[Excerpt]

A child comes home after school in tears, asking his parents what it means to be undocumented. “Do I have documents?” he asks. They reassure him that he does. He was born in the United States.

During recess, he was playing soccer with his classmates. His team scored a goal and were celebrating when a classmate on the opposing team approached him. He told him that Donald Trump was going to come for him and his family at night to take them out of this country.

“The boy didn’t want to go back to school,” Idefonso Magana, a (Valley Interfaith Project leader and) union organizer for more than 20 years, told America in a Spanish-language interview. An anxious coworker shared the story with him a couple of months ago.

“Every delay means there’s folks that don’t have a place to sleep more permanently,” Valley Interfaith Project (VIP)'s Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan told Arizona’s Family.

After an old hotel was set to become transitional housing for seniors, families, and domestic violence victims, Mesa City Council took the final vote off the council agenda with no explanation why. The move pushes the decision to February, delaying the opening by about two months.

[Excerpts from an Op-Ed by Rev. Deacon Martha Seaman, VIP Leader, originally published in Chandler News & the Daily Independent]

Valley Interfaith Project is a broad-based, non-partisan organization of churches, unions and non-profit associations committed to building power for sustainable social and economic development.

As leaders of these faith communities in Maricopa County, we write to express our strong support for Proposition 409. 

[Excerpts]

As Maricopa County ballots are mailed out on Wednesday, voters will soon decide on the future of a large behavioral and emergency health system upgrade that could increase property taxes.

The bond measure is called Proposition 409 and would benefit Valleywise’s inpatient, outpatient, and behavioral health services.

…Reverend Sandy Johnson with Red Mountain United Methodist Church said Prop 409 will “save lives.”

She’s working as a leader with the Valley Interfaith Project, to advocate for greater mental health resources across our area.

Valley Interfaith Project, a broad-based, non-partisan organization of churches, unions and non-profit associations committed to building power for sustainable, social, and economic development change has endorsed and supports passage of Proposition 409.

If approved, Proposition 409 authorizes the Maricopa County Special Health Care District to issue bonds to fund critical improvements for Valleywise Health in Maricopa County.