Announcing 2007 Windcall Residents

The 2007 Windcall Residents include organizers working for a just recovery and construction on the Gulf Coast and community activists honored as Ambassadors of Justice by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Xochitl Bervera, Co-Director, Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children (FFLIC)
New Orleans, LA
September 2007 Residency
www.fflic.org

"All of us were working day and night (in the months after Katrina). Every so often, someone uttered the words, survivors guilt and PTSD and I would scoffI took some time off last July and realized it wasnt all my responsibility, nor was it my fault the deaths, the destruction, the absence of actionI have never believed in anything as strongly as the power of people to unite, fight and win but I am not done processing, healing, or understandingWindcall is a dream opportunity in my eyes right now."

Xochitl Bervera is a trained facilitator specializing in campaign development aimed at helping coalitions and grassroots organizations build power to win. She is co-founder of FFLIC, a statewide membership-based organization dedicated to creating a better life for Louisianas youth. Berveras leadership was integral to FFLICs signature achievement: the passage of legislation that closed the brutal Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth. FFLIC continues to organize for more community based services and the closure of other youth facilities. Bervera previously organized against the war, conducted juvenile defense, staffed a legal clinic for gay and lesbian youth, and provided media training to social justice groups.

Norris Henderson, Soros Justice Fellow and Co-Director, Safe Streets/Strong Communities
New Orleans, LA
September 2007 Residency
www.safestreetsnola.org

"Each year, one quarter of New Orleans residents are funneled through New Orleans public safety system, nationally known for its abuses and level of corruption before Katrina. As tragic as Katrina was, it has also given us a unique opportunity for meaningful change. Weve been working at breakneck speed to take advantage of it even as we rebuild our lives. Frankly, I've been running non stop since Katrina and need a break."

As someone who was wrongfully incarcerated for 27 years, Norris Henderson knows first hand the racism and brutality of the criminal justice system. Self-taught during his incarceration as a paralegal, advocate and organizer, he now works with Safe Streets/Strong Communities, promoting community organizing and advocacy campaigns to transform the criminal justice system in New Orleans. Henderson has had tremendous success impacting public policy regarding police accountability and public defense for poor people as well as in reforming the notorious Orleans Parish Prison. He provides valuable insights into the concerns of prisoners, the formerly incarcerated and their families while building bridges with other communities of color, particularly immigrant workers. Henderson founded Voice of the Ex-Offender (VOTE) to educate, organize and mobilize formerly incarcerated persons about their right to vote in Louisiana.

Bill Henning, Executive Director, Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL)
SEIU Ambassador for Justice Awardee
Boston, MA
May 2007 Residency
www.bostoncil.org

"At Windcall, I had nearly two weeks of rest, reflection, play and conversationit was wonderful. We were respected and even sometimes pamperedit is so healthy to have a rare check-out from our works around-the-clock intensity, to restore and renew energy and ideas."

Bill Henning is currently the Executive Director of the BCIL, which provides services to over 5,000 individuals with disabilities of any age and which is a leading advocacy voice for people with disabilities in Massachusetts. Previously he worked at the Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled in Hyannis. Henning has helped spearhead campaigns to improve healthcare, housing, transportation, and enforcement of civil rights laws for people with disabilities, employing strategies that include direct action, traditional legislative advocacy, and class-action lawsuits. He has been arrested nine times for civil disobedience in conjunction with the national disability-rights group ADAPT and has worked behind the scenes to secure passage of at least six pieces of legislation enhancing the independence of people with disabilities. He also helped build an alliance between people with disabilities and homecare workers, which led to legislation to improve pay and benefits for caregivers and improved services. Previously, he worked with Vietnam veterans, Mexican farm workers in Idaho, and people on welfare.

Pastor Emilio Hernandez, Organizer, Connecticut Center for a New Economy
SEIU Ambassador for Justice Awardee
New Haven, CT
May 2007 Residency
www.ctneweconomy.org

"Windcall came in the most crucial point of my life as a community organizer. It became a time of repositioning. It was me, mother nature, and God. There were two strangers with me from other parts of the nation, who not only became lifetime friends, but were sources of wisdom in helping me with life-changing decisions. My conclusion is that I'm not only a pastor, but also an organizer. In the tranquility of those mountains I found rest, peace, truth, friends, wisdom, direction, and above all I found myself... the real me."

Pastor Emilio Hernandez is Pastor of Knowing God Ministries in New Haven, CT, a multicultural church that is involved with the community. He has also worked for six years with the Connecticut Center for a New Economy, where he is an organizer with CORD (Community Organized for Responsible Development). CORDs first major campaign for community benefits from Yales New Haven Hospital expansion project resulted in an agreement providing for housing and economic development, community hiring, and the right to hold a fair union election (after nine years!) for 1,800 workers. On a statewide level, Rev. Hernandez has organized clergy to become involved in social justice. He was the lead organizer for a statewide coalition that brought together Hispanic, African American and white ministers to collaborate on issues of social justice in 2006. Rev. Hernandez is part of the leadership of the New Haven Association of Hispanic Evangelical Ministers (AMEHN). The Association is helping pastors through Connecticut begin clergy associations in their own areas with a social justice and community organizing focus.

