faith In Texas, a multi-race, multi-faith movement developing civic leadership in faith communities for economic and racial justice. This statewide organization trains teams of lay leaders in local churches, mosques, and synagogues. These justice teams identify systemic problems that affect their communities and move entire congregations to action through powerful policy campaigns. Faith in Texas creates space for empathy, storytelling, and shared action across the boundaries of race, religion, and economics.
To learn more, visit faithintx.org
To get involved, email FiT@HorizonUU.org