After a year of discussion and prayerful discernment, your Vestry voted unanimously at the September 2007 meeting to make St. Paul’s, Ivy a member congregation of IMPACT (Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together). 

Overview
The IMPACT organization, is comprised of 34 diverse congregations in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. IMPACT is a grassroots organization created to secure a greater degree of justice and fairness in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We are a non-profit and are politically non-partisan.

Justice vs. Charity
IMPACT is not a direct service organization, meaning that we don’t provide services such as food or shelter to people who need charity. Rather, IMPACT is focused on addressing the root causes, and the systemic reasons that lead people to need charity. For example, we have focused on access to public transportation, increasing affordable housing opportunities especially for those making 20,000 or less, access to dental care for low-income uninsured adults and closing the achievement gap through increasing access to affordable quality preschool for at-risk children.

God calls us to both “love mercy” and “do justice”. Our congregations already do lots of charity. This focus on justice is a requirement from God, and a way to get beyond helping someone short term.

2010 Issue
Education:

IMPACT’s Education committee is recommending that IMPACT continue working on the issue of education specifically increasing access to affordable quality pre-k for low-income and at-risk 3-4 year olds as a means to address the growing achievement gap in our community. According to Miriam Rushfinn of Smart Beginnings, IMPACT’s work on this issue has greatly increased the awareness of the need for more pre-k access for our most at-risk children. A recent report released by Smart Beginnings has identified areas in our community where children who qualify for public pre-school have no access (i.e. Wilton Farms) or are only serving 50% of the children who qualify.

Interpretive Services:
-Lack of translation services in court system for both Spanish and other languages spoken by refugee
population.
-Not enough Spanish language translation available- courts, police, jail, and magistrate.
-Police discrimination: refusal of translation .
-Lack of translation of materials sent home from school.

-Individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English can be limited English proficient, or “LEP.” These individuals may be entitled language assistance with respect to a particular type or service, benefit, or encounter.
- Federal laws particularly applicable to language access include Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Title VI regulations, prohibiting discrimination based on national origin, and Executive Order 13166 issued in 2000. Many individual federal programs, states, and localities also have provisions requiring language services for LEP individuals. The LEP Executive Order (Executive Order 13166) says that people who are LEP should have meaningful access to federally conducted and federally funded programs and activities.
-In our area 15% of the population speaks a language other than English at home
- The Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey (1-year data) says that 8% of the residents of the “Charlottesville urbanized area” population are “linguistically isolated” (speaking English less than “very well”) (An estimated 6,185 out of 80,000.)
-An average of up to 5 LEPs (Limited English per week are processed into the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, which employs no professional interpreters.
-LEPs in jail awaiting trial, especially those who are new to the area, are less likely to be able to get a bond- leading some to choose the other route out of jail and back to their families and jobs: pleading guilty, even if they are innocent (according to Assistant Public Defender Samantha Markley).
-An average of approximately 10-15 Spanish-speaking LEPs appear each day in the Albemarle County General District Court (according to Patrice Winston in the court clerk’s office, and Mildred Schoenfeld Hoy, court interpreter).

Our Successes

Successes from our first IMPACT Action meeting with 1,600 people in March 2007:
(1) Sunday bus service and a new bus route on 5th Street Extended, to the County Office Building and Southwood neighborhood; night service on route 5 is pending.

(2) The City of Charlottesville substantially increased their funding for affordable housing from $400,000 to 2.1 million dollars.

(3) A joint City-County-UVa Task Force was created to increase housing opportunities for families who earn under $20,000 a year.

Successes from our second IMPACT Action meeting with 2,000 people in March 2008:
(1) The Charlottesville Free Clinic committed to hire a dentist by March of 2009 to begin to serve the 1,000+ people on local waiting lists for dental care. Other healthcare providers including Martha Jefferson Hospital and UVa Medical Center committed to support this plan and bring resources.

(2) Charlottesville City Councilors committed to allocate $500,000 to fund proposals created by the Task Force to increase affordable housing for families earning under $20,000 a year.

(3) Albemarle County Supervisors attended but did not commit to allocate $500,000 to fund proposals created by the Task Force. We will continue to follow up on this.

Successes/Update from our third IMPACT Action meeting with 1600 people in March 2009:

Affordable Housing:
IMPACT’s Housing committee recommended to the Board (August 2009) and that the committee be considered a monitoring body and not be active in the developing or proposals for the 2010 Action. The Board approved this action, thus the committee has agreed to continue to follow-up on commitments received at our 2009 Action and report on progress made over the course of the next year. Below are the commitments made at last year’s action and progress made on each as of Oct 15, 2009:

(1) A majority of Albemarle County Board of Supervisors agreed to direct their housing committee to recommend changes to the comprehensive plan which will lead to an increase of affordable housing units for low income housing. Update: The BOS has directed their Housing committee to recommend changes to the comprehensive plan that will lead to an increase of affordable housing units for low-income housing. The Housing committee is still in the midst of developing their recommendations.

(2) City Councilors agreed to hire a housing planner and put away at least $1 million in the housing trust fund with the potential of increasing this amount to 1.4 million in January 2010. Update: The City of Charlottesville approved the position of a housing planner and is currently conducting a nation-wide search to fill the position. The city council did put away $1 million in the housing trust fund. Our committee is continuing to follow-up on the use of surplus revenue.

(3) Both City and County officials agreed to work together to explore the creation of a regional housing Ombudsman office to serve those seeking affordable rental housing. Update: IMPACT’s Housing committee is continuing to follow-up with both city and county officials on this issue.

Not only is IMPACT making significant changes, we are also bringing together very different parts of our community, racially, economically, religiously and are all being part of the decisions that happen in our community.

IMPACT has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

To find out how you can help in this ministry, contact Dean Dass or the church office.