"The biggest local election forum of this political season was nothing like the candidates are used to. Together Baton Rouge hosted 30 of the 32 candidates for East Baton Rouge Mayor-president and Metro Council Monday night, with approximately 500 people in attendance at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church.

But they did not show up in order to listen to the candidates. 'What we're pushing for,' said Dr. Jeanne George, a Together Baton Rouge committee co-chair, 'is to get them to listen to the citizens.'"

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More than 200 leaders of El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization assembled to challenge Clint Independent School District board candidates to "eliminate all disparities in per student funding throughout the district if elected....Challengers Claudia García, Sonia Herrera, Susana Santillan, Dino Coronado and incumbent Patricia Randleel participated at the nonpartisan accountability session at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Horizon City."

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To ensure that all eligible voters reach the polls, Jeremiah Group leaders launched a citywide absentee and voter education / registration campaign working with the staff of nursing and independent living homes, high school and college campuses, and neighborhood congregations and businesses. Jeremiah trained home care staff to identify eligible voters, schools and nonprofits to conduct voter registration drives and congregations to mobilize voters in this non-partisan campaign.

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"Approximately 1,000 people representing 35 church, school and union groups under the umbrella nonprofit Communities Organized for Public Service and the Metro Alliance, held their own press conference and publicly committed to backing Pre-K 4 SA."

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"Candidates for the U.S. Congressional 16th District of Texas, the Senate District 29 of Texas, Texas House of Representatives District 78 and for District 1 of the State Board of Education participated in Sunday's candidate accountability session...organized by Border Interfaith at the San Judas Tadeo Catholic Church in the Upper Valley."

Local Group Hosts Debate with 8 Candidates Running for Election, El Paso Times

"The roar of a bulldozer will prompt a celebration in an Alief neighborhood whose residents have waged a four-year battle to get rid of an abandoned, burned-out condominium complex....The Metropolitan Organization of Houston, along with determined neighbors, thought the disintegrating structure was so dangerous that the city of Houston should spend money to bulldoze the darn thing, but legal and budgetary impediments precluded quick action..... The machinery, which will demolish the public nuisance known as the Winfield I, represents a triumph..."

Civic Activists Win Fight Over Eyesore Condos, Houston Chronicle

250 institutional leaders from 18 Tarrant County-area congregations celebrated and committed to rebuilding the Allied Communities of Tarrant (ACT).

Said the Rev. Lindsay Woods, pastor at Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, "ACT has allowed us a small church to seek justice. Congregations often do a lot of charity (give food to food bank) or education (explaining what we believe about justice), but our mission sometimes lack the ability to create justice. ACT allows us to be part of a network of different institutions seeking solutions to a common cause."

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"Ernesto Cortés Jr. has spent nearly 40 years teaching the disenfranchised how to communicate their stories in ways that assert their place in the world.

As co-director of the Industrial Areas Foundation...he has taught thousands of people how to harness and direct their anger by helping them to organize with others to change conditions around them.... For those efforts, the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) presented its annual Robert Coles "Call of Service" Award to Cortés on Friday in the Memorial Church.

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As Andrea Swanson described how her teenage daughter was preyed upon by her boyfriend turned pimp, it became clear that neither Andrea nor her daughter's teachers or school counselors had spotted any of the warning signs. After NCG Leaders met with Las Vegas police and other authorities, they learned that child sex trafficking is a growing problem. But, NCG's organizing work is bringing about much needed change. The Clark County School District recently instituted mandatory trainings for their staff to spot the warning signs and NCG leaders are now working on statewide legislation that would give law enforcement the tools to protect children and prosecute pimps.

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Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith Sponsoring Committee leaders Reverend John Henson (left) and Father Rothell Price (right) led a celebration of the passage of their "'Minimal Living Standards Amendment,' which now requires landlords to provide a modicum of upkeep on the property they rent out."

Leaders also leveraged commitments from their council members to to visit their labor market intermediary, NOVA, in Monroe.

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