by Nicole Maharaj
July 9, 2001

One Monday, June 25, Conference President Boise Mayor H. Brent Coles led the First Mayoral Forum on Faith- Based and Community Initiatives prior to President Bush's address to the membership body on this important issue. The purpose of this first-time forum was to highlight and illustrate the depth of this issue while demonstrating what is already happening in cities across the nation in this area. Coles led the discussion with a commitment from the Conference to work with Congress and the Bush Administration to ensure that mayors are involved in coordinating any new faith-based and community efforts, while acknowledging all of the work and accomplishments that has already taken place over the years in cities by faith and community-serving organizations. (See proclamation presented to President Bush by mayors on next page.)

Coles also thanked the mayors for participating in an initial Conference survey, which was presented to the President, reflecting 121 cities which have designated a liaison to coordinate faith and community-based outreach as well as 37 cities which intend on doing so in future. "This initial directory is just our first step to emphasize our cities' commitment to these efforts, and this will be an ongoing initiative as we move towards our 2002 January and June conferences, " said Coles.

Mayors across America have a long history of working with churches, faith-based organizations, and community coalitions to enhance the quality of life for citizens across the nation. "So often, when our communities are in times of crisis - we turn to faith-based organizations for community healing and to create an opportunity and forum to make things happen in a city. These groups also help to strengthen our neighborhoods and leverage private resources to address social and/or recreational issues and concerns," said Coles.

Mayors John F. Street of Philadelphia and Anthony A. Williams of the District of Columbia, co-chairs of a newly formed special Task Force on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives appointed by Coles helped to facilitate the discussion and others participated including Mayors Marc H. Morial of New Orleans, M. Susan Savage of Tulsa, and Dennis W. Archer of Detroit. The task force will examine the roles of local governments in faith-based efforts, identify and highlight some best practices across the nation, forward policy suggestions that will create an unified, bi-partisan agenda that will be presented to Congress and the White House while creating a cadre of mayors that will help to move this agenda forward and serve as national spokespersons on this key issue.

Philadelphia Mayor

John F. Street

According to Mayor Street, Philadelphia has a long history of faith-based activism, from the Quaker abolitionist movement to the Reverend Leon Sullivan's Opportunities Industrialization Centers. "These initiatives prove what I have long believed - that cities can benefit from the coordination of citizens whose faith inspires them to volunteer their time to help the government provide services to people who need a helping hand. For this reason, I have created the Mayor's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. This office aggressively identifies faith-based institutions to support the city's volunteer programs, including a program to reduce truancy in public schools and one to work with the children of inmates in local prisons," said Street. Street has personally committed to raise $150 million to assist with many of these efforts.

"The faith based initiative is an old idea whose time has come, because this nation's history is in part a story of faith-based activism and outreach," said Street. Before passing of the Social Security ActÐ faith based organizations bore the brunt of charitable outreach during the depression. And, even today provide services to orphans, the elderly and many others who are in need of assistance. Street further asserted that he will fight to uphold the constitution of the United States, understanding the obligations to protect its' provisions, but does not believe the authors intended to ban faith-based institutions from delivering basic services to the nation's citizens. For decades, federal dollars have flowed to groups like Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services, the Salvation Army, and others, yet no court has ever suggested or deemed that this was unconstitutional.

"In 1999, during my run for mayor, I announced to make the faith-based community an integral part of my administrationÐa new twist to an old idea. My intention as mayor includes making government more effective, not more religious. By simply, reaching people in need that are being left behind by the government. Personally, I believe it can make a real difference in our city, particularly in the lives of children," said Street.

District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams

"One of the most important assets is the city's strong faith community. But, I believe faith and government are better and more effective when they work together. Faith-based efforts are indispensable, crucial and necessary to a city's development and quality of life. However, they must work with government, because alone they are not a sufficient means to address social problems," says Williams.

"When I was Chief Financial Officer of the city, I realized that our city needed to be more than a collection of monuments to democracyÐ our city needs to be a living, breathing example of democracy at work in our community. In order for this to work, you need a strong, active faith community. So, when I became mayor I re-established the Mayor's Office of Religious Affairs as well as a Faith Advisory Council comprised of 80 religious leaders of various faiths and denominations to engage the faith community in the revitalization of our city," asserted Williams.

According to Williams, faith-based organizations are now involved in every aspect of neighborhood revitalization from improving education, providing after-school programs for children, and a whole host of other neighborhood development efforts to improve the overall well being of residents within the city. Particularly, in the area of youth violence and prevention for at-risk youth, which has included a coalition of 20 churches, 5 government agencies, 5 law enforcement entities, and 20 human service providers to prevent them from turning to a life a crime and help them become responsible adults. The result, according to Williams, within the last 18-months has been a 40% has been a reduction in the overall homicide rate, no killing of youth under 18 since this year, and the placement of 50 at-risk youth into education, employment, or community service programs.

