ACORN News: October 21, 2004
colist at comm-org.utoledo.edu
colist at comm-org.utoledo.edu
Wed Oct 27 18:38:09 CDT 2004
[ed: this is one of the regular ACORN updates.]
From:
"Camellia Phillips" <acornnews at acorn.org>
ACORN News: October 21, 2004
In This Issue
1. Florida ACORN Members Start Voting!
2. ACORN Study Reveals Lending Disparities Across the Country
3. Florida Bus Tour Rallies Support for Minimum Wage Increase
4. 2,000 Gather in San Diego to Promote Immigrant Rights
5. New Jersey Lawmakers Pledge $15 Million in Rental Assistance
6. Ohio and Michigan Lawsuits Ensure Provisional Ballots
Will be Counted
7. Connecticut Wins Hospital Bill Reductions
8. Providence Parents Call Attention to Lack of School "Choice"
9. Los Angeles ACORN Leader Receives City Council Commendation
10. Las Vegas ACORN Opens
Take Action: Contribute to Get Out the Vote Efforts!
ACORN News October 21, 2004
Florida ACORN Members Start Voting!
This AFP news service photo was taken in a Florida
polling place in the first days of early voting - demonstrating ACORN
members' pr esence at the polls. Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP.
October 18 was the first day of early voting in Florida, and
AC ORN is making an aggressive effort to turn out our members and the
more tha n 212,000 voters we registered in the state. By voting early,
Floridians ca n ensure that their vote is counted in the presidential
election and help r aise the state minimum wage by $1. As evidenced by
this AFP news service ph oto on early voting, ACORN's efforts are
working! Nationwide, in the days b efore the November 2 election, ACORN
is organizing a major get out the vote
campaign to encourage ACORN members and the million new voters we
helped r egister in the last year to exercise their right to vote.
ACORN Study Reveals Lending Disparities Across the Country
On October 14, ACORN released a mortgage lending study that
sho ws evidence of increased lending disparities to minority and
low-income hom ebuyers in cities across the country. Despite these
continued - and in many
ways worsening - disparities, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(F DIC) has made a proposal to weaken the Community Rienvestment Act
(CRA) whi ch was originally enacted in an effort to end bank redlining.
Nationally, t he study found that:
Chart: Denial Rates by Applicant Race
Denial rate disparities for African-American and Latino
ap plicants compared to whites have increased since 1998 to the large
disparit ies that existed 10 years ago in 1993.
In 2003, African Americans applicants for conventional
pur chase loans were 2.2 times more likely to be denied than whites,
while Lati nos were 1.6 times more likely to be denied.
Low and moderate income neighborhoods account for 31.3% of
the country, but received just 15.3% of the conventional loans.
In the face of this continuing lending discrimination, ACORN is
strongly opposed to regulations proposed by the FDIC that would weaken the
CRA by eliminating the investment and service requirements for all
banks w ith under $1 billion in assets - resulting in significantly
fewer home loan s to underserved communities. ACORN also asked both
presidential campaigns for their comments on the study, and received a
response from Senator John Kerry stating that: "As ACORN's new study
underscores, low-income and minor ity families still face unfair
barriers to homeownership. We need to work together to break down those
barriers. .Rather than weaken the CRA, we shou ld redouble our
commitment to home-ownership and expanded access to capital
for small business, which will help improve the lives of millions of
Ameri cans." For more information on the study, contact Valerie Coffin
at fairhou sing at acorn.org or 410-735-3373. For more information on the
changes to CRA contact Matthew Mayers at legdirect at acorn.org or
202-547-2500.
Florida Bus Tour Rallies Support for Minimum Wage Increase
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks at a rally at a stop on the
min imum wage bus tour traveling across Florida this week. The bus,
behind him,
is painted with images of dollar bills to symbolize the proposed $1
raise in the minimum wage.
On October 13, Floridians for All and ACORN, along with
allies including State Senator Tony Hill, kicked off a 10-day, 15-city
bus tour to
build support for Amendment 5, which would raise the state minimum wage by
$1. Stops on the tour, which is also encouraging Floridians to take
advant age of early voting, include Fort Lauderdale, Melbourne, Miami,
Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando. Support for raising the minimum wage
is strong stat ewide, with a recent poll of 600 registered voters,
completed by polling fi rm Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates, indicating
that 81% of respondents sa id they favor the wage increase. Of the
proposed wage increase, State Senat or Hill, of Jacksonville, said:
"Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage si nce 1997, and we're tired of
waiting for someone else to make life better f or working families. Now
Floridians have a chance to take matters into thei r own hands and vote
themselves a raise." For more information contact Megh an Scott at
610-737-8150 or Laura Saponara at 305-642-6114.
