In the largest event of the local election season, Austin Interfaith leaders turned out in force to set the agenda for candidates running for Austin City Council and AISD and ACC boards.

Held on April 20 at St. Ignatius, Martyr Catholic Church in South Austin , leaders shared their stories of pressures they and their families are facing in the areas of health care, employment, education, ESL, immigration status, relations with the police, and traffic concerns.

Firm commitments were made by candidates to vote for increased funding and support for these initiatives that help bring people into the middle class and keep them there. Leaders collected over 5,000 signatures on agendas of issues. In a strong showing of organized political power, leaders from Austin Interfaith institutions gathered over 5,000 signatures on local and organizational agendas of issues from their institutional members and from the public. These signatures were used to help turn out the vote in the local May elections.

Santa Barbara leaders have succeeded in getting the first of a total of forty families in the Hornsby Bend area fully connected to running water.

Last year over $400,000 in infrastructure was invested in the project to get running water for the families, some of whom had been without water for five years,. By organizing residents to work together with the utility company, applications were approved, pipes laid on properties, and meters activated to start the water flowing! The community is now focused on organizing to get the financial resources needed for the remaining families to get their water too.

Plainview Estates to Finally Get Water, Austin Chronicle

Three new members have joined Austin Interfaith since the start of the year. 

Congregation Kol Halev:  a Jewish congregation with a focus on community that meets at the Dell Jewish Community Center in Northwest Austin :

ACC/AFT (Austin Community College American Federation of Teachers Union):  
local branch 6249 of the national and state federation of teachers and represents all non-administrative employees of Austin Community College . 

Simpson United Methodist Church :  a historically African-American, central East Austin congregation established in 1880 that has played a significant role in the city for over 100 years.