Leaders in Austin continued a push to shift city budget priorities from police-dominant public safety to long-term investments in children and working families. At the second public hearing on the budget, Rabbi Alan Freedman testified that while public safety is "critical to existence...our goal should be to have a city where people can live." He was accompanied by other leaders from Austin Interfaith, Seton Healthcare and UT Austin who all urged the council to invest in long-term job training program Capital IDEA.

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Denouncing the proposed City of Austin budget for not going far enough to pay its part-time, temporary workers well and to provide essential services to low and middle income families, eighty Austin Interfaith leaders descended on City Hall to urge the Council to prioritize the concerns of residents. Five city council members (Garza, Casar, Pool, Kitchen and Tovo) participated in an afternoon press conference in support of Austin Interfaith's budget priorities.

Later that night, one dozen leaders spoke in support of specific priorities including a wage increase to $13.03 for all adult city employees, including part-time temporary workers; investment in Capital IDEA training; after-school programming; investments in branch libraries; improved park facilities and more.

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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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Capital IDEA celebrated its 15th anniversary and 1,000th graduate at the Norris Conference Center in Austin. Elizabeth Soltero, the 1,000th graduate entertained the crowd with her story of triumph -- learning English then learning her third language, Technical English, before landing a job in computer security. Elected city and county officials were in attendance, and other graduates honored -- including a single father who not only worked his way through college, but volunteered at his son's pre-school.

Facebook Album, Capital IDEA

Koreena Malone, an accounting graduate of Capital IDEA, was confronted with the threat of losing her home when a developer's plans involved razing her apartment and replacing it with a higher cost unit. In collaboration with Austin Interfaith she formed a tenant's association and negotiated a new deal on the redevelopment with Travis Heights Elementary School, the neighborhood association, her tenants' association, and the developer.

"'I strongly believe that the redevelopment of Oak Creek Village won't just lead us to a better community but a model for the city of Austin,' Malone said.

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"Austin Interfaith worked from the ground up to get its priorities included in the budget....It represents the interests of low-income families and has become a familiar presence at City Hall in recent years. Austin Interfaith leaders mobilized members to show up en masse to city budget hearings to plug these programs, meet with council members and bombard council offices with calls and emails in the days leading up to the final budget vote. The nonprofit was elated that council members agreed to spend money on all of Austin Interfaith's priorities, totaling $2.4 million."

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"Capital IDEA Executive Director Steve Jackobs quips that when his organization decides to sponsor someone's community college education, it's like a Catholic marriage: "There's only one way out feet first." It's a joke, but indicative of the two-way commitment between Capital IDEA and its participants..."

In photo, student Liz Spinhirne listens to a speaker during a VIP meeting at the ACC Riverside campus.

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