2,000 Gather in San Diego to Promote Immigrant Rights
On October 3, La Alianza, a new coalition organized by
ACORN, J ustice Overcoming Boundaries (JOB, an affiliate of the Gamaliel
Foundation) , the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee, Excellence and
Justice in Educa tion, and SEIU Local 1877, organized a joint public
event focusing on immig rant rights in San Diego that drew over 2,000
participants. Participants ca me together in a local hotel conference
room to discuss issues affecting im migrant communities including health
care, education and housing, and to he ar presentations from City
Councilmember Toni Atikins, National City Cityco uncilmember Luis
Natividad, and other elected officials, and a rousing call
to action to defend immigrants rights from SEIU International Executive
Vi ce President Eliseo Medina. Representatives of the Metropolitan
Transporta tion Board attended the event, and after meeting with ACORN
and other commu nity members agreed to work with Alianza to get the
border patrol to stop c oming onto the city's trollies and buses to
harass immigrants. Victoria Sam aha at San Diego ACORN at
caacornsdro at acorn.org or 619-235-9593.
New Jersey Lawmakers Pledge $15 Million in Rental Assistance
On October 14, over 250 New Jersey ACORN members from seven
cit ies rallied in the state capital of Trenton, at a joint event with
the New Jersey Anti-Poverty Network and the Housing and Community
Development Netwo rk of New Jersey, to demand that state legislative
leaders fulfill their pr omise to add $15 million more this fall to the
New Jersey State Rental Assi stance (Section 8) Fund. This June, as part
of state budget negotiations, S enator Ronald Rice had secured initial
commitments from legislative leaders hip for more funding for rental
assistance. Five state senators spoke at th e October 14 rally,
including Senator Ronald Rice, Senatory Bernard Kenny, Senator Robert
Singer, Senator Diane Allen, and Senator Joseph Doria, as we ll as ACORN
and other community members who have been struggling with high housing
costs and homelessness. As part of the rally, ACORN members and all ies
also pitched tents on the green across the street from the Statehouse,
as a symbol for the plight of homeless and low-income families
throughout t he state. In response to the rally, lawmakers committed to
providing the pr omised additional $15 million in low-income rental
housing assistance, in a ddition to $10 million allocated earlier. For
more information, contact Kat e Atkins at njacorn at acorn.org or 973-645-1377.
Ohio and Michigan Lawsuits Ensure Provisional Ballots Will
be C ounted
On October 14, an Ohio court ruled in favor of the Ohio
Voter P rotection Coalition, which includes ACORN, Project Vote, League
of Women Vo ters, Ohio AFL-CIO, People for the American Way Foundation,
AFSCME, A. Phil ip Randolph Institute, and others, in a lawsuit brought
against Ohio Secret ary of State Ken Blackwell in regards to how
provisional ballots will be co unted for November 2's election. On
September 16, Blackwell had issued an o rder prohibiting elections
officials from giving provisional ballots to vot ers who try to vote in
the wrong precinct. As a result of the ruling, voter s who cast
provisional ballots because they are at the wrong polling place,
but are registered in the same county, will have their vote counted for
st atewide races as well as federal elections. In Michigan, on October
19, a f ederal court ruled that provisional ballots cast by voters in
the wrong pre cinct but in the right county, city, or township must be
counted. ACORN, Pr oject Vote, the NAACP, and the Ezekiel Project were
plaintiffs in the lawsu it, which was combined with a similar lawsuit
filed by the Democratic Party , and handled by the Brennan Center. The
lawsuit was filed in response to c oncerns that provisional ballots
would only be counted if they were cast in
the correct polling place. This would disenfrachise voters who are
voting for the first time and unsure of their polling location and would
leave vot ers susceptible to last minute polling location changes by the
local electi ons officials. Combined with a prior concession by
Michigan's Secretary of State to make provisional ballots available to
first time voters facing new
ID requirements, this latest ruling will ensure that Michigan voters
are f ully able to exercise their right to vote. For more information,
contact Jo anne Wright at vrnat at acorn.org.
Connecticut Wins Hospital Bill Reductions
Connecticut ACORN member Carmen Ramirez tears up the $7,0
00 Bridgeport Hospital bill for which she received relief.
As a result of months of organizing, Bridgeport,
Connecticut, A CORN members facing large hospital bills have won
hospital bill debt relief
from Bridgeport Hospital totaling $10,000. Low-income ACORN members
with o utstanding bills at Bridgeport Hospital had reported aggressive
calls from bill collectors, liens being place on their homes, and
unaffordable wage ga rnishments brought on by the hospital. In July,
ACORN members protested at the offices of Howard Lee Schiff, one of
Bridgeport Hospital's main collect ion agencies, in an effort to resolve
various billing disputes. Since then,
ACORN members have met with hospital officials directly to discuss changes
in their policies and have won debt relief for ACORN members with
unafford able bills. In addition, reflecting new legislation passed in
2003, recentl y Bridgeport Hospital has implemented a sliding scale
policy and programs t o help the uninsured receive rate discounts. ACORN
members are also organiz ing to ensure that all low-income patients know
about these programs availa ble to help them with their bills. For more
information, contact David Lags tein at ctacorn at acorn.org or 203-333-2676.