Beni Ivey, Center for Democratic Renewal
Atlanta, GA
September 2007 Residency
http://www.thecdr.org

"I haven't had a break in over two years. In addition, my sister and my mentor and close friend, Coretta Scott King, died within six months of each other, so I need some time to heal, nourish and rejuvenate myself."

An activist for civil and human rights since the 1960s, Beni Ivey has worked on countless voter education drives and helped raise millions of dollars for progressive organizations and political campaigns. She co-founded the Georgia Black United Fund in 1975 and continues to provide fundraising support to emerging community groups in the South. Since 1993, Ivey has been Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Renewal, the nations leading organization documenting hate crimes and assisting communities with strategies to combat racism, anti-Semitism, religious intolerance and homophobia. CDR recently launched a documentation and organizing effort encompassing a broader array of human rights abuses, including police violence and attacks on immigrants.

Reverend Sam E. Mann, St. Mark Union Church and United Inner City Services

Kansas City, MO
May 2007 Residency

"I was weary when I arrived at Windcall and probably on the verge of a serious illness. But I made sure I had plenty of solitude, including long stretches of silent time, which my fellow residents supported. I left Windcall a changed person and have transformed my lifestyle. I now manage time instead of time managing me. Windcall helped me catch myself and I can now envision that I have many more decades ahead of me."

Rev. Mann has been Pastor Administrator of St. Mark Union Church and Executive Director of United Inner City Services for 33 years, overseeing social services, community development, street organizations, and violence prevention programs. He has been a long-time civil rights activist, having marched in numerous demonstrations including the march for garbage workers in Memphis and the march against the Vietnam War led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was part of the U.S. delegation that visited Dr. Nelson Mandela right after his release from prison. Dr. Mann has been jailed for civil disobedience on several occasions for his activity. He served as a key participant along with the late Dr. Mac Charles Jones (another former Windcall resident) in the national effort to respond to the burning of black churches. He is co-founder of the project Reframing the Dialogue on Race in America which addresses white supremacy and white privilege. He seeks to inspire white ministers to address racism in their congregations.

Ursula Price, Outreach and Investigations Coordinator, Safe Streets/Strong Communities
New Orleans, LA
September 2007 Residency
www.safestreetsnola.org

Safe Streets/Strong Communities is a community-based organization that campaigns for a new criminal justice system in New Orleans, one that creates safe streets and strong communities for everyone, regardless of race or economic status. Price has been a long-time advocate for poor people and people of color in the criminal justice system, including those facing the death penalty, with organizations such A Fighting Chance and Louisiana Capital Assistance. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit, Price documented the stories of those who were incarcerated, many for lengthy periods of times without being convicted, who were caught in the rising waters. Prices work is now focused on reforming the Orleans Parish Jail System to ensure that jails and detention are only used to protect public safety or ensure appearance in court (decreasing the numbers of people held simply because they are without representation or charged with minor crimes), create greater public transparency and reduce patronage, replace the current jail complex with a more safe and appropriate facility, and expand alternatives to incarceration.

Maureen Ridge, Health Systems Senior Organizer, Service Employees International Union
Madison, WI
September 2007 Residency
www.seiu.org

"I want to do this organizing work for about 10 more years. But I hear my soul calling out to me that I am not making room for my creative self. Windcall will jumpstart a plan to make art a regular part of my life. In my organizing now, I live out of a suitcase and never know when it will be time to move. That in itself takes a toll on my body which would appreciate the rest."

Maureen Ridge is a long-time SEIU organizer, mostly in Massachusetts and now on the road. She began her work life at age 14 working grueling split shifts in a Boston hospital. Seven years later, she was approached by a union organizer and her commitment to empowering people (and herself) has been steadfast ever since. She has risen in the SEIU ranks and along the way has led the successful fight to keep a community hospital from closing and championed the rights of Head Start workers. She has also worked in coalitions addressing contingent labor exploitation as well as housing and public education in Boston. (Pictured with her son, Reggie Gossett, an organizer in New York)

Carole Zoom, Board Member, McKenzie River Gathering Foundation
Portland, OR
September 2007 Residency
www.mrgfoundation.org

"I've worked six days a week for 20 years. A few years ago, I had to undergo a tracheotomy and now use ventilator full-time. Im still active but the realities of my situation have changed my capacity and interests. During my recovery, I explored artwork as a way to reinterpret my social justice organizing experiences and explain them to others. Though I feel compelled to create visual art which educates and agitates, I cannot say I am yet comfortable in this new role. At Windcall, I can sit with my motivation and discomfort and hopefully come to peace with this decision."

Carole Zoom grew up with Muscular Dystrophy at a time when sidewalks, buildings, busses and even the public schools of her hometown of Knoxville were inaccessible to her. Since 1988, she has served as Executive Director for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities and as an organizer for the Industrial Areas Foundation, Stand for Children, and Lane Independent Living Alliance as well as Program Director for the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts. She helped organize for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carriers Access Act, and Fair Housing Amendments and for full access to the Federal Courthouse in Eugene, OR. Zoom is a photographer and Japanese woodblock artist, published in the Wall Street Journal, Country Living Magazine, Portland Monthly, Eugene Weekly and other media outlets.