As people of many faiths and moral traditions, we hold close in our hearts the communities whose sense of safety, joy, and belonging has been shaken. We grieve with the Jewish community reeling from the violence at Bondi Beach, and we affirm our care and solidarity with Muslim immigrants—especially Somali and Afghan families—who are being targeted, vilified, and made to feel unwelcome. We also stand with Sikh immigrant drivers and others whose livelihoods and dignity are threatened by fear, scapegoating, and hate. And we continue to organize and act alongside our immigrant justice coalitions for the dignity, safety, and freedom — particularly for Black and Brown people.

These acts and policies diminish the joy and light that are meant to mark our shared public life. They wound not only those directly harmed, but the moral fabric of our communities as a whole. Our faiths teach us that every person is sacred, deserving of safety, dignity, and the freedom to live without fear.

As we move through this holiday season for many, we choose hope. We commit ourselves to being sources of light in darkened times—protecting one another, speaking truth with love, and nurturing joy where it has been diminished. May this season renew our courage to stand together, and may peace, justice, and compassion take deeper root in the days ahead.

In the spirit of peace and love,

Joyce del Rosario, Executive Director

Transforming Our Future Together in 2026

As we close this year, we look forward to advocating with you during the 2026 state legislative session to address some of the harms many of our communities have faced in this past year, and to create a more promising future for all of us. We will enter that legislative season grounded in our shared belief that every person has inherent dignity and that our liberation and well-being are bound together and with the earth.

This session brings major budget pressures, the continued need to protect Washington’s social safety net, and new opportunities to advance justice in housing, immigrant rights, climate, democracy, and progressive revenue. With your partnership, we will continue building a Washington rooted in justice and compassion for all.

Our legislative agenda goes to our board for review this week. However, here's a sneak peek at a few policies and budget imperatives to get you primed. We will:

• Continue to clamor for thoughtful progressive revenue that will make our tax code more stable, sustainable and equitable, stepping away from balancing our budget on the backs of the poor.
• Speak loudly to protect food security, housing and the safety net, and to ask the state to step in where the federal government is failing our neighbors.
• Urge health equity for our immigrant neighbors and the outlawing of masking by law enforcement, and seek more worker, data and privacy protections all of us.
• Advocate for our homegrown bill to enable religious communities to provide low-income housing, and for another bill barring localities from forbidding shelters and transitional housing within their borders.
• Press for our legislators to preserve full funding for our climate commitments and wildfire resilience.
• Support indigenous representation in decision-making bodies on "natural resources" and transportation.
• Create new fair chances for people in total confinement whose sentences are increased by offenses they committed as minors, and relieve legal financial obligations.

We will be publishing a full legislative agenda at the beginning of the new year. Given the pressures and constraints of this session, our specific priorities may shift somewhat within our overall priorities. Please prepare to be nimble while holding to our central vision of thriving communities, shared power and belonging, and a healthy earth. We can't reach this vision without you!

Please also save the date for these upcoming FAN trainings.

Tues, January 6, 6:00-7:00 pm Advocacy as a Spiritual Practice (Zoom)

Weds, January 7, 6:00-7:00 pm LD Leads Training (Zoom)

Tues, January 13, 6:30-7:30 pm Housing and Homelessness Working Group (Zoom)

Weds, January 14, 6:00-7:30 pm Advocacy 101 Workshop (Zoom)

Make sure you also register for the January 8 Spokane meeting from 5:30-7 pm at Westminster UCC in Spokane. RSVP here.

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