Video of Prayer service to bless the Immigration Bus Tour

On May 14, 2010 over 1,300 congregants gathered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Santa Ana, CA to offer prayerful support to OCCCO leaders - Idalia Servin and Leonel Velazquez, along with OCCCO organizer Eddie Carmona - on their way to join 200,000 others in Washington D.C. to advocate for just immigration reform.

A lovely day in Washington D.C.

There is only one way to describe what happened in D.C. today and that is HISTORICAL. After waking up at 3am on Friday to catch an early flight to D.C. from Denver, we had a lay over in Chicago and arrived in D.C. at around 4:30pm. As I arrived before the pilgrimage bus did I helped take care of logistics and check people in to their rooms. Going into Saturday, after getting only 2 hours of sleep we started out taking about 80 PICO leaders to a press breakfast where allies and elected officials gathered to share testimonies and support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. After the breakfast we split up with half of our delegation going to a mass at St. Aloysius and the other half heading to the staging rally before heading to the main rally. I took a group of leaders to the staging rally where Reverend Jesse Jackson, Dr. Cornell West, and other community members shared testimony including a leader from PICO which was by far the best testimony of all. As we left, I went with Sandy Diaz a leader from BOCA in Berkeley and Mabel from BOCA in order to prep them for their role on stage at the main rally. Over 500,000 people gathered to participate in this rally including a diversity of ethnic communities as well as geographic communities. While at this same time the healthcare discussion in the building just across the way was heating up and getting ready to come to a vote. At the end of the day we saw healthcare reform finally passed and witnessed one of the largest and diverse immigration rallies we’ve seen since 2006. After this long journey that took less than a week I am ready to go home and share my experience with others and continue to battle locally for CIR. I will attach more pictures when I get home but for now here are a few.

Eddie Carmona, Lead Community Organizer, OCCCO

Snowing in Denver

We arrived in Denver at about 6:30pm yesterday, half an hour before we were supposed to as the event was set to start at 7. As we waited in the bus, Leonel (OCCCO Leader) and Idalia (OCCCO Leader) got the group energized with some uplifting "alabanzas" praise songs. Entering the event Denver, MOP (a PICO affiliate) had around 250 people (final head count) who greeted us. This was by far our best event yet, the energy of people from the bus was amazing set off by OCCCO leaders Idalia and Leonel as they filled the early arrival with song and dance. I was unable to get footage of this as I was closely coordinating with MOP organizer Carmen to make the event successful. I'm sure Fernando got some good footage though. After the enrgizing event, again MOP leaders and parishioners from San Antonio de Padua prepared a wonderful dinner for us. Thanks to all of them. We were then finally off to the hotel to shower and get a goodnight's rest. Once we got to the hotel Fernando and I checked in everyone and said farewell until D.C. Denver is where me and 4 other bus riders get off to travel by plane early Saturday morning in order to make room for people to get on in Kansas City and Columbus OH. As I sit here blogging and sending trip updates with two BOCA (Berkeley PICO affiliate) leaders Sandy and Estrella and two OCO (Oakland PICO affiliate) youth leaders Carmen and Monica we are preparing for an intense day of media training as they will represent the bus riders with media in D.C. Gotta keep up the work, no rest for the weary. On this snowy day in Denver we are continuing the fight here and preparing some great leaders to be in the media spotlight. Que sigue la lucha y les hablo de D.C. Let the efforts continue and I will talk to you from D.C.
Eddie Carmona
Community Organizer
OCCCO

Goodbye Salt Lake City, Utah

Arriving at 6:30 am in Salt Lake City, we had a descent breakfast again prepared by the members of the local peace and justice committee at the Catholic Church we stopped at. Everyone was a bit tired as many of us didn't get much sleep, including myself. Leonel did a wonderful job providing testimony with Idalia doing a local paper interview. OCCCO and Orange County is being represented extremely well. We departed from Salt Lake City (lots of snow covered mountains) at 9am continuing our pilgrimage to Denver Colorado where there is a good sized event planned upon our arrival. I think most everyone is excited to sleep in a warm bed tonight and grab a good nights sleep. On our way with another 9 hour bus ride to look forward to. La lucha y jornada sigue. Will check back in when we get to Denver. Leonel says "I'm so excited that we're being received so well everywhere we go, we feel welcomed and honored" Idalia says "I'm excited to see everyone come together especially on Sunday in D.C. where we will let reps know how important family is" Nos vemos pronto
Eddie Carmona
Community Organizer
OCCCO

Leaving Reno on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah

We arrived in Reno at around 7:30 this evening greeted by about 50 people from the Reform Immigration 4 America Campaign at a local church. As usual as OCCCO is spoiled, Leonel led the bus in song with his guitar with the OCCCO unofficial theme song (No hay dios tan grande come tu, There is no God greater than you). After a short gathering in the sanctuary with powerful testimony from leaders from SFOP and BOCA both in the bay area, the Sisters from the parish provided us with dinner. Its so great to see how much support there is from everyone and how we're being received so far. We left at about 9:30 destination Utah which is 8 hours away. I'm excited because Leonel will be providing testimony in Salt Lake at 7:30am with Idalia translating in English. I am a bit bummed because I accidentally deleted the footage from Sacramento, don't ask me how. I'll need to ask Fernando for his footage. Well, its late and the bus is dark so I am going to try to get some sleep after I prep Leonel. Talk to you from Salt Lake City.
Eddie Carmona
Community Organizer
OCCCO

Just getting on the bus to D.C.

