Baltimore Regional Initiative Developing Genuine Equality

BRIDGE the Gap            E-Newsletter


July 2004

Greetings to all!    We are writing to share some updates with BRIDGE members and supporters.  There is much energy around our campaigns and our organizational development.  We are looking forward to what the future will bring.

In Peace,  
 The Rev. Karen Brau & Rev. Dr. Hoffman Brown
Co-Chairs, BRIDGE


BRIDGE the Gap Summit & Workforce Housing Rally
 June 17th was an exciting Summit at Calvary United Methodist in Annapolis, Maryland.  We worked hard to gather over 300 people in the midst of a torrential rainstorm to hear David Rusk and local residents talk about workforce housing.  Rusk illuminated the connection between housing and education – good housing policy is good school policy!  The room was alive as they repeated “If you’re good enough to work here, then you’re good enough to live here!”
Anne Arundel county council members Pam Beidle and Barbara Samorajzeck gave commitments to work on workforce housing legislation.  Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones stated her commitment to attend the BRIDGE October 3rd public meeting.  Finally, we collected $1780 in our offering that evening. 
Further on in this newsletter, please read what one BRIDGE leaders has shared about this important event!

 Weeklong Leadership Training
We celebrate that 6 people from BRIDGE will be traveling to Hartford CT for weeklong training:  Rev. Le Mebust, Rev. Ken Phelps, Rev. Tricia deBeer, Carolyn Grant, Emma Gambril, Bill Kittle. There is still a window of opportunity to join these leaders for training.
May your time away be fruitful and engaging!

“Putting our Faith in Action” Training – July 10th
 This Saturday’s training is a great opportunity for NEW Congregations and for our existing Core Teams to get some energizing training. We will focus on 1-1 conversations and other power building activities.  The event will be held at John Wesley United
Methodist Church in Glen Burnie from 8:30 registration until 3pm.   Be sure to register at 410-542-0395 or bridgeaction@cs.com.  There is a $15 registration fee.

 Get Out The Vote!
Our campaign goes on with great energy.  Our congregations are out and about at local community fairs, farmers markets, the African American Festival, at supermarkets and walking around our own church communities.  We have organized funding for a full time intern for the next 5 months.  Christa Yorbor has been trained and is eager to connect with all of our Core Teams.  Christa will also be working with SEIU, NAACP and AFSC on community registration.  

 Money
We have received a $20,000 grant from the Goldseker Foundation and $20,000 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  Congratulations to all who made this grant possible!
Please note if you have not written your dues check yet…we are already halfway through 2004 and are looking to confirm that at least half of your congregational/ organizational dues were paid by June 30.

Important Dates
Thurs Aug19 -Leadership Mtg 7:30p        Thurs Sept 16 – Leadership Mtg 7:30pm        Sun Oct 3 – 2004 Public Mtg 4pm
Tues Nov 2 – Election Day                    Sat Nov 6 – Fundraising Training                 Sun Jan 30 – Annual BRIDGE Banquet

June 17…
 by Linda Watts (Ascension Lutheran Church)
Thursday evening, several Ascensionites including Linda & Rollin Olson, Naomi Binko, Bud Cornell, Al Pribula, Dave Schott, John Duberg, Steve Kohan, Ann Reilly, and probably someone else I missed, attended the BRIDGE the Gap Summit and Workforce Housing Rally in Annapolis Maryland.

Keynote Speaker David Rusk gave an informative presentation about Workforce Housing and Inclusionary Zoning in Fairfax County VA, Montgomery County MD and other counties around the nation.

I learned much about how Workforce Housing works.  It is a zoning practice that provides for housing development for all income levels within the same neighborhood.  It is done without subsidy by the government or by the builder.  In fact, incentives for the builder are at the core of Inclusionary Zoning.

For example, if a builder has enough land to build 100 units under prevailing zoning regulations. Inclusionary Zoning allows for an additional 22 units, if the developer agrees to 15% workforce housing.  This means that instead of building 100 market rate units, he builds 104 market rate units and 18 moderate income units.  He makes more money and the county gains by having more affordable housing.

He dispelled the myth that affordable housing has to look like the public housing projects we see in Baltimore.  He showed slides of neighborhoods in Montgomery and Fairfax Counties where McMansions stood next to “quad” units of the same architectural design, and small townhouses blended seamlessly with larger townhouses in the same block.

