Chase VP Invests $100K in Capital IDEA Houston
Carolyn Watson, Chase Bank VP of Corporate Responsibility, announced the award of $100K to Capital IDEA-Houston at a meeting of the Houston Community College Board of Trustees. Capital IDEA-Houston, established by leaders of TMO as a labor market intermediary, pulls working students out of poverty wage jobs and into living wage careers starting at upwards of $30,000 per year plus benefits. TMO (The Metropolitan Organization) built the political will to establish the training program to bridge the wage gap between industry needs and the skills base of the city.
Read moreACT Congregation Engages 500+ Parishioners in Conversation

Congregational leaders who form the parish development team used the listening campaign to jump start their parish development process to hear concerns and identify new leaders for the church. The intent is to "develop disciples to live out the mission of the church in the community." Leaders heard stories of unemployment and isolation. They also heard from parishioners who wanted to join certain ministries but had never been asked!
Read moreTexas IAF Calls on White House to Halt Speedy Deportations

In El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas, religious leaders preached about the crisis at the border, organized relief efforts and held press conferences reminding the White House and Congress of the Judeo-Christian admonishment for nations to "show kindness and mercy to one another, not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner or the poor (Zechariah 7:9-10)."
Read moreBorder Interfaith & EPISO Religious Leaders Call on Congress to Protect Unaccompanied Children at the Border

In a press conference in El Paso, Bishop Mark Seitz walked through a letter signed by hundreds of clergy and addressed to the President and to Congress, that details specific recommendations. Clergy leaders want the White House to preserve the protections established in the Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Act of 2008 for those that arrive on our border seeking refuge, provision of legal assistance to any minor under 18 years of age, and attention to the religious needs of the children and family by granting clergy access to US Border Patrol detention facilities and the US Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Read moreAllied Communities of Tarrant (ACT) Urges Protections for Central American Children at the Border

One parishioner, Lorena Hattarki, shared her story as a young girl fleeing cartel violence in Colombia decades prior: "My experience was very different... When I got off the plane, no one was there to say, 'Get out. Go back.'"
Read moreCOPS / Metro Calls for Hospitable Response to Migrant Children

"Don't send them back as if they were animals," argued Fr. Walter D'Heedene of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Speakers underscored that each child should have an attorney, get thorough processing (accorded in the 2008 Wilberforce Act) and have more exposure to vetted religious and social service organizations so that they do not become isolated.
Read moreDAI Calls on President, Congress to Defend Legal Protections of Unaccompanied Kids
In defiance of legislative efforts to denude the Trafficking Victims Act of 2008 of legal protections for unaccompanied minors, Dallas Area Interfaith congregations and bishops called on the White House and Congress to do the opposite: to ensure legal protections for children arriving on our border and stop speed processing of children through immigration courts.
Read moreAustin Interfaith Leverages County Vote for Public Defenders Office

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TMO & Bishops Call for Protection of Unaccompanied Children from Central America

Nineteen local clergy signed the letter, including former Catholic Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza, Episcopal Bishops C. Andrew Doyle and Jeff Fisher, Lutheran Bishop Michael Rinehart, General Presbyter Mike Cole of the Presbytery of the New Covenant and Bishop Rufus Kyles Jr. of the Church of God in Christ.
Read moreDAI Leads Charge on Break Ordinance for Construction Workers

Last month, 500 DAI leaders unleashed a tidal wave of pent up energy with the public launch of a campaign zeroing in on what Dallas-area residents can do about immigration reform in the Dallas area. Catholic Bishop Douglas Deshotel and dozens of clergy from Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian and Methodist denominations blessed the campaign, kicking off a summer of action to address key pieces of the DAI immigration agenda.
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