[Excerpt]

Britt and a handful of other church leaders founded Dallas Area Interfaith, with a focus on grass-roots issues such as community policing, educational equity and fair housing policies. The organization also trained and empowered ordinary folks — stay-at-home moms, day laborers and blue-collar workers — to take concerns to government officials.

When a Dallas City Council member tagged Britt and his fellow pastors as belligerent and militant, he acknowledged, “We’re not your father’s civic group.”

Britt and his interfaith co-founders secured council funding for housing in South Dallas and after-school programs at elementary campuses. Britt also led a jobs creation and training initiative that he took with him to CitySquare.

This poverty-fighting champion quietly left his longtime Dallas job. What’s next for Gerald Britt?, Dallas Morning News [pdf]