The New River Valley Chapter of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) began in 1998 with a meeting at Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg of 40 representatives of New River Valley congregations.  These representatives came together to find ways to expand their charitable work with the poor and oppressed in their communities by changing laws and other public policies.  They took their concerns related to poverty to their local legislators, beginning to build relationships through which they could promote compassionate public policy. 
Since 2002, when the New River Valley Chapter of Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy was formally organized, we have been involved in communicating local social justice concerns to VICPP leadership, educating our fellow citizens about social justice issues, and advocating for the poor and oppressed among us with the Virginia General Assembly.

Among the projects we have organized are:  
-Annual Social Justice U's— trainings for members of local faith communities in how to be effective social justice advocates
- A community play—“Nickeled and Dimed”— based on Barbara Ehrenreich’s book of the same name and created by local activists concerned about the plight of Virginia Tech support staff (maintenance and food service staff and others) whose low wages do not support all their basic needs
- An interfaith program, "The Media and Religion-Based Advocacy", to highlight bias in media coverage of events.
- “The poverty diet”, an opportunity for members of our communities to understand the nourishment deficits of the poor by eating the kinds of foods the poor can afford
- Meetings following General Assembly sessions in which our local legislators answered citizens’ questions about the outcomes of the sessions
-Showing of the film, “Maxed Out,” at the Lyric Theater to raise public awareness about predatory lending practices of payday lenders
-A conversation between a Democratic Senator and a Republican Delegate that represent our area about the influence of their religious faiths on their political decisions.
- Forums for political candidates before local and state elections, co-sponsored with the League of Women Voters, local AARP, local NAACP, and others.
 
Our chapter members hail from a variety of faiths and include Methodists, Lutherans, Jews, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Unitarian Universalists. The leadership council of the Chapter has persons sent to represent several whole congregations including the Unitarian-Universalists, the Jewish Community Center, Lutheran Memorial Church, Blacksburg Presbyterian, Blacksburg United Methodist, Grove United Methodist, and Northside Presbyterian church. The statewide organization of which we are a part, headquartered in Richmond, is governed by a board of directors composed of activists from many faiths—Catholics, Muslims, Baptists, Jews, Friends, and others.

In coming months and years, we aim to extend our local outreach more broadly, to involve more faith communities in advocating for humane social policies and to build strong partnerships with like-minded organizations.  We aim to better inform and partner with our state and local elected officials about issues here in the New River Valley and to polish our strategies for promoting compassionate public policies.  Above all, we want to be a voice for and instill hope in Virginians who cannot hire their own lobbyists.

Chapter Chair: 

Stephanie Gilmore

Unitarian Universalist

stephaniegilmo@gmail.com