Lisa Pansza and Laura Garcia, "two participants of Project Quest, Inc., a local non-profit that provides education and workforce training, recently won top awards at a statewide vocational nursing contest. The two winners "have demonstrated through their achievements both their individual commitment as well as the value of this program in generating highly skilled workers from within our local community," said Dave Marttala, Project Quest's executive director."

Project QUEST is a community-based workforce development program created in 1992 through collaborative relationships initiated by Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) / Metro Alliance, the San Antonio business community leadership, employers of high-skill workers and other private and public entities.

Read more

"Valley Interfaith held its first ever accountability session in Pueblo del Palmas, north of Penitas, on Thursday evening. Over 50 colonia residents attended to ask questions of the two candidates running for Texas House District 35, Oscar Longoria and Gus Ruiz. Valley Interfaith leaders said they intend to build civic engagement in the community."

 

"On the evening of April 25, more than 250 parishioners from Sacred Heart in the west side of San Antonio stood in thunderous support of SAPD Chief William McManus after he vowed to "fight crime, not chase immigrants!" He then asked the assembly to work with him, because SAPD wants "to be part of this community, not apart from it." McManus' commitments came in response to various gut-wrenching stories of residents who live in fear—fear of criminals and of law enforcement—but are determined to do something about it....

As energizing as the West side gathering was, what made it truly remarkable was that it emerged from hundreds of similar stories shared during "house meetings," or small group conversations, organized by Sacred Heart and COPS/Metro during Lent. Parishioners met in the church hall after Masses, knocked on doors around the neighborhood for six straight Saturdays, and hosted neighbors in their homes to understand the pressures on the families and to find people willing to act. Weeks of training, conversations, deliberation and preparation came before the meeting with Chief McManus...."

Read more

"On April 29th, Austin Interfaith held the largest assembly in the city with 500+ organization members at Mount Olive Baptist Church; the church is located in Precinct 124 in East Austin. Early voter turnout increased by 65% compared to 2011 council election turnout and by 9:30pm Saturday night had recorded an 85% increase over final election day turnout from 2011. These increases in raw numbers of voters were the result of coordinated efforts by Austin Interfaith member congregations in East Austin. Efforts included pulpit announcements to vote in congregations, GOTV walks held by 24 leaders over two weekends and phone banking involving a team of 9 additional leaders from downtown congregations..."

Read more

"About 450 people gathered Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church to listen to candidates vying to represent Precincts 1 and 3 on County Commissioners Court, Districts 75 and 77 in the Texas House of Representatives, and the 16th and 23rd Congressional Districts in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The event was organized by El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization, a non-partisan group..."

Read more

"The archdiocesan Office of Life, Justice and Peace in partnership with Sacred Heart Church, Catholic Relief Services, Mexican American Catholic College and COPS / Metro, celebrated a Mass for Justice on April 25 renewing their commitment in raising awareness of the impact of Arizona immigration law SB1070....

After mass, Sacred Heart Parish sponsored an assembly on immigration to highlight the impact of anti-immigrant laws on families that create fear, vulnerable citizens and concerns of violations of human rights."

Read more

At an assembly with 504 Austin Interfaith delegates, candidates for City Council and Mayor committed to raising electricity rates no higher than 20% for congregations and to broaden assistance to people with limited incomes.

Candidates were also challenged about publicly funded incentives, as Austin has been the center of high-profile incentive deals in recent years. Austin Interfaith got all candidates to commit to setting a wage standard for permanent (and construction) workers ranging between $11-20 per hour. Candidates also agreed to a community study and dialogue with Austin Interfaith to determine what constitutes a living wage in Austin.

Read more

Dallas Area Interfaith, a "grassroots advocacy group, which pushed Dallas City Hall to hire more police and Collin County to fund more indigent health care, exhorted the board to fix widespread failures that have threatened safety and brought Parkland to the brink of closure."

Dallas Area Interfaith Calls on Parkland's Board, UTSW to Fix the Site, Dallas Morning News

"About 60 clergy leaders from the Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist churches took part in Valley Interfaith's second annual conference to promote immigration reform and educate religious leaders about its issues. The convocation follows Valley Interfaith's October 2010 event where church leaders unveiled what they believed should be principles of immigration reform, such as upholding family unity, providing legal avenues for migrant workers and creating a path toward citizenship.

But Thursday's convocation was highlighted by the personal stories of immigrants cornered by the nation's laws..."

Read more

"Church leaders are banding together to fight a proposed Austin Energy rate increase that they say will hurt their ability to help the poor in the community.

Read more