Teaching the Art of Democracy
Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) is about people: developing their innate skills and ability to work with each other to identify common problems, to find or create workable solutions, and to work together to implement systemic changes within society to achieve the common good. As one of our leaders is so fond of saying: “The work is us.”
Founded in 1992, Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) is a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, multi-issue group of religious congregations, schools and other non-profits in the Dallas metropolitan area with aggregate membership totaling in excess of 90,000.
Dallas Area Interfaith does its work by:
- Conducting thousands of individual and small group meetings with clergy and lay leaders.
- Training congregational representatives in how to understand and affect local and regional political processes
- Developing a large leadership core from those representatives.
- Identifying issues of concern to all sectors of the community.
- Strengthening relationships within and between member congregations.
- Forging alliances across the lines of religion and ethnicity to develop a broad-based vision for the Dallas area.
- Moving that vision into a multi-issue agenda of action for the organization.
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What's New
DAI, Church Support Food Workers after Covid-19 Outbreak in Irving Poultry Plant
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[Excerpt]
At St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Irving, Rev. Ernesto Esqueda said the church will support the workers with food and other needs during the pandemic.
“We are all walking on the same path, and our close ties mean we help and will continue to help so that these persons don’t feel forgotten or abandoned,” Rev. Esqueda said. “As a church, we work for them and with them.”
The priest said the church is also working with the nonprofit Dallas Area Interfaith and government authorities to find help for workers and parishioners.
One church leader in the interfaith group, Cecilia Avalos, said many of the Brakebush workers are vulnerable Spanish-speaking immigrants, and she knew of a worker who quit when the plant wouldn’t allow the worker to self-quarantine after exposure to an infected worker.
“There is such an outcry among people,” Avalos said.
[Photo by Dianne Solis and Imelda Garcia]
40 Workers At Irving Poultry Plant Test Positive for Covid-19, The Dallas Morning News
40 Empleados de Planta Procesadora de Pollo Dan Positivo a COVID-19, Dallas Al Día
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DAI Leverages $10 Million in County Coronavirus Relief for Housing Assistance and Small Business Aid
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[Translated excerpt below]
"It's a good start", said Josephine López Paul, organizer with Dallas Area Interfaith, a nonprofit organization that helped create the County housing assistance program.
"It's a down payment towards a major issue in our county."
Ian Mattingly, president-elect of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, noted industry analyst estimates that 15% of county renters will not be able to pay rent this month.
[Photo Credit: Ashley Landis, Dallas Al Día]
Dallas County Will Launch Housing, Business Assistance Programs With $10 Million in Federal Money, Dallas Morning News
Dallas: Condado Aprueba $10 Millones Para Apoyar Vivienda y Pequeños Negocios, Dallas Al Día
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DAI Leverages $13.7 Million In Local Housing Relief, Presses for More in Face of Overwhelming Demand
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After DAI organized judicatory leaders and clergy from every major religion in Dallas, and the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, to testify in support of short-term supports for low-income renters and homeowners, the City of Dallas authorized about $13.7 million for short-term rental and mortgage assistance programs. $6 million will be dedicated to direct income support for Dallas residents left out of the CARES Act and another $1.5 Million will be entrusted to nonprofits to distribute. Speakers who testified in support of this local aid package included Bishop Edward Burns and Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Kelly of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Michael McKee of the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Erik KJ Gronberg of the Northern Texas - Northern Louisiana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Rabbi Kimberly Herzog-Cohen of Temple Emanu-El.
Funding will come directly from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and other federal funding the city has available and will be targeted at households making 80% or below of the area median income and are left out of the federal stimulus CARES Act. DAI leaders argued that with 50,000 renters in danger of not being able to pay the rent, that a large local aid package would be essential.
50,000 Familias en Riesgo de Desalojo Por No Pagar La Renta, Al Dia Dallas
Immigrant Workers Face Economic Uncertainty During Covid-19 Shutdown, America Magazine
Personas Indocumentadas Sí Podrán Acceder a Fondo de Ayuda Para Renta, Dallas Al Día
Dallas County Will Launch Housing, Business Assistance Programs With $10 Million in Federal Money, Dallas Morning News
Press Conference Calling on City Council, Dallas Area Interfaith, [video]
City Council Discussion on Aid to Immigrants, City of Dallas [video]
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DAI Congregations Keep Parishioners Connected
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[Excerpts]
“It’s a special time with everything that’s happening because of the pandemic, but we have to think of our homes as having converted into our church where the word of God reaches us through the TV and social media,” said Jesus Belmontes, the priest of the San Juan Diego Catholic Parish in Dallas.
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Belmontes, the Dallas priest, helped organize a drive-thru food distribution with Dallas Area Interfaith the day before Easter and looks forward to seeing some of his church community through car windows. He’ll spend Sunday mostly alone, streaming from an altar where he’d usually lead thousands of congregants for mass...
[Photo Credit: Vernon Bryant, Dallas Morning News]
How Dallas Religious Leaders Are Keeping the Faith Despite Coronavirus-Induced Social Distancing, Dallas Morning News
Limited Seating and Pajama Bottoms: How Texas Churches are Preparing for a Socially Distant Easter, Texas Tribune
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DAI Zeroes In On Economic Impact of COVID-19 in North Texas
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[Excerpt]
While health and government officials work to manage the outbreak, families are struggling to pay bills and buy groceries.
Josephine Lopez Paul, the lead organizer for the Dallas Area Interfaith, a coalition of nonprofits and religious organizations that advocates for low-income families, said local, state and federal policymakers need to spend this month thinking about how to reshape the economy.
Lopez Paul said she hopes officials find a way to mitigate debt families may build as they continue to stay unable to work.
“This is going to be a depression,” she said. “This is the fastest economic decline we’ve seen in modern history. We’re not going to flip a switch one day and everyone go back to work. Some folks are never going to be able to recover from this.”
[Photo Credit: Smiley N. Pool, Dallas Morning News]
April Will Be a Make-or-Break Month for North Texas in Coronavirus Fight, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
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