V.O.I.C.E. Internal Action October 18, 2009

Sunday afternoon, 500 V.O.I.C.E. (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) leaders from congregations all over Northern Virginia -- including Saint Anthony of Padua -- met at Freedom High School in Prince William County to review the accomplishments of V.O.I.C.E.'s first year lobbying for justice and to plan for the next year.  Among the key accomplishments were:

• Secured a total of $100,000 in additional funding for the Northern Virginia Dental Clinic to hire a full-time dentist, increasing services to low-income adults by a projected 2,000 dental visits in the next year according to Tom Wilson of the Dental Clinic.

• Preserved or mitigated reductions in affordable housing funds in a very tight fiscal year.
• Secured Governor Tim Kaine's commitment to work with V.O.I.C.E. to expand dental services for low-income adults in his biennial state budget.
• Secured commitments from Senators Webb and Warner to address 150 immigration backlog cases and to secure a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Napalitano -- as reported on in the New York Times.
• As reported by St. Anthony parishioner, Particia Gomez Rivas, organized tenants in Culmore/Vista Gardens apartments to document housing code and safety violations resulting in the Fairfax County Fire Department inspection and issuance to the property manager of over 600 fire code violations -- which have been fixed with the support of Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross.

• Organized tenants in Alexandria Bland Public Housing Development to document housing and health code violations and electric utility overcharges -- leading to commitments by the Executive Director of the Alexandria Housing and Redevelopment Authority to address these with calculation of utility bill reimbursements.
• Held a 1, 200 person action on July 20th with Governor Tim Kaine and Senator Webb's Chief of Staff -- as Gov. Kaine noted, "You've got to be impressed as an elected official when 1,200 citizens come out on a hot Monday night in the summer with only a few days notice."

As Gov. Kaine noted, V.O.I.C.E. is about citizen power -- encouraging elected officials to act for justice.  In the next year, we are already laying plans for expanding V.O.I.C.E.'s congregational membership, securing additional training, and working directly with our state delegates and senators -- as well as the new Governor -- to give voice to the weak and the powerless.  For more information about V.O.I.C.E. or to be added to the parish Social Justice email list, please email fred@stanthonyparish.org.