Weaving Our Strengths 2025

On Saturday, March 8, over 100 community members joined us for our 2025 Weaving Our Strengths, hosted at University Congregational United Church of Christ! The first two years of bringing back Weaving Our Strengths were focused on grounding the community in the organizing methodology and anti-racism values that guide our work. This year, we centered the strengths we bring and the commitments we make to one another as we respond to the threats pouring daily from the White House, particularly toward migrant communities.

Blue Morpho opened the event with traditional Costa Rican dance. See more of their work on Instagram! Rev. Shalom Agtarap, of First UMC Tacoma and Common Good Tacoma, challenged us to build authentic relationships with one another, asking what the community needs and being willing to take risks for community care, rather than focusing our energy on preserving our buildings or filling seats just for the sake of it. It will take all of our strengths woven together to keep our communities safe and to work toward a future where justice is realized.

After a lunch of pupusas, we broke into a first round of workshops: Know Your Rights, Sanctuary Q&A, and Seattle Budget Organizing. The second round covered Rapid Response, Fondo de Grupo de Solidaridad, and the Faith Land Initiative.

Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) led a Know Your Rights training to prepare the community on what to do if you encounter Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP), what to do if you witness immigration activity by ICE or CBP, and examples of judicial warrants and ICE warrants. You can find a copy of their Know Your Rights Flyer here, in many languages.

Joey led a Rapid Response training for folks to learn more about existing rapid response networks that support communities, build pressure to stop detention and deportation, and ultimately keep families together.

WAISN hosts Know Your Rights and Rapid Response trainings monthly. Sign-up for our E-News to stay up to date!

At the Sanctuary Q&A workshop, we shared the pillars of caring for community members through sanctuary, and participants submitted questions about this process. This workshop introduced the work - interested community members are encouraged to join us on March 23 for We Keep Us Safe: Supporting Migrants in Your Faith Community 101. The workshop will cover what you can do as a faith community to best support migrant community members in your building. Click this link to RSVP.

One of the three priorities of our Grupo de Solidaridad is building a resource mobilization process so that Grupo members can raise funds and guide their disbursement to support migrant community members. Through our Fondo de Grupo de Solidaridad Listening Session, Grupo began strategizing for this work, collaborating around the needs of migrant communities, and identifying the strengths of the community. As the Church Council continues to shift toward following the leadership of impacted communities, creating more fluid and transparent avenues for Grupo to shape our immigration organizing work is key.

Our Budgets are a moral document! Panel recapped our strategies and lessons learned from the 8 weeks in Fall 2024 where the Church Council showed up at City Hall to advocate for a budget that reflects the values of community care. While we did not have direct budget wins in 2024, it is clear that our work had an impact, both on our ability to influence City Council moving forward, and to build power with community groups who share our values. To learn more and join this work, sign up here: Budget Organizing Interest Form

Last but not least, our Acting Intentionally Toward Transformation: Introduction to the Faith Land Initiative workshop covered the history and overview of the Faith Land Initiative, hearing from community members whose faith communities have participated in a Faith Land Discernment Cohort. We looked at a tool that faith communities can use as part of their discernment process, and talked through some challenges that participants are facing in their communities. Recruitment for our 2025-2026 Faith Land Discernment Cohort is starting soon - here is where you can sign up: FLI Interest Form

Thank you to all who joined us for this incredible day! We look forward to organizing together in the months to come!