The pews are increasingly empty at historically Black churches in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood, once called the “Harlem of the West” because of its bustling Black community. 

Places of worship once visited by some of the country’s most influential Black leaders, such as W.E.B. Dubois and Martin Luther King Jr., have lost hundreds of members in recent years. As rising costs of living have kept many former Black residents away from a neighborhood they once helped build, many of the historic religious institutions that grew alongside them are on life support. 

The 80-year-old Jones Memorial United Methodist Church on Post Street recently cut one of its Sunday sermons as its membership declined from roughly 200 people to 40, if you’re counting the choir members. Yulanda Williams, a lay minister at the church, said the congregation was forced to cut back programs for the sick and elderly as well as rehabilitation services for people leaving prison. 

Sandy Lewis attends the Sunday service at Jones Memorial United Methodist on Sept. 10, 2023. | Source: Justin Katigbak/The Standard

At the historic 171-year-old Third Baptist Church on McAllister Street, which supports after-school programs for Black youth and food for the hungry, attendance has dropped from over 1,000 people in the 1970s to as low as 200 people now, said the Rev. Amos Brown. 

Alongside the disappearance of Black churches, Black businesses have struggled to survive. Arnold Townsend, the pastor at Without Walls Ministries on Steiner Street, said he must drive to the East Bay after church every Sunday to find authentic soul food.

“To see these institutions disappear, you have to understand what it does to the emotional psyche of Black people,” Townsend said. “We have no identifiers in our town anymore.”

The struggles of San Francisco’s Black churches coincide with declining religious participation across the country. Some local religious leaders say it’s time for the institutions to reinvent themselves. Others blame city officials for failing to provide affordable housing for their members as well as protection from property crime and social issues like homelessness that plague San Francisco. 

The Sunday service is sparsely attended at Jones Memorial United Methodist in San Francisco on Sept. 10, 2023. | Source: Justin Katigbak/The Standard

Some longtime members of Black churches in the Fillmore make lengthy commutes from other parts of the Bay Area, but many have found churches near their new homes or stopped attending church altogether. Some members have simply grown too old to attend, and the churches are struggling to attract younger congregants. 

For Andrea Patton-Housley, a 30-year member of Jones United Methodist Church, the declining church membership has intensified her obligation to commute from the East Bay to the Fillmore every Sunday. Patton-Housley grew up in San Francisco and attended church here, but she moved to the East Bay in 2006 to buy a home because the city was unaffordable. 

“The church is like my family,” Patton-Housely said. “There’s not that many African Americans left in the Bay Area.”

A Difficult Balance

San Francisco’s Black population decreased from 13.4% of the city’s total population in 1970 to 5.7% in 2021. The drug and housing crises have hit Black residents particularly hard, with Black people making up 38% of the city’s homeless population and 32% of overdose deaths, according to the most recent data available. 

These disparities, some community leaders say, are symptomatic of the city’s failure to support Black institutions that were largely expected to address the crises. 

“The church has been a lifeline to keep people from getting into trouble,” Williams said. “But how long are we expected to try and resolve issues that go far beyond our reach?” 

Pastors say they’re faced with balancing spiritual obligations to help those in need and coming to terms with their own vulnerabilities. In response to a rise in break-ins, some churches in the Fillmore have moved away from open-door policies and have installed high-tech security systems. 

A composite image shows a congregant paging through Ecclesiastes in the Bible, left, during a Sunday service at Third Baptist Church and a locked gate, right, along the exterior of Third Baptist Church on Sept. 7, 2023. | Source: Don Feria for The Standard; Justin Katigbak/The Standard

Brown, pastor of Third Baptist Church, said he’s spent upward of $75,000 to repair damaged property and install fences and cameras, expenses that have added to the financial woes presented by declining membership. 

This year, thieves stole catalytic converters from vehicles in the church’s gated lot—one of three break-ins the church endured over the past six months. 

Brown, who studied under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is the president of San Francisco’s NAACP chapter, said he wants to see the law enforced evenly rather than not at all. He said he thinks the city fosters a climate that’s conducive to crime, placing undue burden on churches and businesses.

“The Black community is under siege,” Brown said. “The leadership of the city needs to step up and stop debating in ideological scum-fights.”

The Rev. Amos Brown stands among the pews for a portrait after services at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2023. | Source: Don Feria for the Standard

Third Baptist operated a homeless shelter until its plumbing system was clogged by hypodermic needles, a problem that cost $50,000 to repair, Brown said. First Friendship Baptist on Steiner Street also ran a homeless shelter until declining membership made the operation unsustainable, according to Townsend. 

