“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world...”
— Margaret Mead
Who We Are.
STREAM (Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee) is a grassroots and non-partisan community organization consisting of 15 multicultural and interfaith member congregations across Manatee County. We are a private, non-profit, 501(c) 3 and tax-exempt organization.
STREAM is a member of the Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART), a network of 28 grassroots organizations working to pursue faith-based justice initiatives across 9 states. DART trains community members to take direct action on problems facing their communities so that all people are treated with the fairness and justice that our faith traditions tell us we deserve.
STREAM is not a “mercy ministry” or direct service organization that provides direct charitable services such as food, clothing, or shelter. We are a direct action “justice ministry” focused on addressing the root causes and systemic issues that cause people to need charity. Instead of providing temporary relief to those in need, STREAM works to implement long term solutions by changing the policies and systems that create poverty and injustice. We identify community problems, develop solutions, engage directly with public officials who can implement these solutions, and hold them accountable for resolving inequities and injustices.
Although our membership is rooted in faith-based institutions, our mission is not to push religious doctrine. Our mission is to actively live our spiritual values of fairness and justice by engaging people of diverse traditions to build “people power” and act together to successfully address the root causes of poverty and injustice in Manatee County. Faith is the motivation (not the mission), calling us to “do justice” by addressing injustices and inequities that dramatically affect the quality of life in our community. We do this by engaging people of faith in our mission through a proven process of listening, research, and direct action.
“The Creator projected that excellent form, justice (dharma). This justice is the controller of the ruler. Therefore there is nothing higher than justice.”
— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1:4:14
Our History.
Manatee county has hundreds of charitable organizations (including faith-based ministries) that provide direct aid to people in our community who are experiencing poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and many other challenges. However, far fewer (if any) organizations have focused on or had the power to take direct action to address the systemic causes of poverty, inequality, and injustice.
Early in 2020, several clergy leaders from Manatee congregations began meeting to discuss problems faced by members of their communities - affordable housing, criminal justice, mental health, education, affordable health care, and so on. Our leaders and congregations still felt called to provide charitable relief with mercy ministries to those in need, but also to “do justice” by forming a justice ministry with a more transformative approach that could address the systemic causes of these problems. Our name (STREAM) reflects our vision of a community where justice flows like a never-failing stream (Amos 5:24).
After we learned about DART and were inspired by the power and results of their direct-action model, STREAM (originally called Manatee Justice Ministry) was officially born! We were founded, incorporated, and launched an exploratory organizing committee in February 2020. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we raised essential seed funds, hired our Lead Organizer (Jean-Luc Adrien), and officially began our work in Manatee County in May 2021. We quickly grew to 15 member congregations and held our Founding Convention in November 2021. All congregations with shared values of justice and fairness are welcome and encouraged to join us in the call to build a more just and fair community for everyone in Manatee County.
We are now an independent, 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt nonprofit with our own funding and staff. Our relationship with DART enables us to leverage the expertise and experience of the DART staff and our sister organizations. For more information on DART and the direct action approach, click here.
“Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
— Proverbs 31:9
