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AMERICAN FR IENDS SERVICE COM MITTEE CO MM UNITY RELATIO NS PROGRA M Rm, 501, 41 Exchange Pl,, S. E., Atlanta, Georgia 30:J In the major citie s of the United States, tenements swarm with children, schools are overcrowded and understaffed, and people are out of work. Apathy overcomes many. For others, frustration erupts into violence. The heart of the city' s problems is the isolation of the people of its slums from the benefits of the rest of the metropolitan area. Discrimination in employment, zoning restrictions, discriminatory real estate practices, local tax structures, political boundaries all protect the affluent from the claims of the impoverished. . ·-·-:~ 1 • · --: - , ••.•'...CO . " • .·~-;- l 1 1 \\".~· , , ~~ jt- , • ...-::· • ... i·· I I t..~-< ·.. II All~ ~" -·· ·· Iii ii 'iii f' . ;~ Y{'f ._,· . ~ , ' __··. . . • • .& • • ~

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. ,jj/A ·~ .. - ,. i ..... -- . I . ._#. I -.:,..., ...;, The s lum ' s pr oblems are pe rpetuated by powerlessne ss. Negro le ader s r ecogniz e that fr eedom cannot exist without equality and that political and e conomic power are e ssential p arts of equality. They are appealing to their pe ople to t ake pride in bl acknes s and unite in effective ac tion. The challenge to Negroe s to ove rcome fe ar and pa ralysis is accompanied by a challenge t o the white c ommunity to overcome its fear and int r ans igence. These chal lenges m us t be met . The Ame rican F r iends Service Com mittee str uggle s against exc lus ion of any minority from the mainstream of Americ an soc iety. Its programs in the c ities concentrate on getting people to recognize their own problems and t ake initiative in de aling with them. The programs search for new ways both to break down barriers and to build s elfreliance - ways that can be copied and adapted by other groups in other c it ies. ,CITIES, JOBS& HOUSES LANDLORDS AND TENANTS WORK TOGETHER In Boston, concerned with the problems of welfare tenants, the Service Committee is bringing together tenants, small landlords, and the welfare department to find solutions to the problems of apartments without heat, garbage that stands uncolle cted, falling plaster, rats, and roaches. In Chicago the Service Committee's staff has been working with the Chicago Freedom Movement beaded by Martin Luther King. Block clubs organized by the Service Committee have been conve rted to locals of the Union To End Slums. Contracts are negotiated between landlords and tenants, specifying the r e sponsibilitie s of each. If negotiation fails, the tenants may resort to a rent strike in which r ent is held in e s crow by the bargaining agent. Working in a depre ssed community in Pasadena, California, the Se rvice Committee has helped organiz e a businessme n's council, which is working on upgrading busine sse s and supplying new jobs. The staff has started youth programs for drop-outs and has helped form a young adult group to work on recreational programs and activities for young people. It has started an interfamily visiting program with churc hes in the area to give familie s a chance to know pe ople and places outside their own neighborhoods. A new program in We st Oakland is trying to e stablish communication among groups in the c ommunity, and b etween them and groups outside the are a. Distrust of the s urrounding world is so high that any m e aningful communic ation is difficult. Seminars ar e be ing planned to bring We st Oakland r e sidents and outside rs together in a neutral atmospher e wher e they c an explore mutual problems. The final emphasis of the program will be to stimulate the inte r e st and effo r ts of the wider community !n the problems of the people of We st Oakland. In a dense ly populated area of San Francisc o, the Se r vice Committee got togethe r p arents who had c omplaints about the elem entary school, and this group bec ame known a s the School Com mittee . They decided the logical place to wor k for changes was the PTA, but the princ ipal had repeatedly re fus ed to allow PT A meetings at night when working parents could attend. School offic i als cont inued t o discourage them . They petitioned the s uperintendent, with copies t o the press. Now, for the fir s t t ime in the history of the s chool , there are P TA meetings at night , and a parent has even been e lected trea s urer. PROGRAMS OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE �EMPLOYMENT LINKED TO HOUSING Programs in San Francisco; Richmond, Indiana; and a new program to sta rt in Atlanta link two of the Se rvice Committ ee' s concerns- equal employment and fai r housing. A man's ability to find a job, and an employer's ability to hire him, may depend on his being able to live in the vicinity of the plant. The Committee feels that it is not enough to make employment open to all r egardl e s s of race , but that housing must be made available as well, and close to the job. Staff members found one government bureau in the suburbs of Washington that must s end a bus into the city eve ry day to pick up twenty secretarie s because r acial discrimination prevents them from living near the bureau. Many firms with government contracts have equal employment polic ie s . The Service Committee works with personnel people and executive s of the s e c ompanie s to help them s ecure housing in the community for qualified applic ants of a minority group .

MANY PATHS TO FAIR HOUSING TRIED In 1951 the Se r vice Committee responded to a crisis that developed in Cicero, Illinois, following t he move of a Negro family into a p reviously all-white area. Since then the Committee has been increasingly involved in the drive to bring about equal opportunity in housing, believing that members of any group should be able to freely rent or buy in the neighborhood in which they want to live. In New York; Philadelphia; Chicago; Xenia, Ohio; and Muncie, Indiana, the staff of the Committee's housing program works with buyers, sellers, builders, the real estate industry, government agencies, concerned citizens and organizations, and members of the nonwhite community to open more areas for nonsegregated living and to create a receptive atmosphere for minorities moving into all-white communities. Staff members sponsor housing discussions on TV and radio, set up listing services to bring together the minority buyer and the will ing seller. They escort families to local brokers to assure equal service , initiate community education campaigns, organiz e "good neighbor" pledge dr ives, and hold buyers' confer enc es to inform minority families of their legal rights and to provide them with homebuying information and enc ouragement. The Committe e has helped fo r m fair housing coi,mcils, organiz e d sur veys of comm unity attitude s , and supported nondisc r iminatory housing legislation. It is now mobilizing Negro buyers and renters to take advantage of new openings and to confront real estate brokers with the need to change discriminatory practices. The Philadelphia Metropolitan Housing Program works with the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration in developing an affirmative policy of nondiscrimination. The present practices of these agencies and others are tested. Information is obtained on new developments built with FHA money and on foreclosures of FHA and VA mortgages. A range of approaches to the Negro community is tested, so that home s eeke rs can le arn of housing opportunities throughout the metropolitan area. AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE NATIONAL OFFICE: 160 NORTH 15th STREET PHILADELPHIA , PENNSYVANIA 19102 4M- 11 / 66-AFSC �