One LA leaders are leading efforts around construction of transit lines and the creation of affordable housing around new transit hubs. Leaders hosted a stakeholders gathering in collaboration with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, drawing over 150 members of One LA congregations, schools, non-profits, unions and public and private entities. Soon after, leaders from ten One LA institutions attended the monthly Metro Board Meeting to welcome the new Metro CEO, Philip Washington, and to present their Opportunity Agenda of jobs, housing, and transit improvements. Metro, also known as the MTA, has a huge opportunity in 2016 to move each of those interests forward. One LA looks forward to being part of the conversation around a potential 2016 ballot measure.

Additional photos.

When a healthcare program for undocumented children they had created was threatened by Santa Cruz County budget cuts, COPA leaders did not stand idly by. They quickly mobilized supporters from Catholic, Jewish, Methodist and other nonprofit partners to persuade the Board of Supervisors and healthcare provides to fund the effort. And they succeeded.

United Way of Santa Cruz County recognized the organization's efforts (and its collaboration with Community Foundation and 1st 5 nonprofits) with an "Advocacy Award" for COPA leadership (pictured above).

Over 330 Marin Organizing Committee leaders packed a church gymnasium in San Rafael for a workshop on AB60, signed by Governor Brown last year, which grants valid California drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants beginning in 2015.

MOC leaders actively supported the legislation last year, meeting with the author Assembly Member Alejo early in the process and securing the support of Assembly Member Marc Levine. Because few free and low-cost resources are available to families that want to apply or study for the written test, MOC leaders have taken matters into their own hands, meeting with DMV officials and preparing their own educational materials.

Read more

Fairfax became the first municipality in Marin to commit to providing funding for the expansion of the REST winter homeless shelter program into a year-round project, thanks to intervention from the Marin Organizing Committee. The Town Council voted unanimously to approve a request for $16,392, as part of a regional proposal put forth by MOC leaders.

At its 'Housing Sabbath' MOC gave a standing ovation to the Fairfax Council and announced plans to step up the fight for year-round emergency housing. In addition to targeting nine other cities, including San Anselmo, Tiburon and Novato, leaders aim to persuade Marin County to put in $500,000 and the Marin Community Foundation to put in $250,000. Congregations plan to step up their in-kind contributions of food and shelter as well.

Read more

Doña Francisca's death by car, the 4th accident in front of the Sherwood Village senior living facility, brought clarity to members of Aging Latinos in Action. Without a stop sign, seniors were left vulnerable to rushing and inattentive drivers. ALA reached out to COPA for training, then conducted their own research actions and meetings with sitting Council members to secure a crosswalk in front of their living facility. In photo, ALA leaders process down their newly installed crosswalk.

Said leader Fermin Gonzalez, "We're not part of history...we're making history!"

Read more

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.

Read more

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;

Read more

COPA leaders and their young children celebrated the breaking of ground at Acosta Plaza with shovels, stories and speeches. The story, the way Bibiana Alcala tells it, involved an important first phone call. "Once our residents said they wanted a basketball court....we contacted COPA."

Youth and community leaders of Acosta Plaza, in collaboration with other congregations of COPA, lobbied neighborhood associations, Mayor Gunter of Salinas and statewide community foundations to identify funding for the construction of a basketball court. The $100,000 construction project is the result of negotiation: Residents will assist COPA-member and affordable housing provider CHISPA in building the court while the City of Salinas and the California Endowment will help shoulder the costs.

Read more

Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) leaders are fighting to expand a seasonal Rotating Emergency Shelter program to a year-long program benefiting people that need emergency shelter. Leaders propose that the initiative be funded and supported not just by Marin County but by municipalities within county lines. More than 40 congregations participated in the program last year, taking turns sheltering and feeding homeless families overnight at their facilities; about 360 men and women benefited from the collaboration.

MOC leaders presented their proposal to the San Anselmo Town Council Tuesday night, asking for the city's support. "We feel strongly that homelessness is a countywide issue and needs a countywide solution," said Meredith Parnell, leader from Congregation Rodef Sholom and MOC. She is part of team of leaders who will be making similar presentations to the cities of Tiburon and Fairfax.

Read more

When Santa Cruz County threatened to cut a program that insures just under 1,000 unauthorized children, COPA leaders swung into action, organizing a public action with County Supervisors and testifying at budget hearings to secure $300K in funding, in collaboration with United Way, First 5 and Community Foundation. Leaders additionally secured commitments from Monterey County Supervisors to expand coverage for unauthorized residents and publicize expanded services in Spanish.

Plan to Save Santa Cruz County's Healthy Kids in Place, Santa Cruz Sentinel