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United Interfaith Action of Southeast Massachusetts
(UIA)
UIA was founded in
1996 and has 16 member congregations. It is moving
from a 1 person to a 2 person staff.
New Bedford is a working
class income city of 90,000 people located about 50
miles south of Boston and 20 miles east of Providence,
RI. It people are 15% Latino, 5%
African-American, 5% Cape Verdian, 50% Portuguese
primarily from the Azores Islands and Medeira Island,
and about 20 % other whites. It is a textile city that
has lost most of its manufacturing based.
Fall River is a working
class city of 90,000 people located 40 miles south of
Boston, 15 miles east of Providence and 10 miles west
of New Bedford. It is about 65% Portuguese, 5%
Cambodian, 3% African-American, and 25% other whites.
It is also a primarily textile mill city that has lost
most of its manufacturing base.
UIA is current working on
the issues of funding for conflict resolution
education in the schools, getting street outreach
worker programs funded in New Bedford and Fall River,
youth summer jobs. It is developing new issue
campaigns on school drop-out prevention, increasing
numbers of high school graduates who go on to
community colleges and training programs, on living
wage jobs in New Bedford and on transportation and
jobs in Fall River.
UIA has many accomplishments on
funding for ESOL and GED programs, for after-school
programs, for community policing officers, for
extended library hours, and for conflict resolution
education programs.
600 people attended its largest
most recent public action. The Mayor, Superintendent
of Schools, and Police Chief attended.
UIA is part of the Massachusetts Communities Action
Network (MCAN), affiliated also with the PICO National
Network
MCAN is a statewide federation
of six organizations including UIA and BIC. It
additionally includes affiliates named Essex County
Community Organization, Worcester Interfaith, and
Pioneer Valley Project. MCAN was founded in 1985,
MCAN is a growing statewide
federation building itself in the tradition of
PICO-California and LIFT in Louisiana within the PICO
Network.
MCAN provides on-going support to each
of the affiliated organizations through regulare
meetings with the Directors, organizers, and leaders.
We also provide support on fundraising, media, issue
research and strategy development.
MCAN helps coordinate statewide issues
that the affiliates like UIA, BIC, MICAH, etc. want to
work on together. These statewide issues have
produced some real results statewide and increased
resources for the local communities of these
organzations in recent years;
1. Youth violence prevention--Campaigns have
gotten $26 million in new state funding to communities
for teen prevention programs, summer jobs for teens,
and resources for law enforcement strategies on gangs.
2. Job Training--Campaigns have gotten $24
million in funding for job training programs operating
in cities around the state.
3. Health Care--We are part of the ACT
Coalition that led the organizing to pass
Massachusetts’s landmark health care law for the
uninsured and is working now on its implementation.
We have a website with some of
our activities and accomplishments at
www.mcan-oltc.org
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