WIN is part of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). Metro IAF is made up of 22 broad-based citizen, power organizations in the northeast, southeast, and mid-west, including five organizations in the Maryland/DC/Virginia region:
Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), Washington, DC
Action in Montgomery (AIM), Montgomery County, Maryland
Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD),
Baltimore, Maryland
People Acting Together in Howard (PATH), Howard County, Maryland
Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) in
Northern Virginia
WHAT ARE SOME OF METRO IAF’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE MD/DC/VA REGION?
NEHEMIAH HOUSING– Metro IAF created and implemented the nation’s first Nehemiah housing effort –- building 2,900 new townhouses in blighted areas of East Brooklyn. Another 1,000 Nehemiah homes have been built in Baltimore and 147 in Washington, DC.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING-- AIM led the drive to establish Montgomery County’s Housing Initiatives Fund, which since 2001 has committed $140 million to affordable housing and in FY 2010 will have $58 million to support affordable housing projects. The HIF will increase to $80 million over the next two years. VOICE organized to preserve Fairfax County’s $20 million housing fund in FY 2010 and to maintain Arlington County’s and the City of Alexandria’s 2009 affordable housing funding in FY 2010.
LARGE-SCALE NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION – In 2006, Metro IAF pressed for a $100 million bond in Baltimore to remove blight and rebuild target neighborhoods in East Baltimore. Metro IAF won $1 billion to revitalize District of Columbia neighborhoods--a major portion of these monies from a community benefits fund created from concessions won by Metro IAF as part of a recent Major League Baseball stadium financing agreement.
AFTER-SCHOOL – Metro IAF organizations created the first authority dedicated to after-school programs – the Child First Authority in Baltimore. Today. BUILD/Child First works with hundreds of children and parents in 15 schools.
LIVING WAGE – Metro IAF designed and passed the nation’s first living wage laws in Baltimore in 1994 and in New York in 1996. Today, similar legislation, sponsored by other groups, exists in nearly 100 communities.
