Kate Luby is the associate organizer for ICARE, the Inter-Church Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment.
WHAT IS ICARE ABOUT?
“We work on different community justice issues. The goal is to help churches be engaged in the life of the community. Many churches already do social services, so instead of replicating that we’re a voice in the community for justice.” First Presbyterian Church, one of the 50 member congregations in ICARE, houses the group.
JUSTICE LEAGUE
“We help churches identify issues of concern to them in the community and work on a strategy on how to address them. It’s going to be more for holding public institutions accountable.”
FOR EXAMPLE
“With crime problems, our strategy was to hold the sheriff’s department accountable. We’ve had great cooperation with the JSO in addressing drugs and crime.”
WHAT ISSUES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT?
“Supporting implementation of direct instruction curriculum in the more challenged Duval schools. We are working with the school district to get a school-wide discipline strategy implemented in pilot schools. We’re also organizing a living wage campaign. A living wage coalition was formed as a combination of faith-based organizations, community groups and unions to get Jacksonville to pass a living wage ordinance requiring a living wage be paid to anyone who works for the City.”
RATIONALE BEHIND THE ORDINANCE
“If we pay them minimum wage, we have to turn around and use tax dollars for HUD housing or food stamps. The goal is to provide enough money for them to support their family.”
WHAT ARE YOUR DUTIES?
“All the folks who work with ICARE are volunteers. I do whatever I can to help them. I send out reminder notices or call about meetings. I facilitate the agenda to make sure everything that needs to get done, gets done. I’m very much behind the scenes. All of the staff at ICARE is behind the scenes, supporting the goals of the leadership.”
HOMETOWN
Fort Worth.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO JACKSONVILLE?
“When I was in Baton Rouge, I was looking around for something to do and I was interested in organizing. Plus, my fiance [Mike Faggella] lives here. He teaches at Bishop Kenny.”
HAVE YOU SET A WEDDING DATE?
May 26.
EDUCATION
Luby has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies with a concentration in peace and conflict from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
WHY GET A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN THIS FIELD?
“It was what I was most interested in. I felt the questions of religion — Who are we? Who is God? What is the relationship between the two? — were important to look at.”
ECCLESIASTICAL EMPLOYMENT
Prior to her current position, Luby had already invested a year with ICARE through Catholic Volunteers in Florida. Other endeavors included a year of volunteer service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and a stint at a Boys and Girls Club in Baton Rouge, La.
WHAT’S MOST REWARDING ABOUT YOUR WORK?
“Most exciting is being able to build relationships across all kinds of different lines, people who are black, white, rich or poor. We have 12 different denominations represented; half of the congregation is white and the other half is African-American. It’s really powerful and inspiring for me. Another is helping people take action on an issue that concerns them. To get people together to do something is energizing.”
FIGHTING FOR THE UNDERDOG
“The biggest challenge is helping people overcome feelings of powerlessness. Often we’re taught we shouldn’t be concerned about the bigger things. Some people just stay stuck where they are. You have to be very persistent and that can be tiring.”
RESIDENCE
Riverside. “I love Memorial Park. I think the river is phenomenal and because it’s so close to my house I walk there quite a bit.”
SIMPLE TASTES
A nature lover, Luby enjoys hiking, camping and kayaking. She is a vegetarian and doesn’t own a television set. Her preference is reading, especially non-fiction books about social change or theology.
WHO IS YOUR HERO?
“I’m inspired by people who worked in the Labor Movement like Cesar Chavez [of the United Farm Workers]. I find lots of heroes in civil rights history such as Fannie Lou Hamer [organizer of the Mississippi Freedom Party] — people who have done much of what I’d like to do, who have made a change in the world and helped empower people to make their own lives better.”
— by Monica Chamness