For those of you more interested in Education than Housing issues – his theme that Housing Policy is Education Policy was reinforced with statistics that show that the number of low income students in a school was flawless predictor of student scores on standardized tests.  By spreading lower income students across the region geographically, instead of creating pockets of poverty, we create a better atmosphere of learning for all students.  Studies have shown that low income students exposed to a more balanced school population outperform those without that advantage. 

He talked about the workers in Anne Arundel County who can’t afford to live where they worked.  He was not just talking about housekeeping staff and fast food workers, but teachers, fire fighters, police officers and nurses.  He rallied the attendees with the cry “If we are good enough to work here, we are good enough to live here.”  He spoke of new legislation passed Monday night which mandated Inclusionary Zoning in the City of Annapolis.
Several speakers gave a short synopsis of why they were interested in Workforce Housing, including a middle school teacher with two masters degrees who took a position last September and has yet to find a house for his wife and children.  They are living in a one bedroom apartment with his children in the bedroom and the adults on a futon in the living room.  He will be leaving the area if he does not find housing soon. 

After Rev. Karen Brau’s presentation of BRIDGE’s vision for the area, partners were introduced including the Teacher’s Assn. of AA County, AA Firefighters Union 1563, Fraternal Order of Police – Lodge #70, various churches and clergy in Anne Arundel County. 

Various legislative leaders were asked for commitments to help the people of AA County realize their goal.  County Councilwomen Barbara Samorajczyk and Pamela Beidle are sponsoring a bill mandating Inclusionary Zoning in AA County.  BRIDGE will be working with them to make this a reality.  BRIDGE also recognized Del. Adrienne Jones for her work in the House of Delegates this year in getting full funding for Thornton and for closing the corporate loophole that allowed companies to avoid tax by registering in Delaware.

As a group, we were asked to write and call the other county councilpersons to let our voice be heard.  County Exec Janet Owens has publicly come out against this bill and attendees were urged to call her to voice their opinion.

We were also called to attend the BRIDGE public meeting scheduled Sunday, Oct 3, 2004 at 4PM where BRIDGE will outline its 2005 legislative agenda. 

The final charge was to “Value your Vote and Vote Your Values” on November 2nd.

Thanks so much for your attention.  Please put October 3rd on your calendar.  We are trying to assemble 2005 people for this rally and WE NEED YOU.

Linda Watts

 


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BRIDGE the Gap
July 2004 E-Newsletter

Greetings to all!    We are writing to share some updates with BRIDGE members and supporters.  There is much energy around our campaigns and our organizational development.  We are looking forward to what the future will bring.
In Peace,  
 The Rev. Karen Brau & Rev. Dr. Hoffman Brown
Co-Chairs, BRIDGE


BRIDGE the Gap Summit & Workforce Housing Rally
 June 17th was an exciting Summit at Calvary United Methodist in Annapolis, Maryland.  We worked hard to gather over 300 people in the midst of a torrential rainstorm to hear David Rusk and local residents talk about workforce housing.  Rusk illuminated the connection between housing and education – good housing policy is good school policy!  The room was alive as they repeated “If you’re good enough to work here, then you’re good enough to live here!”
Anne Arundel county council members Pam Beidle and Barbara Samorajzeck gave commitments to work on workforce housing legislation.  Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones stated her commitment to attend the BRIDGE October 3rd public meeting.  Finally, we collected $1780 in our offering that evening. 
Further on in this newsletter, please read what one BRIDGE leaders has shared about this important event!

 Weeklong Leadership Training
We celebrate that 6 people from BRIDGE will be traveling to Hartford CT for weeklong training:  Rev. Le Mebust, Rev. Ken Phelps, Rev. Tricia deBeer, Carolyn Grant, Emma Gambril, Bill Kittle. There is still a window of opportunity to join these leaders for training.
May your time away be fruitful and engaging!

“Putting our Faith in Action” Training – July 10th
 This Saturday’s training is a great opportunity for NEW Congregations and for our existing Core Teams to get some energizing training. We will focus on 1-1 conversations and other power building activities.  The event will be held at John Wesley United
Methodist Church in Glen Burnie from 8:30 registration until 3pm.   Be sure to register at 410-542-0395 or bridgeaction@cs.com.  There is a $15 registration fee.

 Get Out The Vote!
Our campaign goes on with great energy.  Our congregations are out and about at local community fairs, farmers markets, the African American Festival, at supermarkets and walking around our own church communities.  We have organized funding for a full time intern for the next 5 months.  Christa Yorbor has been trained and is eager to connect with all of our Core Teams.  Christa will also be working with SEIU, NAACP and AFSC on community registration.  

