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We mourn and celebrate Nora Carr

Posted on by NCCJ

We mourn and celebrate Nora Carr


July 6, 2022
Category: News
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We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dr. Nora Carr.  Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time.

To us, Nora was a loyal and beloved friend, a supportive mentor, and an extraordinary champion for inclusion and justice.

As a visionary leader and a steadfast partner in our work to build more just and compassionate communities, Nora made a lasting impact on NCCJ.

Her daughter Tara’s time at Anytown in 2011 was such a transformative experience that it inspired Nora to volunteer her time and talent in support of NCCJ’s mission and work. She served two full terms as an NCCJ board member (2013-2019), chairing the board in 2016-17.

In her role at NCCJ, just as in her career with Guilford County Schools and her many volunteer roles with youth-serving organizations across our community, Nora was dedicated to removing barriers and providing access to opportunity for young people of all backgrounds.

Nora constantly pushed NCCJ as an organization to lean into our mission and make bold decisions that advanced our work on issues of justice, inclusion and equity.

Nora speaking on stage at NCCJ’s 2016 Citation Award Dinner. Other 2016-17 board members stand behind her, and NCCJ Youth Ambassadors stand at the front.

During her time on NCCJ’s board, she played played a key role in modernizing and reshaping our approach to communications and public relations, including serving on the marketing task for that helped come up with NCCJ’s new “look” when we rebranded in 2019.

We mourn for Nora and celebrate her extraordinary life and work.

“She was an equity warrior and fought so diligently and passionately for children.” – Dr. Sharon Contreras

As Guilford County Schools’ Chief of Staff for more than 13 years, Nora made a tremendously positive difference in countless lives. She had a particular passion for ensuring that policies and practices addressed the needs of often overlooked students, including LGBTQ+ children and children with exceptional needs.

Our community is stronger and our children’s futures are brighter because of Nora’s passionate leadership and unfailing dedication to equitable access and opportunities in education. 

Nora’s impact will endure. That’s because the work she set in motion continues, carried forth by the many people she befriended, mentored and inspired.

 

New Name, Same NCCJ

Posted on by NCCJ

New Name, Same NCCJ


July 1, 2022
Category: News
Tags: , , ,

NCCJ now stands for “North Carolina for Community and Justice.”

We’re still the same NCCJ.

The only difference is that our new full name is a more accurate reflection of who we are, where we are located, and who we serve.

NCCJ is a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization that serves people and communities in North Carolina.

To learn more about who we are and what we do, click here.

A Brief History of “NCCJ”

NCCJ has (almost) always been known as NCCJ. But that acronym has been shorthand for different things at different points in our history.

Our NCCJ (the one based in Guilford County, North Carolina) was formed in 1937 as “the Greensboro Council of Protestants, Jews and Catholics,” as a local chapter of a national organization that had been founded a decade earlier.

That national organization was originally called “The National Conference of Christians and Jews for the Advancement of Justice, Amity and Peace.” This was later shortened to “The National Conference of Christians and Jews,” often known simply as “the National Conference” or “the NCCJ.”

In the following decades interfaith friendship and cooperation remained central to our work, but the scope of our mission greatly expanded to encompass race, culture, gender, and other aspects of identity. In attempts to reflect this broader focus, our legal name changed twice in the 1990s: first to “The National Conference” and then to “The National Conference for Community and Justice.”

In 2005, the national organization dissolved and we became an independent nonprofit. At the time, we opted to keep the name that folks in our community already knew us by: “The National Conference for Community and Justice of the Piedmont Triad, Inc.”

(Read more about NCCJ’s history.)

However, the “National Conference” part of our name has been a bit confusing ever since. Any time we mentioned NCCJ to someone who’s unfamiliar with our organization, that person almost invariably asked, “What does that stand for?” Most people assumed the “NC” stood for “North Carolina” (makes sense, right?!)

New name, same NCCJ

So in June 2022, NCCJ’s Board of Directors voted to formally change our full legal name to “North Carolina for Community and Justice.”

This change is simply an adjustment to ensure that our name accurately reflects what we are already doing and indeed, what we have always done: serving people and communities in North Carolina.

It doesn’t mean that we are changing our mission or our focus.

NCCJ is still dedicated to countering bias, bigotry and racism and working to build more just and compassionate communities for all of us – not just some of us.

In other words, we’re still just NCCJ.

 

Anytown alumni just raised $25K for Anytown

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Anytown alumni just raised $25K for Anytown


June 30, 2022
Category: Anytown
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On June 1, a group of Anytown alumni kicked off the 2022 #AnytownEnergyCheck peer-to-peer campaign with a goal of raising $25,000 – which is enough to fully fund 20 Anytown scholarships.

Thanks over 200 people who answered the call and made donations to the 2022 Anytown Energy Check, they met their goal.

These gifts are directly impacting young leaders here in our community.

Last week at this summer’s June session of Anytown, this diverse group of teens came together to create an inclusive family.

Everyone had the opportunity to ask questions, share stories about their experiences, and compare perspectives on topics like race, gender, faith, sexual orientation, and more.

They practiced having respectful discussions about divisive issues, finding common ground and celebrating differences. They learned from each other and talked about ways to uplift and support each other after Anytown, as they go back into their home and school communities.

Watch this video for highlights from their week at camp.

Some of these friendships will last a lifetime.

The ideas we communicated and the experiences and perspectives we shared will reverberate throughout our community.

