Volunteering with people who share my values has been wonderful

Finding UUSJ’s Democracy Action Team (DAT), which I’ve been active with since February, has been a gift for me. I’ve been deeply concerned about the state of our democracy, which is in a crisis, and about the voting rights situation in our country.

Frankly, I’m terrified. I feel that our democracy itself truly is in danger, and wanted to do something – anything – that could make a difference and help get things back on the right track.

Volunteering with people who share my values has been wonderful. We’ve been working hard to support two critical voting rights bills making their way (VERY slowly) through Congress.  Fred van Deusen, DAT Convener, and UUSJ’s executive director Pablo DeJesús, have done an outstanding job guiding the group. Frankly, I’ve been surprised that, in our deeply partisan country, we’ve been able to meet not only with Democratic Senators’ staffers, but also that staffers of many Republican Senators have met with us!

To be honest, it’s been tough, but we have made progress. Working with these bright, talented, and deeply committed UUs has renewed my faith that, even in a small way, we are helping to get the votes needed to pass critical voting rights legislation, and help preserve our democracy. That would certainly make my heart happy.

Dee Ellison

UUSJ Democracy Action Team, Member