By Nicole Maharaj
February 9, 2004

The Conference of Mayors convened its first Task Force Meeting on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives during the 72nd Winter Meeting. The Task Force will oversee and direct and series of forums and events that will be convened by the newly created Mayors Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (see Mayors Launch New Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives article). A select group of 10-12 mayors who have a key interest and have demonstrated successful programs in this area will serve as members of the task force.

Nick Taliaferro, Director for the city of Philadelphia's Mayors Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, moderated the session for his Mayor John F. Street. The panel featured updates from various cities on faith-based best practices and strategies, including Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Jim Towey, Director for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives addressed the mayors about their important role in helping to bring success to these efforts. Faith-Based Directors from the Departments of Labor and Housing and Urban Development spoke about key initiatives and outreach to cities.

Best Faith-Based Practices of Local Governments

Baltimore — Mayor Martin O'Malley

Baltimore Rising was launched as a large scale, faith-based and grassroots youth violence reduction program in 2001 under the leadership of O'Malley. This comprehensive program is comprised of both a mentoring and monitoring component. Members of the faith community volunteer as mentors to at-risk city youth with violent behavior. This collaboration of local, city and state organizations assists in tracking the progress of mentored youth in their communities. Staff from the Mayors Office for Children, Youth and Families function as the chief administrators for the program while participating faith institutions are organized in formal networks to deliver services. In 2001, the first year of the program, volunteers from Baltimore's faith community individually mentored nearly 350 youth weekly. In 2002, over 500 youth were mentored and several social and education neighborhood functions were organized.

Philadelphia — Mayor John F. Street

Street formed a Faith-Based Transition Committee that studied both the practicality of faith-based government partnerships and offered recommendations for implementation of services. A recommendation was offered to create an official office under the purview of the mayor to establish and oversee faith-based outreach and programs. The Mayors Office of Faith-Based Initiatives (MOFI) was established for this purpose.

Other noteworthy faith-based programs and/or outreach in the City coordinated through the Mayor's office include the following: 1) ECHO — a project which links congregations to a State computer based job apparatus (Career Link) for the purpose of assisting ex-offenders in their quest for find employment upon their release; 2) Nueva Esperanza — a multifaceted outreach operating under the aegis of the Hispanic Clergy in Philadelphia primarily serving the Latino/Hispanic community by creating housing, and educational opportunities through community economic development; and 3) After School Programming/Beacon Schools — programs designed to provide structured educational activities after school hours.

Washington, DC — Mayor Anthony Williams

The District of Columbia successfully competed for one of only 12 Faith-Based and Community Initiative grants available from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). The grant provided by USDOL has facilitated the establishment of an Office of Faith and Community-Based Partnerships (OFCBP) in the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES) to link faith and community-based organizations to the District's One'stop Career Centers.

Miami — Mayor Manuel A. Diaz

Miami Mayor Manuel A. Diaz, who serves as Vice Chair for the Task Force on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives takes a very innovative approach to engaging the faith community in his city. For instance, the City's "Seven Keys for the Kingdom," program will create a network system linking every church in the City of Miami to each other. The program will be launched sometime in April.

Miami has unique challenges, with a 60 percent immigrant population. They have every denomination represented in every racial and ethnic group.

Diaz also records a regular message to the faith community via a local gospel radio station and gospel newspaper entitled "Inside Miami with Mayor Manny Diaz," to ensure a constant line of communication with his faith community. This message which is preparing to air live on the city's television station NET 9 — reaches over 10,000 persons throughout South Florida and the Bahamas.

White House And Federal Agency Reports

Jim Towey, Director for the White House of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives addressed the mayors during the task force session encouraging them to fully embrace this issue. You can't preach on Uncle Sam's dollar. You can't take federal money and promote religious beliefs or ideology. But as President Bush indicated in his State of Union speech — He wants to end discrimination against faith-based groups in the federal grants process.

According to Towey, federal regulations have inhibited faith-based organizations. If a group had a religious name or a board of directors that were all of one faith or if they had a cross on the wall or a mezuzah at the door, that group was ineligible to receive city administered HUD funds. "You can't fund directly and inherently religious activities, but you can welcome faith-based providers that might have separated in time and space from a job training programs taking place in a facility supported by HUD funds," said Towey

Brent Orrell, Director for the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at Labor spoke about the Labor Department's Ready for Work program, and the important focus on ex-offender reintegration. This demonstration project which was launched last May provided $22.5 million in grants to faith and community based organizations to assist men and women who are coming out of prison with re-entering society. This project will eventually be replicated in 18-20 cities across the country.

Cities can apply directly for two other Labor programs, which include the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Initiative launched last year, and the Compassion Capital Fund which funds intermediary organizations who provide technical assistance to smaller faith and community based organizations.

Ryan Streeter, Director for the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at HUD commented on the department's new regulations with respect to faith-based organizations. "It is particularly difficult for many inner city faith-based organizations who operate on tight budgets and also where space is a premium — needing to be able to use facilities for multiple purposes not to have anything that looks, smells or feels religious. Former HUD regulations made this very difficult, " said Streeter.

Streeter also mentioned the new CDBG Demonstration Program, where five cities will competitively apply for grants that illustrate how they play to effectively integrate faith-based groups into the community development and affordable housing initiatives of the city.