Exceeding their turnout goal by 50%, more than 1,500 leaders from Texas IAF organizations assembled online and in (socially distanced) watch parties to launch a Get Out The Vote drive, pledging to deliver 200,000 voters this fall to support a nonpartisan agenda for change.

Declared the Rev. Dr. Rhenel Johnson, pastor of Abundant Life United Methodist Church and leader with TMO: "Here today are the prophets like Moses who are called to set the people free.  Set them free from slave jobs, set them free from not having access to mental health for our adult and children, set them free from police brutality and set them free from inequality!  The Texas IAF network is ready to take to the streets and sign up voters to our agenda of issues and March them to the polls starting October 19 for early voting through election day on November 3rd."

Bishops, clergy, lay leaders, and community leaders from 10 Texas IAF organizations ratified an agenda that includes COVID-19 recovery, workforce development, healthcare access, immigration, and police reform.  Speakers included: Catholic Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller (Archdiocese of San Antonio), Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Kelly (Diocese of Dallas), Rabbi Alan Freedman (Temple Beth Shalom in Austin), Danielle Alan of Harvard University, Paul Osterman of MIT, Luke Bretherton of Duke University, Charles Sabel of the Economic Policy Institute, and Teresa Ghilarducci and Richard McGahey of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. 

Similar statewide “Sign Up-Take Charge/Get Out The Vote” campaigns by the Network of Texas IAF Organizations have netted over $2 Billion in infrastructure funding for colonias along the border, tens of millions for workforce development for living wage jobs, over $50 Million for public school parent training and staff development, expansion of CHIP and Medicaid at the state level, and living wage measures in cities, counties, and school districts across the state.

Over the past three months Texas IAF organizations have focused on COVID-19 recovery, leveraging over $250,000,000 in rental/utility assistance and $100,000,000 in workforce development at the city and county levels, in addition to statewide and local moratoriums for utility cutoffs and evictions.

“We've won hundreds of millions in immediate COVID-19 economic relief, our organizations are now focusing on longer term workforce and economy recovery strategies brought about by the pandemic,” said Rev. Minerva Camarena-Skeith, a leader with St. Michael’s Episcopal and Central Texas Interfaith. “This includes long-term training for in-demand living wage jobs, reducing underlying health care disparities, and education investments like internet connectivity for students from low-income communities to bridge the digital divide.”       

Leaders pledged to identify 5,700 leaders in house meetings and small group gatherings this summer and prepare them to each deliver 36 voters to the polls this fall.   

According to scripture scholar Walter Brueggemann in his essay “Blessed are the History-Makers,” our religious traditions teach us that the real history-makers are not kings, presidents, or those with means of violence that seek to control and harm others, or to silence questions of power. He calls those people the history-stoppers. History-MAKERS are the outsiders, the marginalized, those carrying on the prophetic tradition with “a bold conviction about an alternative possibility that goes under the name of hope”. In scripture, God allies himself with marginalized peoples to create history.

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis exposed again the twin evils of racism and violence and their effects on those systematically denied human dignity in our country. The President holding up a sacred text while having peaceful protestors dispersed with rubber bullets and tear gas is alarming. That Austin Police used tear gas and similar “less lethal” weapons on unarmed protestors in Austin, leaving at least one in critical condition, is unacceptable. “Less-lethal” weapons can still be lethal.

But as Brueggemann says, the bet of our biblical faith is that God is “allied with marginal people to create newness”: with protestors in Austin and across the country who peacefully but passionately say "enough is enough;" with Brenda Ramos, whose unarmed son Michael was killed by police in Austin, and who courageously stood before cameras calling for change in our Police Department and for non-violence in demonstrations; with the clergy of Washington DC’s St. John’s Episcopal Church who quickly denounced the President’s photo-op in front of their church; with the Washington D.C. Catholic Archbishop, an African-American man who similarly denounced a visit by the President to a Catholic shrine the next day; and with a coalition of Austin justice groups, who a few days before the President had White House security drive away protesters for his own photo-op, had cancelled their own rally, their own chance to speak before the public and the press, in order to protect the lives of their members.

This week Central Texas Interfaith is discussing these issues in our meetings with leaders in law enforcement, police oversight, and several Central Texas County Judges. CTI fully supports the mission of the Office of Police Oversight to provide impartial accountability of the Austin Police Department. We are also committed to continue working with APD and communities across Austin through our Community Policing Initiative to create opportunities for residents and police officers to engage in a constructive dialogue and build relationships which hopefully can help prevent the escalation of routine encounters into violent confrontations. And we will engage with Council Members and allied organizations to explore concrete ways to undo racism and address the long-term effects of systematic discrimination.

Austin, like most Southern cities, has a deep history of systemic and institutionalized racism towards African-Americans, as well as other people of color. We understand that these forces run much deeper than law enforcement, and pervade ALL of our institutions, from government, to civic, religious, and educational institutions. While Central Texas Interfaith will listen to all sides, in the end we will stand with the African-American community, all communities of color, and the most marginalized who are boldly leading this moment. African-American Theologian Howard Thurman, whose thought had a profound influence on Dr. King and the nonviolent philosophy of the Civil Rights Movement, hoped for the very courage we are witnessing at this time: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” Central Texas Interfaith will stand with the history-makers and those who have come alive.

On the heels of leveraging $10 Million in housing assistance from Travis County, Central Texas Interfaith leaders called on the City of Austin to provide at least $40 Milllion in rental assistance for economically distressed families in the COVID-19 crisis.   On Thursday, June 4, the Austin City Council unanimously responded.  

Central Texas Interfaith commends the Mayor, Austin City Council and City Manager for approving a COVID spending framework that includes nearly $24 million new dollars for the RENT Program plus $12 million new dollars for the RISE Program for direct income support.  

That, combined with other additional new sources, puts the City of Austin well over the $40 million dollars in new rental assistance that Central Texas Interfaith has called for. It also includes tens of millions more in financial support for those in need. We look forward to working with the City of Austin and other organizations on implementation of these programs and beginning to look at our longer term economic recovery and workforce strategies. 

Austin Council Approves Over $200M for COVID-19 Emergency Response, CBS Austin 

Group to Austin Leaders: Give $40 Million Cut From Coronavirus Funds to Renters, Austin American Statesman [pdf]

Advocates Call on Austin to Provide $40M for Renters, KXAN [video] [pdf]

Austin Allocating Far Less in Rental Assistance During COVID-19 Crisis Compared to Other Texas Cities, KVUE (Pre-conference) [video] [pdf]

Austin Nonprofit Seeks Assistance for Renters, KVUE [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide se Asignen Más Fondos de Alquiler Para Familias de Austin, Univsión [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide a Comisionados del Condado Travis que Aprueben Fondos de Asistencia para el Alquiler de las Familias Afectadas por el Coronavirus, Univisón [video][pdf]

Travis County Approves $10M for Direct Rental and Mortgage Assistance, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Housing Committee Talks Scaling Rental Assistance Program, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Headlines / Quote of the Week Austin Chronicle [pdf]

Austin Top News - May 14, 2020 KLBJ [pdf]