The morning after an assembly in which hundreds of San Fernando Valley leaders of One LA leveraged commitments from District 3 candidates to ensure sufficient funding for the 'My Health LA' program, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to invest $6 Million in additional dollars for the program.

One LA estimates that the added funding will expand coverage by 35 to 40 thousand individuals. This victory comes months after the organization identified millions of County dollars that could be used to cover more uninsured people, including undocumented County residents.

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This summer, Working Together Jackson drew 432 leaders into 36 house meetings about the state of (under)employment in Mississippi and the need for a Workforce Development Institute to prepare workers for a changing economy -- and specifically to pair ambitious individuals (who undergo training) with employers seeking better employees. Jackson businessman Charles Hooker noted that Mississippi "often promotes itself as offering 'good, affordable labor.' Sometimes 'affordable' is a euphemism for cheap. Cheap labor not only provides harsh, undignified, not-so-enjoyable lifestyle to those who can do better, it also limits the prosperity of the greater community."

In a related initiative around school funding, Working Together Jackson leaders signed up almost 7,000 (18% of Hinds County) for the 'Better Schools, Better Jobs' initiative, a petition to place on the ballot a proposed amendment to the state constitution to require full funding for Mississippi schools.

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Hundreds of One LA-IAF leaders convened at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Pacoima with candidates for Los �ngeles County Supervisor District 3, Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver. Leaders leveraged commitments from both to:

• Increase funding for My Health LA if the current funding stream falls short of covering all those eligible;

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300 leaders of Austin Interfaith convened Mayoral and County Judge candidates for a teach-in and accountability session on Austin child poverty (30%), affordability, investments in human development and local immigration reforms. In addition to yes / no responses, candidates were given several minutes to explain how they would work with the organization to address child poverty and inequality. Assembly night highlights included Mayoral candidate consensus on local immigration reforms (municipal identification and withdrawal) and Judge candidates commitments transforming from "No" to "Yes" on doubling County investments in job training program Capital IDEA. Additional coverage of the statistics and stories below.

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PCIC executive team member Ernesto Lujan and Literacy Connects Executive Director Betty Staufer called on the public to support local economic development through investments in institutions like the Pima Community Colleges and job training program JobPath. They praised the efforts of PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert under whom they see "renewed emphasis on adult education and literacy...and a continued commitment to immigrant youth (i.e. in-state tuition for those who have work permits under DACA).

Stauffer and Lujan urged the public to pay attention to the contested race for PCC Board members, and to attend the upcoming PCIC accountability assembly with PCC Board candidates September 28 at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Tucson.

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COPS / Metro Alliance leaders visually illustrated the implications of a new City rule with a gagged leader standing on the steps of City Hall. Rosa Araujo-Iracheta of St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church detailed what the new rules would entail, exclaiming "For some agencies, this blackout period has been in effect since March...That's over five months of being shut out!"

A new San Antonio city rule prohibiting non-profits from talking to City Councilmembers about the budget prompted the press conference. Leaders pointed out that the new rule amounted to a gag order, as it applied even to nonprofits not requesting City funds for themselves.

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Victorious from a January move to limit payday lending profitability in El Paso, leaders of Border Interfaith and El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO) are setting their sights on statewide legislation.

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About 100 gathered for a civic academy organized by Austin Interfaith leaders from the Equal Justice Center and Congregational Church of Austin; guests from San Antonio RAICES and the UT Austin Longhorn Institute for Latin American Studies explained the dangers children are fleeing and the legal and political challenges they face today. Two Central American youth who had recently arrived shared powerful testimonies about what they fled.

Two months prior, Austin Interfaith issued a call to action after a public presentation at the Travis County Commissioners Court. Since then, the City of Austin unanimously passed a resolution "welcoming" the children to Austin and ordering City staff to identify unused resources for them.

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Carolyn Watson, Chase Bank VP of Corporate Responsibility, announced the award of $100K to Capital IDEA-Houston at a meeting of the Houston Community College Board of Trustees. Capital IDEA-Houston, established by leaders of TMO as a labor market intermediary, pulls working students out of poverty wage jobs and into living wage careers starting at upwards of $30,000 per year plus benefits. TMO (The Metropolitan Organization) built the political will to establish the training program to bridge the wage gap between industry needs and the skills base of the city.

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Almost 200 COPS / Metro Alliance leaders from twenty-nine institutions spent a Sunday afternoon examining the state of wages in San Antonio — and found that state sorely lacking!

A diverse mix of congregational members from Catholic, Unitarian, Lutheran, and Baptist denominations, as well as unions, public schools and colleges, gathered to study the City of San Antonio's proposed budget, its impact on the local economy and how it may fund better wages for working families.

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