That’s because the empathy and compassion we nurtured affect how each of these students thinks about themselves, and each other. In big and small ways, it will change how they interact with their peers as they go back to school.

As past NCCJ executive director Steve Simpson always said to students at the end of each Anytown:

“Each of you is like a pebble. You may feel small, but when you’re cast into the water you’ll make big ripples that eventually reach the shore.”

About the Anytown Energy Check

The Anytown Energy Check is a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign run by Anytowners, for Anytown.

Through this campaign, Anytown alumni can pay the Anytown experience forward and helping to sustain this powerful NCCJ youth program that gives teens a space to be themselves, build self-confidence and resilience, and build empathy by forging genuine connections and friendships with other teens of all identities and backgrounds.

Since the first Anytown Energy Check campaign in the summer of 2016, Anytown alumni have raised more than $145,000. That’s 120 full Anytown scholarships!

We at NCCJ are deeply grateful to everyone who fundraised, everyone who donated, everyone who shared and “liked” a post about this crowdfunding campaign.

Thank you for using your voice, your time, and your resources to invest in Anytown and advance NCCJ’s work of building more just and compassionate communities for all of us – not just some of us.

You can lean more about Anytown here.

You can make a gift to invest in Anytown here.

NCCJ stands in support of reproductive rights

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NCCJ stands in support of reproductive rights


June 25, 2022
Category: Public Policy
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Reproductive rights are human rights.

At NCCJ, we strive to honor and respect each person’s lived experiences.

We believe people have a fundamental human right to bodily autonomy.

We stand with women and all people who can become pregnant in support of their rights to reproductive healthcare.

We should all be able to make the personal health care decisions that impact our lives, our physical and mental health, and our futures.

After the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reproductive rights are no longer federally protected. These rights are under attack at state and local levels. 

Banning or severely restricting access to abortion care harms all people. It disproportionately affects communities of color; it is an attack on racial justice, economic justice, and equality. For many people, it is a matter of life and death.

“Abortion bans exacerbate societal inequalities and disproportionately harm people of color and others who already face obstacles to health care.”

– Center for Reproductive Rights

“Above all others, women lacking financial resources will suffer from today’s decision. After this decision, some States may block women from traveling out of State to obtain abortions, or even from receiving abortion medications from out of State. Some may criminalize efforts, including the provision of information or funding, to help women gain access to other States’ abortion services.”

– Dissenting opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan

Right now, reproductive rights are still protected in North Carolina. However, some top officials are already calling for severe restrictions on those rights.

Now more than ever, we must work together to safeguard our fundamental rights.

“If you don’t have a personal experience with abortion, read the stories of those who have been brave enough to share their own publicly. Listen and read with a compassionate spirit and open heart. Acknowledge the emotions within the stories – and the feelings they stir within you.”

– Rev. Katey Zeh, “How to Talk About Abortion in Church”

We strongly encourage you to speak out and to take action on this critical human rights issue.

We urge you to vote for candidates and advocate for laws and policies that protect bodily autonomy and uphold reproductive rights for all people.

Some resources:

ACLU: Abortion is Essential: Stories of Liberation

Center for Reproductive Rights: The Disproportionate Harm of Abortion Bans

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice: Religion & Repro Resource Library

United Nations Human Rights: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Be someone’s Mrs. Atkinson today

Posted on by NCCJ

Be someone’s Mrs. Atkinson today


May 19, 2022
Category: Anytown
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Photo of an office. A Black woman sits at a desk and a young Latinx woman stands behind her. They are smiling.

Hi y’all – It’s María here, NCCJ’s assistant program director.

Today, I went to see Mrs. Gwen Atkinson at The Academy at Smith to hand her some Anytown applications for her students. Once I got there, she began to call student after student to come grab one. As I listened to her explain to them what Anytown is and why they need to go, I fought back my own emotions.

You see, Mrs. Atkinson was my school counselor when I was a student at Western Guilford High School.

One day, she called me to her office and told me I was going to NCCJ’s Youth Leadership Conference. She said that it was going to change my life. I didn’t really want to go, but I also didn’t want to let her down.

So, I went. And it did change my life. And I never looked back.

That summer, I attended Anytown as a delegate. Then I came back to Anytown as a peer counselor. Then after I finished college, I came back as an adult advisor. Then in graduate school I was an NCCJ intern.

And now, here we are. I’m one of the adults who run Anytown.

Twelve years have passed since that first moment when Mrs. Atkinson told me I needed to go to NCCJ’s youth programs. Year after year, the words she said to me make more sense.

Today, I watched as she looked at one of her students and said, “there’s a whole world out there baby, and you’re going to conquer it all.” And I couldn’t help but think about how she helped me conquer it, too.

The racially motivated hate crimes that occurred this past weekend are another tragic reminder that we must all work diligently to provide teens with opportunities to engage with folks from different races, religions and other walks of life in order to interrupt cycles of prejudice that can lead to deliberate and well-planned (i.e. far from senseless) acts of violence.

Help NCCJ do this work to provide these experiences for young people in our community before they find their “community” amongst those that would rather not see a world of mutual respect, acceptance and liberty for all.

Be someone’s Mrs. Atkinson today. Encourage a young person to apply to NCCJ’s youth programs. Help them fill out an application for Anytown or STARR. Tell them why it’s important to you for them to go. You just might change a life.

NCCJ