They are among the hundreds of Presbyterian U.S. congregations making a difference in their local communities through CBCOs.
CBCOs are broad-based coalitions of congregations working in partnership with other community organizations that address quality of life issues such as affordable housing, public healthcare for children, living wage and public education.
Grants are provided to support training for lay leaders, pastors, middle governing bodies staff and seminarians to develop the skills for congregational-based community organizing.
“Presbyterian congregations and their leaders are working together through congregational-based community organizations with other churches and faith communities to effectively address poverty-related issues impacting their larger communities,” said Phil Tom, associate for the PC(USA)’s Small Church and Community Ministry office.
The funds are from the Community Development portion of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. Recipients were chosen during a March 14 meeting of the Presbyterian Hunger Program Advisory Committee.
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has lifted up the subject of community organizing since he worked as a community organizer on the Southside of Chicago in the mid-1980s. Saul Alinksy pioneered the community organizing movement in Chicago in the late 1930s. Presbyterians have supported the community organizing movement since the 1950s.
The movement today includes more than 170 church-based community organizations across the country. Most are affiliated with major national training networks such as the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) and the Gamaliel Foundation, both in Chicago; Direct Action and Research Training (DART) in Miami; and the PICO National Network in Oakland, Calif.
A typical congregation-based community organization is the Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope (NOAH) in Niagara County, N.Y. An interfaith organization of faith communities, churches, and member organizations. The group, which received a $5,000 grant, draws together people of many denominations and income levels to act powerfully on local and regional issues of justice and equity through community-building, negotiation with decision-makers, and direct action.
“It’s a way to get people of faith to bring their concerns, their values, and their voice to the public arena to advocate for changes that will enhance and improve the lives of all citizens,” said Rex Stewart, co-president of NOAH and pastor of First Church in Youngstown, N.Y. “It’s a way of expressing our faith in public.”
NOAH has been working on the issue of jobs and how to create new, well-paying jobs that will sustain families, Stewart said. The group has also been working with Niagara Falls city officials on a plan to replace parkland lost to private interests. “We’ll use the grant to help pay for our portion of the costs of sending people to get trained,” Stewart said. “We use it to help pay for the salary and expenses of an organizer. We’re all volunteers in this except for the organizer, but in order to do the work we want to do we have costs.”
Other grant recipients include:
All Congregation Together (ACT-II), Fairhope, Ala.: $5,000 to
work on affordable housing issues.
Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS),
Syracuse, N.Y.: $7,500 in start-up support.
ACTION Network, Gainesville, Fla.: $7,500 to work on
affordable housing issues.
Action of Greater Lansing, Lansing, Mich.: $5,000 in start-up
support.
Birmingham Area Interfaith Sponsoring Committee (BASIC),
Birmingham, Ala.: $5,000 in start-up support.
Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice (BOLD JUSTICE),
Hollywood, Fla.: $7,500 in start-up support.
Broadway East Organizing Strategy, Baltimore, Md.: $5,000 in
start-up support.
Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct
Action (BUILD), Lexington, KY: $5,000 to work on affordable
housing issues.
Congregations Action for Justice and Empowerment,
Evansville, Ind,: $5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP), Camden, N.J.:
$5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
Congregations United for Neighborhood Action (CUNA),
Allentown, Pa.: $5,000 in start-up support.
Faith and Action For Strength Together (FAST), Clearwater,
Fla.: $5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
Federation of Congregations United to Serve (FOCUS),
Orlando, Fla.: $5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
Fighting Against Injustice Towards Humanity (FAITH),
Daytona Beach, Fla.: $5,000 to work on affordable housing
issues.
Greater Milwaukee Sponsors, Milwaukee, Wis,: $7,500 to work
on affordable housing, healthcare, public education, and
living wage issues.
Greater Pensacola Community Organizations, Pensacola, Fla.:
$5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
Helping Empower Local Power (HELP), Charlotte, N.C.: $7,500
to work on affordable housing, immigration and public
health issues.
Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality (HOPE),
Tampa, Fla.: $7,500 to work on affordable housing and public
education issues.
Hopeful City, Wheeling, W.V.: $5,000 to work on affordable
housing and public safety issues.
Interfaith Movement Promoting Action By Congregations
Together (IMPACT), Charlottesville, Va.: $5,000 in start-up
support.
Interfaith Action, Rochester, N.Y.: $4,000 to work on
affordable housing and community development, healthcare,
and public education issues.
Lake County United, Libertyville, Ill.: $7,500 to work on
affordable housing, healthcare, and public safety issues.
Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good, Portland, Ore.: $5,000
to work on affordable housing and employment issues.
Marin Organizing Committee, San Francisco, Calif.: $5,000 in
start-up support.
Moving in Congregations, Acting in Hope (MICAH), Cortland,
N.Y.: $7,500 in start-up support.
Michigan Organizing Project (MOP), Kalamazoo, Mich.: $5,000 to
work on affordable housing issues.
New York Thruway Alliance, Rochester, N.Y.: $7,500 to support
a new alliance of four organizations in upstate New York to
address the economic distress impacting this region.
People Engaged In Active Community Efforts (PEACE), Lake
Worth, Fla.: $5,000 to work on affordable housing and
healthcare issues.
Peninsula Interfaith Action, San Carlos, Calif.: $5,000 to work
on affordable housing issues.
Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities,
Richmond, Va.: $7,500 to work on affordable housing, public
education, and public safety issues.
Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity (SURE),
Sarasota, Fla.: $7,500 to work on affordable housing issues.
South Bronx Churches, New York City, N.Y.: $5,000 to work on
housing issues.
Southern California Educational Fund – ONE LA, Los Angeles,
Calif.: $7,500 to work on affordable housing issues.
Tallahassee Equality Action Ministry (TEAM), Tallahassee,
Fla.: $5,000 to work on healthcare and affordable housing
issues.
Toledeans United for Social Action (TUSA), Toledo, Ohio:
$5,000 to work on employment and affordable housing issues.
United Congregations in Metro-East (UCM), Madison, Ill.:
$5,000 to work on affordable housing issues.
United Valley Interfaith Project, Lebanon, N.H.: $5,000 in start-up
support.
VOICE-Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.: $5,000 to work on affordable
housing, healthcare, and employment issues.
For more information about CBCOs, contact Eva Slayton in the Small Church and Community Ministry Office, by phone at (800) 728-7228, x5244, or by e-mail at Eva.Slayton@pcusa.org; or contact Tom by phone at (800) 728-7228, x5845, or by e-mail at Phil.Tom@pcusa.org.
