Recent Accomplishments

Through the organizing efforts of leaders in faith, labor, education and other community institutions, the IAF Northwest has achieved significant policy and advocacy victories, in several critical areas including:

Health Care

• Providing the bulk of the political muscle to pass legislation in Oregon guaranteeing health care coverage for all children.

Civil Rights

• Securing key votes in a coalition effort to pass a county ordinance to stop racial profiling/immigration enforcement by county sheriffs and other employees

Housing

• Securing a commitment from Bank of America – which had previously only offer out-of-state call center servicing for distressed homeowners – bringing full-time loan servicing representatives to the state to meet face-to-face with people trying to save their homes.
• Pioneering a self-sustaining model for long-term domestic violence survivor housing

Sustainable Jobs: Building a Green and Equitable Economy

• Creating SustainableWorks to establish an energy efficiency retrofit market in the underserved small commercial and nonprofit sectors and demonstrate that deep retrofits (maximizing environmental benefits) can be done cost effectively while providing full benefits and paying prevailing wages to workers.
• Expanding the SustainableWorks model in 2008 to include residential retrofits - allowing it to reach a scale that can produce a significant number of jobs and realize major carbon reduction benefits.
• Leading a statewide campaign in 2009 to secure passage of a Washington law that Green For All called “the most comprehensive and groundbreaking green jobs legislation of our time."  It is based on the SustainableWorks model, tying together a well-defined jobs pipeline from disadvantaged constituencies with living-wage standards and significant environmental benefits.
• Creating the SustainableWorks project as a subsidiary nonprofit economic development enterprise that has since secured a $4 million grant to retrofit 1,800 homes in seven high-need neighborhoods across Washington state.
• Recruiting and training hundreds of volunteer organizers in low-  to moderate-income neighborhoods who have secured 940 audit/retrofit sign-ups, resulting in 374 audits, 136 comprehensive retrofits averaging 40 percent heating-related energy savings per home and providing over 60 people with full- or part-time paychecks as of October 2010.