Communities in Crisis

This morning I attended a meeting in Peoria with Tom Heinemann from the US Department of Treasury with IL Peoples Action, borrowers in foreclosure and representatives from several community agencies. The meeting was a result of the work that National Peoples Action and PICO have been doing to bring the voices of those most devastated by the foreclosure crisis to those responsible for providing protection for borrowers and for making sure that banks comply with the rules in our nation. One of several meetings across the country, IPA's meeting saw more than 400 people from across the state in attendance at New Hope International Ministries.

During the meeting we heard testimonies from several borrowers who have faced months and in some cases years of frustration dealing with large banks who have refused to help them stay in their homes, who have repeatedly asked for the same documents and who have not used the federal programs designed to help home borrowers avoid foreclosure. Mr. Heinemann seemed to be moved somewhat by the large maps of each of our communities showing the thousands of foreclosures currently plaguing our neighborhoods, not including the thousands of homes already demolished or sold in sheriff sales. One collaborator from Chicago displayed a map of a 2 square mile neighborhood adjacent to Midway Airport. Every block had multiple foreclosures marked by red dots. "This neighborhood is bleeding" he told the Treasury rep. Our communities are bleeding, our local economies are bleeding, our familes, our churches, our schools and municipalities are all bleeding as a result of profit driven insanity that has driven the foreclosure rate to one home every 13 seconds in America! Bandaids will not fix this crisis! We are losing our economic health and strength at rates that will soon send us into a code blue condition - many are already there! We must stop the loss of the vitality of American communities, now! Our communities, our neighborhoods, our neighbors are dying while Wall Street boasts record gains, big bonuses continue to be paid to CEOs, and our federal regulators bow to the titans of banking and investment instead of serving the people! Enough is Enough!

After the meeting, we boarded buses and took our passion for justice to the streets of Peoria and to our "favorite" PayDay lender to pray that they may change their usurious ways!

Now, it's time to get ready for my next visit to DC in two days to chair a meeting with John Dugan, the Chairman of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency who is the regulator for the nation's largest crooks, oops did I say that out loud! We will bring a message of our lack of faith in the OCCs ability to protect consumers from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank & Goldman Sachs to name a few. NPA is marching into DC very soon, so lets hope that we have new relationships that are building our trust and our communities!