Who is the Industrial Areas Foundation? 

What do they do?

A body of professional organizers founded by Saul Alinsky in 1940.  Since 1994 the group have assisted poor, working class, middle class black, white and Hispanic families in the act in the act of empowering their communities.

Since 1972 the I.A.F has done this through collectives of parishes, congregations and worker organizations who have invited the I.A.F., into their cities and countries to assist them in the building of  broad base citizens power organizations.

Industrial Areas Foundation-East

Major Accomplishments

Home Ownership

East Brooklyn Congregations pioneered the Nehemiah Plan for home ownership in the early 1980s. The plan has spread to the Bronx, Baltimore, Prince Georges' County, and Philadelphia. It is in the early stages in Washington, D.C. Through this plan, over 4,000 families are building equity in their own homes. The Industrial Areas Foundation-East organizations have become some of the largest developer of homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income families. Nehemiah has resurrected large sections of central cities on the East Coast.

The Industrial Areas Foundation-East's affiliates located in the Bronx, New York and Brooklyn, New York operate public high schools. Both South Bronx Churches (SBC) and East Congregations (EBC) have been able to turn unsuccessful schools into success stories. Dramatic decreases in drop out rates matched by high levels of graduations and attendance have marked these efforts.

In Baltimore, The Industrial Areas Foundation-East affiliate, B.U.I.L.D passed the first Living Wage Law in the United States in 1994. Two years later that work was continued by the New York I.A.F organization. The Living Wage work of the I.A.F-East has sparked a national movement, it has also led to the formation of a low-wage workers organization, Solidarity Sponsoring Committee (SSC), in Baltimore organized in cooperation with the AFSCME union.

Job Training for Living Wage Jobs

In Philadelphia, the IAF-East organization, Philadelphia Interfaith Action has worked with. The PHAME organization, a successful Philadelphia job training program to raise millions in public dollars to stipend qualified students while they are-trained for lucrative jobs as machinist. This work stems from, I.A.F-East understanding that job training only makes sense when it leads directly to a Living Wage job.  In the case of PHAME, it means machinist jobs that were going begging the Delaware valley are now filled with PHAME graduates.  These are men and women who would have otherwise been working at low paying jobs in the service industry.

After School

The hours after school closing and prior to parents returning home from work are the most dangerous for our children.  In Washington D.C., the I.A.F-East affiliate WIN secured a commitment from the new mayor to create a $30 million annual dedicated fund, making Washington D.C. the first city in the country to provide access to after-school programs for all children.  In Baltimore, B.U.I.L.D created an authority that runs and funds after school programs.  The I.A.F has started program in New York and Washington D.C. as well.

Social Safety Net: The Joseph Fund

While cities like Baltimore and Washington D.C. have ran deficits in recent years, many states have enjoyed large surpluses. These surpluses are tempting to lawmakers who want to rebate them to wealthy taxpayers. Rather than see these surpluses rebated, the Maryland Industrial Areas Foundation successfully fought for the creation of a special public "Joseph Fund" to capture these surplus monies and invest them in a trust fund to be used during periods of economic downturn for programs that benefit the poor.

THE IAF EAST

E.B.C.- Brooklyn, NY

S.B.C. - Bronx, NY

Q.L.O- Queens, NY

UMT-Upper Manhattan, NY

LMT-Lower Manhattan, NY

L.I. CAN -Long Island, NY

G.B.I.O. - Boston

W.I.N. - Wilmington, DE

P.I.A. - Philadelphia, PA

B.U.I.L.D - Baltimore, MD

SSC - Baltimore, MD

I.A.C. - Prince Georges County, MD

A.I.M. - Montgomery County, MD

W.I.N. - Washington, D.C.