Dear HUUB family and friends,

As The HUUB celebrates its tenth anniversary and we prepare for an in-person celebration on November 8th, this early burst of enthusiasm has proven what we all know to be true. Namely, that people have a desire to support one another, and that there is a community waiting for us whether we anticipate them or not.

In my letters so far, I have shared how The HUUB has grown to be an anchor institution in Orange, how it builds on the long legacy of service and good works from the congregation that called this building home for over a century, and how members of our community reflect on the importance of work we do. For my final letter, I want to spotlight how The HUUB’s existence makes it possible for the organizations we partner with to continue their critical work in Orange and beyond.

I remember back when I was a HUUB fellow in 2016/2017, I focused on a project for immigrant issues in Orange. Then-director-of-The-HUUB Charlie Wirene introduced me to many immigrant leaders in and around NJ who were working with our young Campus. This included the leaders of the Laundry Workers Center (LWC), Virgilio and Rosanna, who we still work closely with to this day.

For this year’s final letter, I had the pleasure to interview Rosanna about LWC’s critical activism in and around Essex County and how solidarity with The HUUB makes it possible.

The LWC joined us in the early days of The HUUB, becoming one of our ‘anchor tenants’ in 2016. They advocate and organize workers in the laundry, construction, and food service industries throughout New Jersey and New York City. Many of their members are immigrants who, like all of us, fight to live with dignity while providing the essential services that our society relies on.

Especially when considering current politics and how they have affected our communities, Rosanna stressed the importance of solidarity with immigrants and essential workers:

Everything is connected. So, when workers’ rights are violated in the workplace, that is affecting our community. Because, most of the time, people are living with low income, earning below minimum wage, and that’s the perfect way for the poverty cycle [to continue].

Her words highlight something we must remember and champion, especially these days: all of us are connected and dependent on one another; none of us are free until all of us are free. Rosanna also stressed how our economies are sustained by immigrant labor and spending, noting that the recent climate has chilled commerce on Main Street. Many patrons refuse to come out due to fear, and local businesses are all too aware of the growing strain.

Still, as ever, there is hope. Rosanna and LWC are not defeated. In her own words, “We believe we cannot do this alone. For us, we are putting a little seed to see if this movement can continue growing and bring more people that can participate”. She believes that their crucial work will continue to ripple out into the world as long as we expand and maintain our connections as a community, and that sentiment is the heart of the partnership between LWC and The HUUB.

She mentioned how members of the LWC used to crowd into McDonald’s or cafés around town to organize. But, the partnership with The HUUB has provided them with much-needed stability to organize and grow in service of our community.

As Rosanna graciously puts it:

I think we are so grateful especially for The HUUB because they make us a home…. Really, we cannot be at the level that we are or doing the work that we are doing if it was not for the support and the space of The HUUB.

In our conversation, she also emphasized the importance of such a space not only in serious activist work, but in sharing “our culture and to keep something essential of Orange”. This, after all, is the mission of our community campus: cultivating a space where our community and their interests, big or small, can gather and be amplified. A space that we hope many more can come to consider another home.

Again, none of this happens in isolation. Rosanna commented that “there are many things changing in the city and a lot of development, but having that space makes you feel like there’s hope”. We would like to emphasize that hope lives not just in our space, but in everyone who fills it and helps make our existence possible.

We at The HUUB are grateful for the work that The LWC does to fight for our community members who provide essential services. They are but one example of how the collaboration between The HUUB and our community over the years has blossomed into positive change and hope for a brighter tomorrow. We hope that more of you will come take part in our celebrations and good works, and that you may all enjoy the support of our campus and community.

Sincerely,

Khemani Gibson, Mubarika Syed, and The HUUB Team