With 21 accidents occurring at one intersection in the previous 36 months, Valley Interfaith leaders made an issue of that intersection's lack of light signal, demanding that the City of Brownsville install one to prevent further collisions. One complicating factor was the state's reluctance to pay for the improvement on the road, which is a state highway. On March 1st, the City Commissioners voted to appropriate local funds for the signal. Commissioner Jessica Tetreau credited Valley Interfaith for bringing it up.

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When Azeneth de la Fuente's daughter suffered an accident at home last month, an ambulance took 25 minutes to arrive because of terrible road conditions. Ms. de la Fuente has been organizing to fix her neighborhood for over a year. On International Women's Day she testified before Bexar County Commissioners declaring, "we are not second class citizens... my daughter deserves better!"

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When Maria Bernal's baby stopped breathing after midnight, she called 911. The child turned blue as she waited 90 minutes for ambulances to arrive; the ambulances were stuck in the sand.

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When Valley Interfaith leader Monse Martinez (in photo, upper left)

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Gathering at the Pharr Events Center in the Rio Grande Valley, Valley Interfaith leaders celebrated their 30th anniversary with stories of historic achievements, blessings for recent VIDA graduates, and presentations of strategies for healthcare enrollment, education and comprehensive immigration reform. Veteran leaders like Fr. Alfonso Guevara lauded Valley Interfaith as a 'university of public life' that helps people do 'what politicians can no longer do' -- tapping into local relationships, learning what matters to people and developing people's capacity to achieve extraordinary things through collaboration with others. In photo, leaders bow head in prayer at start of celebration.

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"The people in the communities of Baton Rouge and Baker who are frustrated know what they voted for, they know what CATS promised to deliver, and they're not really seeing it," said Edgar Cage, a leader with Together Baton Rouge, the nonprofit that campaigned for the tax through churches and other institutions across the parish.

Before the tax passed, CATS leadership worked with Together Baton Rouge to develop a list of incremental deadlines they promised to meet as they built toward an end goal of a thoroughly transformed system by the first quarter of 2014...."

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Leaders "celebrated the completion of the new water distribution system by El Paso Water Utilities. The celebration took place at San Patricio Catholic Church in Canutillo. More than 240 homes in the Mayfair and NuWay communities are now connected to the water system, and 60 more residences in the Schuman Estates will have running water in the next few days.

The community fought for years to get reliable water service, said the Rev. Pablo Mata, a member of the community group Border Interfaith....'At the end, the people got it done,' Mata said."

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When neighborhood parishioners of San Juan Diego Catholic Church in the Montana Vista colonias grew frustrated at the lack of gas service in their unincorporated district, they organized a petition drive, signing up 300 families to demand that the Texas Gas Service install gas lines. When the petition did not bring about the desired response, these parishioners approached their priest for help. He challenged them to join the social justice ministry of the church and to work with the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO). These leaders responded, joining the ministry, organizing house meetings with other neighbors and, with EPISO, targeting the TX Gas Service President, Kari French, with an invitation to tour their neighborhood, to see for herself the state of infrastructure in the colonias.

The President accepted the invitation, toured the area, and committed to meeting with the department head to see what can be done. She reflected, "my people can tell me what is going on in the colonias," but it is different to see it for oneself.

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300 leaders of EPISO organized a runoff accountability session at San Juan Diego Catholic Church late July. Reports the El Paso Times, "Vince Perez, a former communications director for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, and state Rep. Inocente "Chente" Quintanilla took questions from about 300 residents of the unincorporated community in East El Paso County during a two-hour event Sunday.

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When El Paso officials first envisioned a "quality of life" bond they slated $600 Million for stadiums, a zoo and high-art venues. EPISO and Border Interfaith leaders responded with a house meeting campaign in their institutions centered on the question: what would improve the quality of life for El Paso families and individuals? Upon hearing stories about crumbling roads, decaying parks, darkened neighborhoods and unpaved walkways, leaders returned to council members with reports on what would improve the quality of life for residents. Councilmembers resisted incorporating these day-to-day fixes until leaders organized a second round of house meetings that unearthed renewed energy to fight for these improvements. Leaders partnered with the City Manager to add $210M in certificates of obligation to pay for roads, streetlights, sidewalks and parks, and then leveraged a 6:1 council vote in support.

EPISO, Border Interfaith Gather Input on Quality-of-Life Bond, El Paso Times (04/29)