"The local arm of West Texas Organizing Strategy, an interdenominational coalition of churches, has been the single biggest community organizing force behind the revitalization efforts."

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Over the last year, Austin Interfaith leaders publicly pressured the City Council to increase funding for successful programs including job training project Capital IDEA. They eventually held face-to-face meetings with public officials in efforts to get it back to current funding levels of $1 Million, but only after clearing City-imposed legal hurdles.

On the morning of October 6th, Austin City Council passed the Public Health and Human Service budget and two other items that moved additional funding to Capital Idea, keeping the program at 2011 level funding, $1.08 million, for FY 2012. Leaders also leveraged money from the Travis County Commissioners Court which voted not only for the continuation of level funding ($700,000) for Capital Idea, but an additional $97,000 to supplement cuts from the state.

Project Quest Snares $5 Million, San Antonio Express News

After hundreds of leaders marched to City Hall to protest the expansion of a waste station in the poorest neighborhoods of Pomona, the Planning Commission postponed the vote two more weeks to give more time to review the proposal. Says Magdalena Uceda, "I think the commissioners realized that they needed to really do their job and examine what is being proposed."

This march follows One LA's submission of 400 signatures from neighborhoods surrounding the proposed transfer station, and a push from regional clergy and Bishops; 28 businesses also lined up against the waste station.

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450 Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) leaders assembled to focus state legislators' attention on immigration. Stories of immigrants and refugees highlighted the economic and legal realities faced by Omaha newcomers while business, religious and academic allies testified about the impact of immigrants on Nebraska, making a case for comprehensive immigration reform at the national level and against piecemeal legislation at the state. Three of the five key Senators on the Judicial Committee participated in the assembly.

OTOC Keeps Focus on Immigration, Omaha World Herald

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"These issues concern our congregants, but they also concern the synagogue itself. We are ...insuring our employees, too."

-- Rabbi Laura Geller

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"After months of complaints from Austin Interfaith over its limited ability to weigh in on funding for local nonprofits, the City of Austin now says that the group can give City Council members a piece of its mind."

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"The public outcry against this project has been significant. The city has received over 1,000 letters… Large numbers of neighborhood people have gathered … Leaders within Pomona Unified School District have opposed the project… and an organizing effort which we greatly respect, the Pomona Valley Cluster of One LA, is working for justice with the people of Pomona in this matter."

-- Most Rev. Gabino Zavala, Auxiliary Bishop, San Gabriel Region, Archdiocese of LA, Roman Catholic Church

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Reverend Christoper Bell and Rabbi George Gittleman weigh in on anti-police reaction to hit and run tragedy in Sonoma County.

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MIT economist Paul Osterman names various Texas IAF strategies 'models' for the nation while discussing his new book, Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone.

In the New York Times he notes that despite low wages in the Rio Grande Valley, "the Valley is not hopeless....community organization Valley Interfaith has pushed for training opportunities and living wage jobs."

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