Over 600 Gather for AIM Action
On February 9th, over 600 people packed the sanctuary of Silver Spring United Methodist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland to stake a claim on the future of Montgomery County. Leaders from across the county gathered to take part in the event put on by Action in Montgomery (AIM) and the Montgomery Housing Alliance (MHA). The pews where full of leaders from elementary schools and the Amalgamated Transit Union, local churches and Islamic community centers, synagogues and retirement communities; a diverse group brought together to stand up for the constitutional and human rights of all people in Montgomery County and to launch AIM’s 2017 Listening Campaign.AIM began the action by thanking the County Executive, County Council, Superintendent, and Police Chief for their bold leadership in making sure that Montgomery County residents are welcomed and treated fairly, regardless of faith or immigration status. Clergy assembled on stage to commit to stand in support of county officials in their continuing work to welcome, serve, educate and protect the safety of all residents regardless of changes to policy at the federal level, and promised to hold those officials accountable should that change.As a part of this effort, 130 attendees committed to being a part of AIM’s Rapid Response Team, a group that will be trained and prepared for powerful action and resistance to counter Anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and racist incidents and actions.The action was a time of celebration. Leaders came forward and provided news of AIM’s recent victories while also clearly laying out AIM’s Agenda for 2017.Residents of Northwest Park shared the story of their victory seeking redress for deplorable conditions in their apartments. After a year of organizing to hold Kay Management accountable for the reoccurring mold and persistent problems with rodents, bed bugs, and cockroaches, tenants and AIM have won a number of improvements, the latest of which is a commitment from Kay Management to replace all 1,950 windows in the 800-unit complex over the next four years and overhaul their policy for preventing and remediating mold.Principal Celeste King and student Dave Sob spoke about Dream Academy, the free, quality afterschool programming with parent organizing that AIM won for 240 students at two elementary schools with high poverty rates. Ms. King spoke of the program’s impact on her student body and shared AIM’s intention to expand Dream Academy to 4 new schools in FY18.Shane Rock of Interfaith Works updated the assembly on AIM’s victories in affordable housing. AIM won an additional $51 million for the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF) for the 2017 budget, and in 2016, the HIF produced new 983 units and preserved 2,646 affordable units. Furthermore, AIM fought for 275 affordable housing units in the Westward redevelopment in Bethesda, MD. AIM reiterated its commitment to making Montgomery County welcoming to all by pushing for more affordable housing in 2017, calling for an increase in the HIF and a commitment to put affordable housing first on County Land.Finally, AIM committed to working along side the Amalgamated Transit Union to fight for a Metro bus and rail system that works and is fair to riders and workers.The action closed with leaders from each present institution coming forward to make a bold commitment to be part of AIM’s 2017 Listening Campaign. When the night was through, AIM leaders had committed to listening to over 3000 people, in conversations focused around the immediate needs of new executive orders surrounding immigration, as well as pertaining to AIM’s other long-term agenda issues.The Listening Campaign will be kicked off by intercultural listening sessions at member institutions around the county with significant immigrant populations. These sessions will bring together a diverse group to have an inter-cultural conversation about the most pressing issues in their lives. The issues and leaders identified by these conversations will build AIM’s People’s Agenda for the 2018 election and identify our top campaign issues. It is the first step to build power and work for justice together in Montgomery County, and will put AIM and AIM’s agenda front and center in the 2018 election.St. Camillus Catholic Church put together a video of the event, linked here.