The Justice Fund

Hi, I'm Emily Joselson, and I am working with others to provide financial resources for Justice Elijah, a young AmeriCorps Volunteer who has been living and working in our community for the last two years. We have an opportunity right here in Middlebury, right now, to participate in a form of reparations, by helping create a financial cushion for a remarkable young woman who grew up without any cushion whatsoever. Some of you may have met Justice Elijah. Originally from Bainbridge, GA, she worked her way through, and graduated from, Columbus State University, in Columbus, GA, with a BA in History (and loads of school debt). In 2021 she was accepted into AmeriCorps – a domestic peace corps. She chose to work at the Addison Central Teen Center for her first year. Now in her second AmeriCorps year, Justice works at Middlebury College's Center for Civic Engagement. One of the frustrating features of AmeriCorps is its poverty-level wages ($15,000/yr, with limited benefits). No wonder so many AmeriCorps volunteers are young people of privilege. We are raising both our own consciousness, and the funds to provide a financial cushion for Justice to allow her to get out of personal debt and then to achieve her further educational and vocational goals, beyond what she can earn on her own. Justice supplements her AmeriCorp income through Spreading Justice, LLC, her own business, and by contracting with Vermont's Peace & Justice Center as a social and racial justice advocate/consultant. She runs the “affinity space” at Middlebury Union High School, a curated safe space for students of color. She speaks and moderates panels at businesses and schools throughout Vermont, and she's being paid for this work. She has been a featured member of the VT POC Network, and you can read more about her here: In order to move forward, whether in Vermont or elsewhere, Justice needs our help. AmeriCorps, and her subsidized housing, end in August. As with any of our own children, she is asking herself “what’s next?” But many of our children have the security of knowing that, if they need help—for GREs or grad school applications; to visit potential job or school opportunities; to pay a security deposit and first and last month’s rent; for co-pays on medical bills; for when the car breaks down—we are there for them. Despite her own hard work, Justice does not have this support. These are the necessities we help our children with, as they begin to make their way in the world. Ask yourself: Is the world our children enter the same one Justice faces? If not, ask yourself: Can I make a difference by offering Justice some of the security I was able to provide for my children?https://www.vtpoc.net/spotlight-on-justice-elijah/