Providence Parents Call Attention to Lack of School "Choice"20
On September 24, Providence, Rhode Island, ACORN members,
mostl y parents and students, filled a bus and traveled to Hugh B. Bain
Middle Sc hool in the nearby suburban school district of Cranston to
call attention t o the failed promise of "school choice" in the No Child
Left Behind Act (NC LB). Because all of Providence's middle schools have
been deemed "failing,"
the Providence school district is directed under law to seek
arrangements with neighboring school districts for students who want to
exercise their r ight to transfer out of failing schools. Earlier in
September, ACORN member s met with members of the Providence School
Department to find out why Prov idence middle schoolers were being
denied their right to transfer to a bett er school under the "choice"
option of NCLB. Parents were told that Provide nce had sent a letter to
adjacent districts, including Cranston, requesting
that schools with space accept Providence middle schoolers, but that
Provi dence received either no response or negative responses from these
district s. On September 24, ACORN members, attempting to exercise their
children's right to school choice, requested that their children be
allowed to enroll in the Hugh B. Bain Middle School, only to be turned
away. Said ACORN membe r Mary Scott: "We want to make clear that our
children deserve the same qua lity education as suburban school
districts. The solution isn't to give our
children a false promise that they can transfer to a better school but
to fix our schools." For more information, contact Aimee Olin at
riacorn at acorn .org or 401-780-0500.
Los Angeles ACORN Leader Receives City Council Commendation
On October 7, long time Los Angeles ACORN leader Julia
Botello was honored with a commendation from the Los Angeles City
Council for her o utstanding community activism. While Julia thought she
was going to the Cou ncil meeting to speak about inclusionary zoning and
affordable housing, Cou ncilmember Martin Ludlow had arranged to present
her with a special certifi cate, and Council resolution, recognizing her
efforts as an activist and me mber of ACORN in improving her community.
At the meeting, Councilmember Ant onio Villaraigosa detailed Julia's
work with ACORN, from protesting the lac k of street lighting in her
neighborhood after she fell on a dark sidewalk outside of her house to
helping to lead the campaign that created a $100 mi llion yearly
affordable housing trust fund. Following the award presentatio n, Julia,
whose eleven children were in the audience, gave a speech about t he
need for more affordable housing in Los Angeles and reminded Councilmemb
ers that if they didn't support ACORN's demands for more affordable
housing , ACORN members would be visiting their homes. For more
information, contac t Peter Kuhns at caacornlaro at acorn.org or
213-747-4211x212.
Las Vegas ACORN Opens
ACORN has opened an office in Las Vegas and has been organizing
in West Las Vegas for the last month. Las Vegas ACORN is now focusing
on g et out the vote operations leading up to the election. Recently,
new Las Ve gas ACORN members also held a protest at Jackson Hewitt and
garnered signif icant press coverage for ACORN's study revealing lending
discrimination nat ionwide and in 100 cities, including Las Vegas. For
more information, conta ct Will Ward at nvacorn at acorn.org.
Take Action: Contribute to Get Out the Vote Efforts!
While ACORN and Project Vote have already registered 1.1
millio n voters in the last year, the next challenge is encouraging
these new vote rs to exercise their right to vote! ACORN and Project
Vote are hard at work
implementing our aggressive get out the vote campaigns in cities and
state s around the country: over 11,000 workers and volunteers will be
contacting
these new registrants and additional infrequent voters three times - in
pe rson - between now and Election Day. We need your help! Please
contribute t o these efforts by making a tax deductible contribution to
Project Vote. Co ntributions can be made online at
https://www.projectvote.org/?109 or by se nding a check (overnight
delivery!) to Project Vote, 88 Third Avenue, 3rd f loor, Brooklyn NY 11217.
DONATE TO ACORN
Membership dues and chapter-based fundraising programs pay for
75 percent of ACORN's budget. But ACORN also needs financial support
from n on-member allies, people who do not live in neighborhoods with
ACORN chapte rs but who support the work ACORN is doing. For more
information, link to
http://acorn.org/?4 or contact Steve Kest at
natexdirect at acorn. org or 718-246-7900.
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
No w, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and
moderate-inco me families, with over 150,000 member families organized
into 700 neighborh ood chapters in 65 cities across the country. Since
1970 ACORN has taken ac tion and won victories on issues of concern to
our members. Our priorities include: better housing for first time
homebuyers and tenants, living wages
for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and
go vernments, and better public schools. We achieve these goals by
building co mmunity organizations that have the power to win changes --
through direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation.
Check out ACORN's website at http://www.acorn.org.
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