Last year, Williams hosted a one-day first ever Mayor's Faith-Based Conference on Community Economic Development, featuring "Best Practices" models from across the country that are being replicated by faith-based organizations and community-based groups in many areas of the city and across the nation.

New Orleans Mayor

Marc H. Morial

"What you will find compelled Frank Murphy and other mayors to create this organization, the Conference of Mayors, to respond to the crisis in their cities was very much contributed to the bad economic condition of this country in 1932. Because, the system of private charity, many associated with churches that supported the jobless, homeless and other individuals in need — had completely fallen apart. The food banks were empty, and the system had completely collapsed and fallen apart. For this reason, mayors came to Detroit to call on the federal government to step in and help," said Morial.

"What we are finding again almost 70 years later today is that the government alone still cannot deal with many of these problems. Faith-based outreach is merely another illustrative example of how mayors have led this nation with innovation, because we understand that social problems cannot be solved alone - federal, state or local governments cannot do it alone. Part of the reason that cities are coming back is because we have built and forged many successful partnerships over the years, such as those with the business and faith communities," said Morial.

New Orleans has committed almost $5 million to faith-based activities from its' 2001 city budget. For example, HOME dollars have been used to help finance faith-based community development corporations, resulting in the creation and formation many faith-based coalitions, which have in turn led to the design, construction, and building of much needed affordable housing in key areas of the city. Other programs have been funded including camp enrichment programs, arts camps, welfare-to-work activities. In future, the city will hold a technical assistance symposium with Senator Mary Landrieu for religious leaders of faith-based organizations to better understand the ground rules of this type outreach. Morial feels that many faith-based organizations already possess the capacity and are in a position to undertake more outreach, but he also knows that many others need mentoring, tutoring and training in this area.

"Many of us have worked hard in our cities to build partnerships, and mayors have been leading faith-based outreach efforts for some timeÐthis didn't just begin today. Hopefully, increased collaboration and engagement with the faith-based community, and the assistance of the President and the federal government, will help us expand what we are already doing through various means to help the citizens of this nation. We also need to find new ways to open the doors of private and corporate foundations to engage them in partnering with us on faith-based outreach to our communities," said Morial.

Detroit Mayor

Dennis W. Archer

There are more than 1,500 churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other houses of worship in the city of Detroit. According to Archer, these faith institutions are often sources of stability, hope and major contributors to the community at-large. Archer says, "Urban churches are typically self-sufficient and often have significant financial resources to make major contributions to the re-development of the communities in which they reside."

Under Archer's leadership, his administration has developed and spearheaded many faith-based coalitions and collaborative partnerships within the city, including many city stakeholders such as Department of of Health and Human Services, Planning and Development, Employment and Training, Youth, Police, Planning and Development, Human Rights, and the Mayor's Executive Office. These departments have all worked closely with churches and faith related organizations to help them generally improve the quality of life for city residents by providing a myriad of social and housing services and community development and economic development activities.

A noteworthy example is the Michigan Area Partnership Bridges Program, which is a multi-denominational effort aimed to revitalize and strengthen neighborhoods all over the city, providing services to 200,000 residents by linking African-Americans, Latino Americans, and Arab Americans with faith and community-based organizations. However, Mayor Archer cited by name a whole host of churches and houses of worship, that provide various services which address social needs from job readiness, preparedness and creation, at-risk youth prevention, housing and other community economic development related outreach. In addition, the Skillman Foundation will provide $10 million in technical assistance to Detroit area faith and community-based groups that apply for monies that fund children's programs.

According to Archer one of the most important lessons that he has learned as mayor, "We cannot do it alone through city government, our faith-based organizations play a very important role in the city." Archer also affirms that the City of Detroit has been able to provide this outreach in a consistent, effective manner while respecting and upholding the United States constitution.

Tulsa Mayor

M. Susan Savage

"Without question many of us in our cities turn to the faith-based community when dealing with various social issues, from providing meals on wheels, dealing with the homeless, alcohol and substance abuse prevention, etc. Indeed, there are so many advantages when partnering with the faith-based community," said Savage.

The City of Tulsa has a 60-year history and relationship with what is called the "Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry (TMM)," a coalition and formal organization of over 60 faith-based organizations representing various denominations and faiths, including Christians, Unitarians, Muslims, Jews, etc. The primary mission of this organization is to promote issues of social concern and provide specific guidance at the local, state and federal levels of government. TMM, which Savage refers to for advice and guidance, has raised several issues and concerns as these efforts move forward in future including the fact there is no new money, so organizations will have to compete for same pots of funding, the fear of discrimination, fear of inter-faith and ecumenical strife that currently doesn't exist, and fear of a shift from public policy to private charity.

Mayor Savage feels that these are important issues and concerns to raise in future as the discussion and debate moves forward in examining and forwarding these initiatives. And, hopefully these concerns will guide the way in providing direction and advice on any formal roles that these groups will provide in future.