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Interfaith coalition promises results

The multiracial gathering meets with public officials. One of its major focuses is prekindergarten education.

By MARY JANE PARK
Published April 29, 2005

[Times photos: Lara Cerri]

Vernon Bryant cheers while holding his daughter, Tiarryn Bryant, 4, as they listen to community leaders speak during a gathering held by an interfaith coalition at Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Petersburg Thursday. Bryant says his main concern is quality pre-K programs for low-income families.

	From left, the Rev. Joe Diaz of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Holy Family Catholic Church member Marj Logan, the Rev. Manuel Sykes of Bethel Community Church and Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority executive director Roger Sweeney enjoy a moment at an interfaith coalition Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG - Dorothy M. Harris doesn't drive. She can't walk far enough to get to a bus stop. Nonetheless, the 75-year-old woman has to buy groceries, and she needs to get to the doctor.

Like other older Pinellas County residents who need transportation, she called one agency, which referred her to another, which referred her to another.

"I was discouraged and overwhelmed by the end, and I still didn't have a ride to the doctor," she told more than 1,000 people who packed Holy Family Catholic Church on Thursday night.

Harris got results. The Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Area Agency on Aging promised to establish a central system so the county's elderly can find the transportation they need.

It was one of three commitments obtained by an interfaith coalition known as Faith and Action for Strength Together, known as FAST, which organized Thursday's assembly with public officials.

Part prayer meeting and part political rally, the multiracial gathering combined Methodists, Baptists, Catholics and Jews. It included babies in arms and old men using canes.

So far, FAST represents 25 congregations of varied economic, social and ethnic backgrounds in the county, said the Rev. Joe Diaz, rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Clearwater.

He and other organizers said people of faith already are well equipped on missions of mercy in the community, such as food banks and assistance for the homeless.

Bringing congregations together gives them more clout against "Goliath institutions" in the community, supporters said.

"To be involved in social justice is to do God's work," said Bob Benjamin of B'nai Israel.

Besides transportation for the elderly, the group focused Thursday on two other issues.

Organizers cited statistics that demonstrate the benefits of quality prekindergarten education. They noted the challenges of working and low-income parents who want their children enrolled in Florida's new voluntary pre-K program. The state model offers 540 hours of pre-K studies, or three hours per day.

FAST asked for financial assistance to help care for children throughout the day. It asked for efforts to ensure that at-risk children are enrolled in pre-K classes. It asked for money to assure quality pre-K curricula for low-income children and proper training for their teachers. And it asked for testing of the effectiveness of pre-K education for low-income and at-risk children.

Janet Chapman, executive director of the county's Early Learning Coalition, said yes to each request.

The crowd responded with a standing ovation.

The group also requested bus shelters for at six stops throughout the county: one each at 18th Avenue S and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street; Gulf to Bay and Belcher Road; 118th Street and Ulmerton Road; Otis C. Green Drive and Betty Lane; and two at 11th Avenue S and 34th Street, in front of Gibbs High School.

Done, said Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority director John Sweeney, drawing another standing ovation.

Among FAST's priorities is to follow up on the commitments made by public officials.

In describing FAST's purpose, Diaz quoted the Old Testament book of Micah:

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

[Last modified April 29, 2005, 00:49:02]