"Interviews with current and former public officials, real estate experts and citizen activists suggest that Austin has simply lacked the political will to do things differently. “We have very laudable standards on the environment and are willing to go to bat, even to war on those issues,” said Kurt Cadena-Mitchell, a leader with Austin Interfaith, which supports some form of rental registration. “To go to war for the poor, that type of will is not embedded here....”

Why 'Progressive' Austin Failed to Address Substandard Rental Housing, Austin American Statesman

Churches Forgo the Hammer on Housing, USA Today

"The switch at Travis Heights has been in the making for nearly three years.  Austin Interfaith, a coalition of schools, churches and unions, and district labor group Education Austin ...reached out to 100 campuses before they found a partner in Travis Heights willing to become a charter. Their volunteers then went door-to-door, garnering support and hosting school meetings to find out what parents and teachers wanted in a school. They reached 90 percent of the school’s households and got 99 percent support from parents and 97 percent support from staff...."

[Photo Credit: Ralph Barrera, Austin American Statesman]

Switch to Charter Means More Innovation at Travis Heights, Austin American Statesman

How Travis Heights Elementary Could Change Schools in Austin, KUT News

AISD's First Homegrown Charter School Promises Real Life Lessons, KVUE & KHOU

“Texas officials have declined to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace, a major provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. So private organizations are working to educate Texans about coverage options through the federal health insurance exchange, which opens on Oct. 1….The [USHHS] department will also finance at least two “navigators” — organizations intended to guide people through the exchange — per state.

But Jacob Cortes, the lead organizer of the group Austin Interfaith, said that might not be enough. ‘The private sector would have to step up,’ he said.”

Promoting Health Insurance, With No Help From State, New York Times