Denver, December 28, 2020.

Dear Denver Justice and Peace Committee Family,

I write to you from within the walls of my apartment, which feel as if they continue to close in on me as we approach month ten of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a conservative estimation to suggest that it’s been a tough year for all of us. Perhaps like me you’ve been working from home, entertaining an endless series of Zoom guests as the days pass. Maybe you’ve been taking care of children who grow ever-tired of the back-and-forth between virtual schooling and hybrid schooling. Perhaps you don’t have the luxury of working from home and have been working as an essential worker in order to meet the needs of your family and our community at large. Regardless of how you have been spending the majority of your time for the past nine months, I guarantee that you’re likely feeling exhausted by the weight of the pandemic against a backdrop of grave political frustration. Just surviving the current moment feels like an act of resistance.

Despite the current situation, we have continued our work. We’ve deepened our ties with partner organizations in Latin America and in the United States, continued our outreach to schools in the Denver community, and supported the work of the encampment at the GEO Detention Facility in Aurora. We’ve continued to monitor human rights abuses in Latin America, as well as those happening in our own backyard perpetrated by police. We’ve called on the return of Garifuna leaders in Honduras, pushed for the Berta Cáceres Act to be approved by Congress, and fought back against dehumanizing immigration policies in the United States.

We have been able to continue this work thanks to your generous contributions this year. Thank you for your continued support of the Denver Justice and Peace Committee. You make our work of building a different world possible.

If you are able to under the current circumstances, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue our work into the new year. You can go to our website and click on the donation button or mail a check to DJPC Education Fund to PO Box 12403, Denver, CO 80212.

To help us decide our priorities for 2021, please attend our annual planning meeting on January 23, 2021.

We wish you and your families a very safe and healthy holiday season.

In solidarity,

Amy Czulada
Board Member