8th Day Center for Justice

Catholic faith-based NGO for social change. Spurred by a call from the Urban Apostolate of Sisters in Chicago for a center for peace and justice in the city, six Catholic religious communities founded the 8th Day Center for Justice in 1974. These six communities included the Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dominicans, Adrian Dominicans, Sisters of Providence, and Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The original staff members included Betty Barrett, RSM, Joann Crowley, BVM, Chuck Dahm, OP, Dorothy Gartland, SP, and Beth Wagner, IHM. These founders chose the name 8th Day Center for Justice from the biblical concept of the seven days of creation. The "8th Day" reflects the belief that creation is still in progress and humans are responsible for shaping their own world. In its first year, the 8th Day Center chose to focus its social justice efforts on hunger concerns in Chicago. These efforts resulted in the Food Stamp Hotline, the Chicago Metropolitan Food Stamp Coalition, the Conference on Hunger, and the Chicago Summer Program. The organization then widened its coverage to include issues of corporate responsibility, economic justice, human rights, peace, and women. During the 1980s, much of the center's efforts focused on Central America and resisting the military build-up of the Reagan administration. In the 1990s, concern for the United States' interventionist policies shifted from military to economic intervention in other countries. With the onset of the Persian Gulf War, attention began to move away from Central America and toward the Middle East, while economic and human rights concerns continued to remain a high priority. In 2009, the 8th Day Center has focus groups for environmental degradation, globalization, militarization, and racism. The center also continues to sponsor its annual Good Friday Walk for Justice and Urban Plunge program, which it began in 1980 and 1977 respectively.