Wow, we just had an amazing event in Sacramento with our former Bishop Jaime Soto. A lot of youth from Oakland participated and are on the bus. We are on our way to Reno with a fully loaded bus. We are currently sitting in traffic on the 80 freeway, we got news that there will be plenty of anti-immigrant efforts in D.C. at the same time we descend on our nation's capitol. After a 7 hour trip in the car with Leonel and Idalia from OCCCO and Julio and Ester from ICO in Long Beach, we are all very energetic on our way to Reno. We're all dispersed in the bus right now so I will talk to OCCCO leaders in a couple of hours. I'll send an update when we get to Reno. Happy trails to us.
Eddie Carmona
Community Organizer
OCCCO

Over 1300 People Joined Bishop Flores to Bless OCCCO Leaders Heading to Washington DC on Immigration Reform Bus Tour

Contacts: Paty Madueño 949-705-7651, Apolonio Morales 510-529-1567

Sunday, March 14, Santa Ana – At Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, over 1300 people of faith stood and joined Most Rev. Cirilo Flores, Auxiliary Bishop of Orange, raising their arms with palms forward, to deliver a special blessing upon three community representatives, sending them forth to march for comprehensive immigration reform in Washington, D.C.

You can view some video footage of this memorable event on our YouTube page.

The three blessing recipients – Idalia Servin, Leonel Velazquez, and Eddie Carmona – from Orange County Congregation Community Organization will board the “Change Takes Faith and Action” bus for a cross-country tour with PICO National community organizing affiliates nationwide. They are urging local representatives to take leadership and pass legislation which upholds faith traditions and values, focusing on five principles: family unity; legalization with a pathway to citizenship; passage of the DREAM Act; due process; and workers’ rights.

“[Comprehensive immigration reform] is essential for families to have a stable sense of residence, allowing them to step out of fear and participate more fully in building a healthy community,” says Father Edward Poettgen, Pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

The “Change Takes Faith and Action” bus tour starts in San Francisco on St. Patrick’s Day and makes stops in Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Kansas City, Missouri before the March 21st march and rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

“Jesus calls on us to be the light of the world, so we are bringing this light to our families living in the shadows,” says Servin.

“There is a message of hope,” says Father Poettgen about the DREAM Act, “not only for the students but for the rest of us to have a future together.”

“We hope to illuminate the hearts and minds of Congress, reminding our representatives of what Jesus said to Pontius Pilate in John 19:10-11, that their power has been given from above,” says Velazquez. “Congress can act for our immigrant families.”

Orange County Human Relations has recognized Leonel Velazquez’s community organizing efforts with OCCCO, and will present him with an award at their Awards 39 reception on May 6th.

GGUMC Celebrates $418,813 Victory for Senior Transportation

Garden Grove, California – On Sunday, January 31st, 2010, Garden Grove United Methodist Church held a special worship celebration to highlight the partnership that led to the development of a transportation program for seniors in the city. The partnership with Orange County Transportation Authority, the Office On Aging, and the City came together through a grassroots effort from GGUMC leaders, who received help with faith-based community organizing from Orange County Congregation Community Organization.

GGUMC’s leaders spearheaded the movement to develop a transportation program for seniors. With the help of OCCCO’s community organizers, local leadership was developed into a local organizing ministry, comprised of leaders like Jack Mee, Evelyn McCart, and Shirley Kellogg. Those are the people that led the efforts to listen to the stories in the community, and heard the need to lift up the dignity of seniors, many of whom are founding citizens of the city.

With OCCCO’s help, local organizing ministry leaders brought the issue to light, and developed working relations between public officials and constituents to create solutions together. Today, seniors in the city can enjoy local travel to do their shopping, go to the community center, and participate in social activities due to the success and persistence of the grassroots campaign championed by OCCCO leaders at GGUMC.

The local organizing ministry at GGUMC holds a public meeting every first Monday of the month at 3 p.m. in Ricker Lounge. With OCCCO, faith-based community organizing is alive and strong in Garden Grove.

Contact Q. Bao Nguyen at 714-931-6041 or bao@occcopico.org.