Other churches in the area say they’ve struggled with increasing homelessness without having the resources to help. Between 2019 and 2022, the unsheltered homeless population in the Fillmore’s supervisorial district rose by roughly 160 people, though it remained much lower than in other areas of the city, according to a one-night count in February 2022. 

Williams said the smell of urine has seeped into her church from homeless encampments on the adjacent sidewalk. Yul Dorn, pastor of Emmanuel Church-God in Christ on Hayes Street, said he’s caught people sneaking onto the church’s roof, using drugs and even sleeping there. 

“I’ve never seen churches desecrated to the extent that I’m seeing today,” Williams said. 

In the Tenderloin, the epicenter of the city’s homelessness crisis, Glide Church—a hub for social justice in the neighborhood—is no stranger to the issues described by ministries of the Fillmore. 

A composite image of the exterior of Glide Memorial Church, left, and Minister of Celebration Marvin K. White, right, at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco on Thursday, September 21, 2023. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

“It gets wild at Glide. I mean, yesterday, someone came in and threatened to kill everybody,” Senior Minister Marvin K. White said on Wednesday. “We acknowledge that it is a thing, but we also know that bringing folks together is part of the solution.”

White said two types of congregants come to his church on Sundays: One group attends for the sermon, while others attend for a free meal. He said he believes bringing those groups together should remain at the core of the church’s mission. 

“Those who are privileged need to look at those people in the face who are suffering, and we all need to see each other,” White said. 

Decades in the Making

The challenges for the Fillmore’s Black churches started well before the city’s current drug and homelessness crises. 

In the 1960s, the Fillmore neighborhood was the focus of a federally authorized “urban renewal” project, which ostensibly aimed to improve struggling urban areas by building new housing and storefronts but forced an exodus from the area. 

Homes and businesses line Fillmore Street at Sutter Street in October 1963. In the 1960s, the Fillmore neighborhood was the focus of a federally authorized “urban renewal” project, which ostensibly aimed to improve struggling urban areas by building new housing and storefronts but forced an exodus from the area. | Source: Courtesy OpenSFHistory

The Board of Supervisors is weighing recommendations set forth by a reparations committee, which is proposing investments in education and health for Black children and mothers, strategies to employ more Black teachers, psychiatric help for people growing up in underserved neighborhoods as well as cash payments for Black San Franciscans. But next steps for the proposals remain unclear. 

Declining church attendance is hardly unique to Black churches or to San Francisco. Across the country, religious participation in churches has fallen over the past decade. The share of people who identify as Christian in the U.S. declined from 78% to 63% between 2007 and 2021, and only a quarter of people say they attend church at least once a week, according to a study by Pew Research. 

The Bethel A.M.E. Church choir poses for a group portrait in San Francisco in 1929. Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, located in the Fillmore District, was founded in 1852 and was one of the earliest African American churches on the West Coast. | Source: Courtesy African American Museum & Library at Oakland

White, of Glide Church, said he’s begun to move away from the Bible in some of his sermons as a growing number of people separate themselves from religion. White said the church’s evolution will require meeting people where they are in their beliefs and working together with other ministries. 

“I’m like Oprah. You get a theology. You get a theology. You get a theology,” he said.  “I think part of my job as a minister. … Is to remove these barriers created by these dead white theologians.”

Minister of Celebration Marvin K. White at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco on Thursday, September 21, 2023. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

Bobby Sisk, a steward of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, said he considers his church one of the lucky ones, though attendance has decreased by roughly 60% since the 1970s. Sisk said he believes churches need to evolve and learn how to attract more diverse crowds and younger members in order to survive in San Francisco. 

“The churches were thriving. These were packed houses to capacity. Now, in some cases, you have some that are on life support,” Sisk said. “The churches themselves have to start to think differently.” 

Others say the city needs to provide more support to these institutions before Black people disappear entirely from the fabric of San Francisco. 

“In 10 years, it’s quite possible that we could have more Black San Franciscans unhoused than housed,” Townsend said. “But it seems like mostly they want to ignore it and pretend that it’s not happening.” 

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are debating nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are debating nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative session. Here’s action taken by the California Legislature Thursday:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHURCHES’ LANDS

Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California could soon turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing to help combat the ongoing homeless crisis, lawmakers voted on Thursday.

The legislation would rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. They would be able to bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy.

California is home to 171,000 homeless people — about 30% of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects already in the works.

