Sec. Granholm: Community Lighthouse Resilience Hub is "testament to the power of grassroots organizations"

Together Louisiana-IAF was joined by US Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at a celebration marking the launch of their seventh and largest Community Lighthouse Project at New Wine Christian Fellowship in LaPlace, Louisiana. 

The launch follows on the heels of a $249 Million federal investment in Louisiana to strengthen grid resilience, announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The funding will be matched by $249 Million in locally raised funding.

On Tuesday, Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG) leaders gathered with allies from the Denver Metro Tenants Union and the Community Economic Defense Project, in addition to the Denver Mayor and 8 members of Denver City Council, to celebrate the city's historic investment of $29.1 Million in emergency rental assistance.

This investment is expected to keep 6,000 families housed who would otherwise face eviction and comes after months of CCG organizing, including a mayoral forum in May with 350 attendees, a press conference on the issue, and countless phone calls, emails, and meetings with elected officials.

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The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has named Ms. Ivonn Rivera of the Diocese of San Jose as the recipient of the 2023 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award. Each year, this prestigious award from the CCHD recognizes a young adult who demonstrates leadership in fighting poverty and injustice in the United States through community-based solutions... 

Ms. Rivera is a wife, mother, and community leader in San Jose. As a member of her parish’s organizing team with Silicon Valley Sponsoring Committee (SVSC), which receives funding from CCHD, she organizes monthly Misas del barrio, helping to bring the Eucharist to those affected by vandalism, gangs, drugs, and violence. The Masses are paired with listening sessions, which uncover community concerns and identify potential new leaders. Through the parish’s work with SVSC, Ivonn has led efforts to raise community needs with local officials.

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In a 4-3 vote Nov. 6, Mesa City Council approved a controversial plan to buy the Grand Hotel near Main Street and Power Road for emergency transitional housing for vulnerable populations....

A large contingent of people from the Valley Interfaith Project showed support by rising and standing in silence as a leader, Bethany Lambrecht, spoke in favor of the purchase....

Leaders Pledge to Keep Working Towards $26/Hr Goal

After 48 Marin Organizing Committee leaders participated in the Marin Board of Supervisors meeting, joined by numerous people online and supported by 50 letters/emails that had been submitted earlier, the Board of Supervisors voted to increase the salaries of In-Home Support Services (IHSS) caregivers to $18/hour.

Leaders delivered compelling testimony in-person and online, and were joined by allies  including InSpirit health care workers, care recipients and SEIU 2015 (who represents caregivers).  MOC leaders provided moving testimony about the limited nature of IHSS time allotments for each recipient. For example, transportation to and from a doctor’s office is allotted only 12 minutes per week, and if the client could theoretically walk into the office herself the caregiver would not be paid while waiting to drive the client home.

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When Pope Francis told a group of U.S. community organizers that their work was "atomic," Jorge Montiel said, "I thought, 'Oh, you mean we blow things up?'"

But instead, the pope spoke about how the groups associated with the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation in the United States take issues patiently, "atom by atom," and end up building something that "penetrates" and changes entire communities, said Montiel, an IAF organizer in Colorado and New Mexico.

Pope Francis' hourlong meeting Sept. 14 with 15 delegates from the group was a follow-up to a similar meeting a year ago. Neither meeting was listed on the pope's official schedule and, the delegates said, both were conversations, not "audiences."

"It was relaxed, it was engaging," said Joe Rubio, national co-director of IAF.  "Often you don't see that even with parish priests," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 15, garnering the laughter of other delegates.

Pope Meets US Leaders Patiently Building Culture of Solidarity, US Conference of Catholic Bishops / Catholic News Service [pdf]

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“What I would say to those in Together West Michigan: If your hope was to ensure that homeownership was a priority and focus, you have succeeded.”

Commissioner Stephen Wooden’s comment was one of many acknowledgements Together West Michigan (TWM) won on August 10 from Kent County commissioners as they voted on the rules for the county’s new Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund.  Because of TWM’s months of work, the fund includes a goal that 10% of the affordable units be owned by families, rather than rented.

10% Ownership Goal Included In County’s Affordable Housing Fund, Together West Michigan

Kent County Launching $58M Affordable Housing Loan Program, MLive [pdf]

Kent County to Launch Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund with Initial $58M, Crain's Grand Rapids Business [pdf]

TWM Leader Testimony, Kent County Commissioners Court [video from 02:30]

More TWM Testimony, Kent County Commissioners Court [video from 18:00]

Leaking faucets, holes in the floor, and rats running across children's feet at night.  An apartment manager refusing to start repairs without proof of US citizenship.  These are just some of the conditions that leaders of Bachman Lake apartments, like Iris Romo and Ericka Ventura, unearthed in a neighborhood conversation campaign.

When tenant leaders at Lumin Bachman Lake Community School began to share these stories, the city didn't take them seriously.  However, Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) leaders knew that this was unacceptable.  After all, they had been instrumental in the development of housing standards that were now being violated. In 2016, DAI had compelled the City of Dallas to impose these standards, and the tenant leaders had been a key part of that effort.

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The Community Lighthouse Project is equipping churches, health clinics and other community spaces with solar panels and batteries, so they don’t need to rely on grid power and faulty generators to stay open in emergencies. The nonprofit undertaking the project, Together New Orleans, ultimately wants to scatter 86 “lighthouses” throughout the state, so every resident lives within a 15-minute walk...

“We know everyone in the community within a mile or so radius that needs their breathing machine connected to electricity, or they have someone in a wheelchair or somebody that’s bed bound,” said Rev. Antoine Barriere, pastor of the Household of Faith Family Worship Church.