By Kevin Hayes

Members of Social Justice Seekers are planning to make positive changes in our city in 2019 through their own work and aligning themselves with other activist groups like the Merton Center, the Association of Pittsburgh Priests, Pax Christi, Casa San Jose, the Isaac Walton League, Pittsburgh North People for Peace, and others. Social Justice Seekers started in 2017 as an ecumenical and interfaith group to promote social justice values and call people to make social justice values a priority in their lives and society. Their Mission Statement is: Social Justice Seekers are people of faith who share common goals for positive change. We are committed activists who work for justice, peace, and reconciliation in our community and the world. We act with the hope our efforts will yield beneficial social-justice outcomes.

Due to the enthusiasm for Social Justice Seekers (SJS) and to have as much impact locally as possible, SJS started SJS South and SJS North.

SJS North meets every month, typically on the first Monday of the month. Their next meeting is March 4 at 7 PM at St. Paul United Methodist, 1965 Ferguson Rd, Allison Park, PA 15101. Issues the group are looking to address in 2019 is Gun Control, and specifically working to stop the proliferation of gun ranges in the North Hills; Immigration; Economic/Just Wage, and adequate Health Care for all. If you would like to be involved in the SJS North group, please email your name, zip code, and name of your church/mosque/ synagogue/temple affiliation if applicable to Mary Ann Love at maryannlove@comcast.net. Your email address will then be added to the SJS North and general SJS communication list.

SJS South meets each month, typically on the last Monday of the month. Their next meetings are on February 25 at St. Paul Episcopal Church at 7 pm, 1066 Washington Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228, and then on March 25 at Bower Hill Presbyterian Church at 7 pm, 70 Moffett St, Pittsburgh, PA 15243. Issues the group is looking to address in 2019 include Immigration, and helping immigrant families; Health Care, and protecting access to affordable care for all; Environmental protection, especially clean air and water; and working to promote interfaith dialogue in the South Hills. If you would like to be involved in the SJS South group or be involved generally without being a part of a regional group, please email your name, zip code, and name of your church/mosque/ synagogue/temple affiliation if applicable to Kevin Hayes at khayes@hayesdesign.com Your email address will then be added to the SJS South and/or the general SJS communication list.

Kevin Hayes is a principal and founder of Hayes Design Group – Architects. He has been active in social justice issues for over 35 years in Pittsburgh, and is one of the co-founders of Social Justice Seekers.

(TMC newspaper VOL. 49 No. 2 March 2019. All rights reserved.)