Thursday, September 24, 2015
(New York, NY) – The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FWPA) and its
CEO Jennifer Jones Austin, convened leaders in the faith community today for a
panel presentation and feedback session designed to determine areas of
opportunity on the City and State level for faith communities’ participation in
poverty alleviation advocacy and action.
The panel presentation
consisted of a briefing by FPWA’s Director of Policy, Emily Miles and featured
remarks by Karim Camara, Executive Director of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
Faith-Based Community Development Services and Rev. Michael A. Walrond, Jr.,
Senior Pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church, and Chair of New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Clergy Advisory Council. Jennifer Jones Austin moderated
the discussion.
This is the first event in a
three-part series that aims to identify key areas of impact for policy change
and agree upon a series of issues to develop into policy priorities for the
city and state.
“Faith leaders and
institutions play a critical role in the development and success of our
communities. This series of events are designed to provide faith leaders with
the tools and opportunity to positively effect change through policy
development and eventual implementation,” said FPWA CEO and Executive Director,
Jennifer Jones Austin.
“The faith community is
frequently called upon to temporarily help address emerging issues throughout
the city, but is often left out of the decision making, policy driven process. The
mission of the Mayor’s Clergy Advisory Council is to present a diverse faith
community who can help develop solutions and ideas that can help ease some of
the pertinent issues affecting our communities,” said Rev. Michael Walrond.
Jr., Chair of the Mayor’s Clergy Advisory Council.
“There’s a great need for the
faith community to lead and engage in the revival to address poverty. Faith
leaders have an irrefutable understanding of their communities and the issues
plaguing their neighborhoods. With a deeper understanding of policy issues,
there’s tremendous potential for long term success,” said Rev. Karim Camara,
Executive Director/Deputy Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Faith Based
Community Development Services.
From Left to Right: Revs Michael A. Walrond, Jr. and Karim Camara listen to Jennifer Jones Austin at Faith Leaders panel (Photo
Credit: Josh Scott)
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