Two local projects receive grants

Two agencies with local ties were recently awarded grants by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), based in Washington, D.C.

Receiving awards totaling more than $65,000, the agencies work locally to educate and empower people to play a role in the economic and political decisions affecting their lives.

The two programs are the New York State Tenant and Neighborhood Information Service, and ARISE.

Organizing

The tenant service, which has an office in Albany, is the largest state-wide tenant organization in the country and has been in existence for 25 years. The group organizes and educates tenants on housing quality, security and crime, and neighborhood quality of life.

A staff organizer and volunteers from AmeriCorps Vista operate the Albany office. Once tenants have been educated on how to organize themselves, they can begin to address issues that affect their housing concerns.

With the award, the group will concentrate its efforts on coordinating its activities to increase pressure on policy-makers who make decisions about the future of federally assisted and public housing.

Empowerment

ARISE (A Regional Initiative Supporting Empowerment), which is roughly one year old, is a regional, interfaith, congregation-centered organizing effort in Albany, Schenectady and Troy.

It is composed of 30 church congregations with the primary objective of organizing people to have power in their lives and being able to affect what happens in their neighborhoods.

ARISE has plans to recruit church congregations to develop relationships with each other and then with those in the larger community so that, together, they can decide what action needs to be taken to improve their neighborhoods, community and city.

Seed money

With the $30,000 in seed money from CCHD, ARISE has hired a professional organizer who is currently working with the pastors of each of its member congregations in the "getting-to-know-you" phase.

Once that has been completed by next spring, ARISE expects to address concerns of its member congregations regarding quality of neighborhood life, education, housing and the problem of urban sprawl.

The group has also received a matching grant of $10,000 from CCHD. To date, they have raised $6,200 towards that figure and expect to reach the goal soon. (PP)

(11-16-00)