After 3 years of raising the issue, leaders of Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) are pleased with the decision of Mayor Suttle and the Omaha City Council to invest a total of $500,000 in new funding to demolish condemned buildings in 2013. Total funding for demolition in 2013 will be $840,000, up from $340,000 in 2012.

"Many of the speakers advocating the demolition of rundown homes were representatives of Omaha Together One Community....'The first speaker from OTOC showed a variety of pictures of rundown houses. The number of such condemned houses has grown from 400 to 742 in three years,' said Karen McElroy. 'We understand that this is a tight budget year, but the mayor and City Council need to make the tough decisions to preserve our urban neighborhoods,' she said."

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Cardinal DiNardo and TMO clergy held a press conference exhorting contractors to give Houston janitors a raise. "I appeal to all people of good will, especially in the great city of Houston, to be in solidarity with janitors as they seek a modest pay increase over a three-year period. The increase would amount to $10 dollars an hour in the third year," Archbishop Daniel Cardinal Dinardo said."

After weeks of striking and demonstrating, Houston janitors unanimously voted to ratify a contract that would increase SEIU member's wages by $1 over a four-year period.

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"COPS/Metro leaders from St. Timothy Parish and San Juan de Los Lagos Shrine recently led a neighborhood walk in response to rising safety concerns in Westside neighborhoods, especially the area south of Guadalupe Street and west of South Zarzamora. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz joined them for the walk that started at St. Timothy Parish Hall..."

Metro Alliance: This is Our Neighborhood, KSAT (08/31)

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When neighborhood parishioners of San Juan Diego Catholic Church in the Montana Vista colonias grew frustrated at the lack of gas service in their unincorporated district, they organized a petition drive, signing up 300 families to demand that the Texas Gas Service install gas lines. When the petition did not bring about the desired response, these parishioners approached their priest for help. He challenged them to join the social justice ministry of the church and to work with the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO). These leaders responded, joining the ministry, organizing house meetings with other neighbors and, with EPISO, targeting the TX Gas Service President, Kari French, with an invitation to tour their neighborhood, to see for herself the state of infrastructure in the colonias.

The President accepted the invitation, toured the area, and committed to meeting with the department head to see what can be done. She reflected, "my people can tell me what is going on in the colonias," but it is different to see it for oneself.

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300 leaders of EPISO organized a runoff accountability session at San Juan Diego Catholic Church late July. Reports the El Paso Times, "Vince Perez, a former communications director for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, and state Rep. Inocente "Chente" Quintanilla took questions from about 300 residents of the unincorporated community in East El Paso County during a two-hour event Sunday.

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"About 300 people attended the Interfaith Prayer Service for Immigration hosted by Voices Organized in Civic Engagement...Clergy leaders shared Scripture readings, prayers, poetry and other writings that described the church's responsibility to aid immigrants who seek a better life in America...The Rev. Tim Luschen, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, read an excerpt from a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops document titled "Strangers No Longer, Together on the Journey of Hope.""

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COPS/Metro Alliance leaders applauded Maruchan's decision to withdraw their application for tax incentives and welcomed the company to Bexar County. "We reiterate our support for economic development and job creation," said Fr. Steven Gamez, pastor of St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church and leader with COPS/Metro Alliance. "However, we strongly believe that it is a mistake to offer public subsidies when most of the jobs would pay minimum wage; the free market will take care that and Maruchan's decision proves it."

COPS/Metro leaders had publicly raised questions surrounding this deal because of the impact on working families.... "We agree with Maruchan leaders that 'the additional tax revenues for betterment of the community,' especially bringing up the skills of our workforce. We look forward to working with Maruchan, as well as city and county officials, to create opportunities for those workers who will earn the minimum wage."

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"Before the board meeting on Wednesday, the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization, or EPISO, and the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project argued that the district's at-large elected board does not ensure equal representation throughout the communities it serves, particularly the Horizon City and Montana Vista areas....Six of the seven school board members live in Clint, and one trustee, Patricia Randleel, lives in Horizon City, said district spokeswoman Laura Cade.

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After months of battling for cleaner air, Pomona Valley leaders of the Inland Empire Sponsoring Committee leveraged multiple concessions on a waste transfer station agreement. A maximum of 50 trucks would be permitted on and off the site per day. All trucks would be required to operate on clean compressed natural gas or other alternative fuels. Tonnage limits (at 66% of the original proposal) will help prevent neighboring suburbs from shrugging off its processing responsibilities; the transfer station will accept trash almost singularly from Pomona. And a new code enforcement position has been created to monitor particulate standards and ensure that other stations in the region operates in complies with clean air standards.

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"Scotlandville has no shortage of convenience stores, but a true grocery store is hard to come by for this community of about 18,000 residents, according to Census data. And about 89 percent of these people live a mile or more from a true supermarket, said Edgar Cage, a member of St. Michael's and Together Baton Rouge, which has taken on the task of leading initiatives to make healthy foods more accessible to neighborhoods plagued by "food deserts" — whole communities where a grocery store is absent. "Scotlandville is the largest food desert in Baton Rouge," Cage said."

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