What do we do?

IAF leaders and organizers first create independent organizations, made up of people from all races and all classes, focused on productive improvements in the public arena. IAF members then use those new political realities to invent and establish new social realities.

One new reality is the living wage movement in the United States. The first living wage bill was conceived, designed, and implemented by the IAF affiliate in Baltimore in 1994. The second bill was the work of the IAF affiliates in New York City in 1996. Since then, IAF affiliates in Texas, Arizona, and elsewhere have passed living wage legislation.

A second new reality is the presence of thousands of new, affordable, owner-occupied homes - called Nehemiah housing - in parts of Brooklyn, the South Bronx, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

A third social reality is the Alliance School concept that is engaging scores of thousands of parents, teachers, administrators, and community leaders in communities all across the southwest and west.

A fourth new reality, still in development, is the large-scale blight removal and revitalization of the cities, well advanced in parts of New York City, now being attempted in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

IAF leaders and organizers offer training opportunities for those with the patience and vision to create new political realities and the passion and discipline needed to generate sustained social change.

The IAF 10-day training is a national event, scheduled two or three times each year, for leaders who bring experience and interest to the training.

Specialized training for specific audiences - professional religious leaders, people interested in public education, those interested in housing revitalization, labor organizers and leaders - are offered on an as-needed basis.

In every region and virtually in every local organization, a variety of local training opportunities are offered: 3-day sessions for advanced leaders, periodic evening training series for newer leaders, training focused on congregational or institutional development for congregations that are committed to rebuilding and growing.