MEPPN Social Justice Day Recap & Oct 22 Housing Symposium

Dear St. Anne’s Friends,

On Saturday, our church hosted the MEPPN (Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network) Social Justice Day, bringing together faith leaders, legislators, and advocates to explore pressing social justice issues in Maryland.

We began with Morning Prayer led by Deacon Betsy Van Aucker and a powerful homily from Fr. Manoj, urging us to live into the Gospel by caring for our neighbors. Bishop Carrie challenged us to embrace discomfort as we advocate for justice, reminding us of our baptismal call to renounce evil and act for all God’s children.

We honored the memory of The Rev. Lee Hudson, a dedicated Lutheran pastor and MEPPN partner, and heard from Fr. Steve Holt about MEPPN’s mission. Delegates Regina Boyce and Cheryl Pasteur shared their experiences and legislative priorities.

Breakout sessions covered five key areas:

• Environment

  Joelle Novey, Director of Interfaith Power and Light (DC.MD. NoVA.) highlighted 2 bills:

  • CHERISH - which calls for an environmental review of all bills (failed last session) and

  • The Bottle Bill - which calls for a system where suppliers refund customers for returned bottles

  We considered how we can equip our congregations with information and encourage them to take action. Phil Reynolds, St. Anne’s MEPPN team suggested the idea of focusing on one bill at a time to avoid confusion and inviting our congregations to attend the Senate and Assembly hearings and to stand up in support of MEPPN speakers.

• Housing

  Marylanders in every region of our state are experiencing severe affordable housing shortages. This shortage affects renters and home buyers. Governor Moore has estimated we need 96,000 additional housing units. Here are four main points we covered in our MEPPN housing sessions.

  1. Your local jurisdiction must develop a plan by January 2026 to address the housing shortages in your area. Several people in our session reported that their local communities already have a housing shortage plan and additional units are under construction. We can take action by finding out about our local housing shortage plan.

  2. 2025 MD legislation cuts red tape to allow churches, synagogues, and other faith organizations to much more easily construct affordable housing on their property. Attendees reported that churches currently help house parishioners and supplement income through these affordable housing projects.

  3. The Episcopal Housing Corporation (https://www.episcopalhousing.org) develops affordable housing and community facilities to help our neighbors live in safer and healthier neighborhoods. 

  4. The Episcopal Public Policy Network (eppn@episcopalchurch.org) sends out actions you can take to end homelessness and other problems facing our vulnerable neighbors. 

• Criminal Justice Reform

  This session was led by Philip Caroom, Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform.

  Three bills were discussed.

  Front Door. It deals with protecting juveniles and minors during interrogation.

  Behind the Walls: Restrictive housing (solitary confinement) would be limited to 15 days to minimize impact on mental health issues.

  Back Door: Charges to be expunged if they were dismissed by prosecutors, found not guilty, or placed on inactive dockets with no planned trials.

• Health Care

  The session was by Vincent DeMarco of Healthcare for All. He is passionate about working to get affordable healthcare for all Marylanders. He explained that the addition of a work decree for Medicaid, will affect ~ 20% of people and many of those may already be working, but still qualify for assistance. The state is working hard to learn what the requirements are and keep people insured.

  The Affordable Care Act subsidies that helped many people stay on are expiring after 2026. Some will be affected now.

  Mr. DeMarco and his Deputy Director, Suzanne Schlattman, emphasized that people must be sure to sign up for insurance. There is a way for MD to help with supplements this year, but they need people to be signed up. It is the best chance for continued assistance.

  An intern with the group, Jessie, shared her story of illness and need for very specialized and expensive surgery. She was completely covered by insurance and she realizes she was privileged to have been able to have the care she did. Her goal is to be sure that all of us have the same privilege.

Thank you to all who participated and helped make this day a meaningful step toward justice and compassion in our community.

St. Anne’s MEPPN Team: Lynn Mortoro (Health Care), Susan Allen (Housing), and Phil Reynolds (Environment).

What you can do now:

1. Sign up for St. Anne’s Advocacy Update email list at https://www.stannes-annapolis.org/advocacy. The St. Anne’s MEPPN team will keep us informed of state bills in 5 key areas during the Maryland legislative session including: environment, healthcare, housing, immigration, and criminal justice reform.

2. You are invited to attend the Affordable Housing Symposium on Wednesday, October 22, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. See details in the photo below and scan the QR code to register.

Affordable Housing Symposium

Wednesday, October 22