Dallas Area Interfaith

Health care. High-priced education. Wages not keeping pace with cost of living. Immigration. These are the four broad problem areas that Dallas Area Interfaith has identified as targets for community action this year.

And action is already under way.

The group brings together 50 congregations and institutions from Dallas and its suburbs, cutting across racial, religious and economic lines "to give ordinary citizens a structure through which they can negotiate effectively with the government and private institutions that affect their lives," said Willie Bennett, its lead organizer.

The organization's slogan is "Praying, Listening, Organizing and Acting Together."

Since its beginning in 1988, Dallas Area Interfaith has had many grassroots efforts and successes, in areas such as housing, job training and getting voters to the polls. Its crime and public safety initiative, it says, led to funding for 200 new police officers in Dallas' 2007-08 budget.

A recent meeting on economic inequality brought 160 leaders from 26 Christian, Jewish and Muslim institutions to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Dallas. The April 24 gathering capped an educational campaign that began in March, with "civic academies" that schooled people in matters of the shrinking middle class. Those 30 individuals then trained others throughout Dallas and Collin counties to conduct hundreds of "house meetings," where five to 10 individuals gathered and talked about their lives.

Stories were shared at the April 24 event. The Rev. David Batchelder, pastor of West Plano Presbyterian Church and meeting co-chairman, reported on "young people with college educations who can't find work and are buried in debt." One woman detailed losses of her retirement plan, job and finally health insurance. "My option was the Texas high risk pool, which would have cost me almost $1,000 a month," she said.

"In all of our congregations, health care was the Number 1 concern," reported Lynn Cearley of the Dallas Area Interfaith steering committee. The organization has already met with Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick and will soon meet with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on this issue.

On May 1, a research action team convened at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas to "pare down the broad problems and move toward change," according to Mr. Bennett. "The researchers will break the problems down into specific, measurable and winnable issues."

Lenora Coleman of Salem Baptist Church in South Dallas, who co-chaired the meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes, said, "We see it as our job to organize, stand for our families, and reclaim the American dream for our communities."

"Faith communities are at the core," Mr. Batchelder said.

Meanwhile, the Collin County Interfaith cluster will take on the immigration issue starting May 29. It is inviting the Plano City Council and Collin County Commissioners to attend a public forum seeking constructive actions.

Said Mr. Batchelder, "We will deal with the historical benefits and challenges of immigration as well as the social teachings of various faith traditions regarding 'Welcoming the Stranger.'

"We will be asking our public officials to support comprehensive immigration reform efforts and avoid piecemeal, localized efforts of enforcement. In addition, we will ask our officials not to advance their public careers using an anti-immigrant agenda."

Paul Jargowsky, University of Texas at Dallas professor of public policy, praises the organization's strategy.

"Many religious groups start programs at very local levels," he said, "but to succeed, they must look at the broader picture. Things go on well beyond a single neighborhood, and when problems aren't located there, solutions aren't, either.

"Dallas Interfaith shows sophistication in understanding economic and political contexts and trying to change the overall context in which neighborhoods are located."

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you go

What: Public forum to address immigration issues.

When: 7:30 p.m. May 29.

Where: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church, 2700 W. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano.

Speaker: Ernesto Cortes, Southwest regional director, Industrial Areas Foundation, a national organization dedicated to social change.

Details: Call 214-689-5988.