 Money
We have received a $20,000 grant from the Goldseker Foundation and $20,000 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  Congratulations to all who made this grant possible!
Please note if you have not written your dues check yet…we are already halfway through 2004 and are looking to confirm that at least half of your congregational/ organizational dues were paid by June 30.

Important Dates
Thurs Aug19 -Leadership Mtg 7:30p        Thurs Sept 16 – Leadership Mtg 7:30pm        Sun Oct 3 – 2004 Public Mtg 4pm
Tues Nov 2 – Election Day                    Sat Nov 6 – Fundraising Training                 Sun Jan 30 – Annual BRIDGE Banquet

June 17…
 by Linda Watts (Ascension Lutheran Church)
Thursday evening, several Ascensionites including Linda & Rollin Olson, Naomi Binko, Bud Cornell, Al Pribula, Dave Schott, John Duberg, Steve Kohan, Ann Reilly, and probably someone else I missed, attended the BRIDGE the Gap Summit and Workforce Housing Rally in Annapolis Maryland.

Keynote Speaker David Rusk gave an informative presentation about Workforce Housing and Inclusionary Zoning in Fairfax County VA, Montgomery County MD and other counties around the nation.

I learned much about how Workforce Housing works.  It is a zoning practice that provides for housing development for all income levels within the same neighborhood.  It is done without subsidy by the government or by the builder.  In fact, incentives for the builder are at the core of Inclusionary Zoning.

For example, if a builder has enough land to build 100 units under prevailing zoning regulations. Inclusionary Zoning allows for an additional 22 units, if the developer agrees to 15% workforce housing.  This means that instead of building 100 market rate units, he builds 104 market rate units and 18 moderate income units.  He makes more money and the county gains by having more affordable housing.

He dispelled the myth that affordable housing has to look like the public housing projects we see in Baltimore.  He showed slides of neighborhoods in Montgomery and Fairfax Counties where McMansions stood next to “quad” units of the same architectural design, and small townhouses blended seamlessly with larger townhouses in the same block.

For those of you more interested in Education than Housing issues – his theme that Housing Policy is Education Policy was reinforced with statistics that show that the number of low income students in a school was flawless predictor of student scores on standardized tests.  By spreading lower income students across the region geographically, instead of creating pockets of poverty, we create a better atmosphere of learning for all students.  Studies have shown that low income students exposed to a more balanced school population outperform those without that advantage. 

He talked about the workers in Anne Arundel County who can’t afford to live where they worked.  He was not just talking about housekeeping staff and fast food workers, but teachers, fire fighters, police officers and nurses.  He rallied the attendees with the cry “If we are good enough to work here, we are good enough to live here.”  He spoke of new legislation passed Monday night which mandated Inclusionary Zoning in the City of Annapolis.
Several speakers gave a short synopsis of why they were interested in Workforce Housing, including a middle school teacher with two masters degrees who took a position last September and has yet to find a house for his wife and children.  They are living in a one bedroom apartment with his children in the bedroom and the adults on a futon in the living room.  He will be leaving the area if he does not find housing soon. 

After Rev. Karen Brau’s presentation of BRIDGE’s vision for the area, partners were introduced including the Teacher’s Assn. of AA County, AA Firefighters Union 1563, Fraternal Order of Police – Lodge #70, various churches and clergy in Anne Arundel County. 

Various legislative leaders were asked for commitments to help the people of AA County realize their goal.  County Councilwomen Barbara Samorajczyk and Pamela Beidle are sponsoring a bill mandating Inclusionary Zoning in AA County.  BRIDGE will be working with them to make this a reality.  BRIDGE also recognized Del. Adrienne Jones for her work in the House of Delegates this year in getting full funding for Thornton and for closing the corporate loophole that allowed companies to avoid tax by registering in Delaware.

As a group, we were asked to write and call the other county councilpersons to let our voice be heard.  County Exec Janet Owens has publicly come out against this bill and attendees were urged to call her to voice their opinion.

We were also called to attend the BRIDGE public meeting scheduled Sunday, Oct 3, 2004 at 4PM where BRIDGE will outline its 2005 legislative agenda. 

The final charge was to “Value your Vote and Vote Your Values” on November 2nd.

Thanks so much for your attention.  Please put October 3rd on your calendar.  We are trying to assemble 2005 people for this rally and WE NEED YOU.

Linda Watts