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COPS/Metro Confronts Harlandale and South San Antonio School Boards Over Sudden School Closures

March 31, 2023

[Excerpt]"Harlandale trustees have voted to close Columbia Heights, Rayburn, Morrill and Carroll Bell elementary schools at the end of the school year.... Juan Cristan came with a large group of COPS/Metro community organizers who felt the announcement of the proposal to close schools came...

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Texas IAF Orgs Denounce "Vampire" Legislation That Would Suck the Life from Texas Schools

March 15, 2023

[Excerpt] The Network of Texas IAF Organizations, a labor and faith coalition that has staunchly opposed using school property tax breaks for incentives... railed against the Texas Jobs and Security Act. "It looks like it was written on the back of a napkin," stated...

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'Recognizing the Stranger' Conference Commemorates 5-Year Organizing Strategy

March 09, 2023

Over 300 leaders, clergy, religious, and bishops from 20 organizations gathered last week in San Antonio to celebrate five years of Recognizing the Stranger, a West/Southwest IAF training, leadership formation, and parish organizing strategy.  The Convocation was highlighted by a video message from Pope...

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Texas IAF Underscores Lasting Consequences of Chapter 313 Subsidies

February 07, 2023

[Excerpt] "In December, legislators killed a controversial tax abatement program known as Chapter 313, but its effects will last decades.... “There’s no accountability at the statewide level; nobody administers it,” said Bob Fleming, an organizer with [T]he Metropolitan Organization of Houston who campaigned against...

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National Gathering of Ministers Features COPS/Metro Collaboration w/San Antonio Archdiocese

February 02, 2023

At a national gathering of Catholic Social Ministers organized by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), COPS/Metro's work with San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller was featured prominently in plenary sessions and a workshop around local organizing for gun safety reform.  During a panel...

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The Day Pope Francis Welcomed West/Southwest IAF Community Organizers to His Home

January 13, 2023

[Excerpt] We were an interfaith group of 20 lay leaders, clergy and professional organizers from the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation, a representation of a decades-long tradition of community organizing in the United States, of which Catholic communities and parishes have played a major role....

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National Catholic Reporter Spotlights IAF Assistance with Synod Process

January 03, 2023

[Excerpt] When Pope Francis launched his newly invigorated process for the Synod of Bishops in 2021, he challenged Catholics worldwide to "become experts in the art of encounter," saying it was "time to look others in the eye and listen to what they have...

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Pope Francis meets with COPS/Metro

October 25, 2022

A delegation of 20 leaders and organizers from the West Southwest IAF, including COPS/Metro Leaders Rose Garcia, of Our Lady of Guadalupe,  Sr. Pearl Cesar, CDP and Lead Organizer Josephine Lopez Paul, met with His Holiness to share our collective work of broad based...

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