But churches and colleges often face big hurdles trying to convert their surplus land and underutilized parking lots into housing because their land is not zoned for residential use. An affordable housing project in a San Jose church had to go through a rezoning process that took more than two years before it could break ground in 2021.

The goal of this legislation is to carve an easier path to build much-needed housing in the state, said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored the bill.

The bill, which was approved by the Assembly, needs the final approval in the state Senate before heading to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will decide whether to sign it into law.

It would only apply to affordable housing projects, and the law would sunset in 2036.

Democratic Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, who represents Orange County, said there are hundreds of faith-based organizations and several community colleges in her district that could use this bill as a tool to expedite affordable housing projects.

“If only a small fraction of them chose to build very small amount of units, we could start picking away at this issue one church at a time, one educational institution at a time,” she said Thursday.

Supporters of the bill said it could help add hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units to the state’s housing stock. A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley, Terner Center for Housing Innovation estimated California religious and higher education campuses have more than 170,000 acres (68,797 hectares) of land that would be eligible under the bill.

But several cities opposed the bill and said it would take away local control over housing developments. Environmental groups also worry the bill doesn’t have enough guardrails and would put low-income housing close to polluting areas such as freeways, industrial facilities, and oil and gas plants.

Lawmakers have until Sept. 14 to act on this and other bills. When lawmakers finish, Newsom will have a month to decide whether to sign them into law.

DIVERSE TEXTBOOKS IN SCHOOLS

The Legislature passed a bill to ensure school curricula reflect the cultural and racial diversity of California and the U.S.

The bill would also require school boards to approve instructional materials that include accurate depictions of LGBTQ+ people and their contributions. It would ban school boards from rejecting textbooks because they mention the contributions of people with a particular racial background or sexual orientation.

It’s an issue that has cropped up in many states. The issue garnered renewed attention in California when a Southern California school board, Temecula Valley Unified, rejected an elementary social studies curriculum that included materials mentioning Harvey Milk, a former San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate. Newsom threatened the school board with a $1.5 million fine. The board later reversed course.

State senators debated intensely on the bill. They took a “timeout” after Democratic Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, who chairs the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said Republican Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh’s comments about the bill were off topic. Republican lawmakers and Democratic Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil voted against it.

Ochoa Bogh said the bill wouldn’t make sure that school materials would be age-appropriate for students. But Democratic Sen. Lena Gonzalez said school boards would still be able to make those decisions.

Later in the day, the state Assembly gave final sign-off on the bill, sending it to Newsom’s desk.

Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson, who introduced the proposal, touted it as a chance to show the nation that California would be “on the right side of history.”

“A yes vote means that not on our watch will these political class wars be declared and use our students and our children as pawns,” Jackson said.

But Republican Majority Leader James Gallagher said the bill would overstep on local school boards’ authority to approve class materials.

STREAMLINING THE HOUSING PERMITTING PROCESS

The state Assembly passed a bill that would extend the life of a landmark law streamlining rules about housing projects in cities that have not met state-mandated goals for affordable housing. The bill is one of the most contentious pieces of housing legislation this year.

Since the original bill took effect in 2018, it has helped fast-track 18,000 homes, with roughly 75% of them being affordable housing, according to the bill’s author, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener.

The new bill would remove the requirement to hire “skilled and trained workers,” a provision typically sought by the powerful construction trades union, and instead require workers to be paid prevailing wage, which is the average wage paid to workers, laborers and mechanics in a particular area.

The bill had met fierce opposition from the state Coastal Commission and environmental groups in July because it would remove the exemption on streamlined housing development in coastal zones. Opponents worried the bill would place housing in areas prone to sea-level rise or wildfires and make way for luxury apartments, not affordable housing, along the coastline.

Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a co-author of the bill, said the legislation only applies to coastal areas zoned for multifamily housing and that Wiener has worked with the commission to address critics’ concerns. The Coastal Commission no longer opposes the bill.

“We’re extending current law, so it’s not scary,” Wicks said Thursday. “It’s the right thing to do. We know this program works.”

GENDER NEUTRAL BATHROOMS

The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill to require schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026.

The legislation would apply to schools with multiple female and male restrooms. The bill comes amid debates in California and elsewhere about the rights of transgender and nonbinary students, including whether teachers should notify parents if their child changes pronouns at school.

___

Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin @sophieadanna

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

The post California lawmakers vote to fast-track low-income housing on church buildings’ lands appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are considering nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative session. Here’s action taken by the California Legislature Thursday:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHURCHES’ LANDS

Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California could soon turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing to help combat the ongoing homeless crisis, lawmakers voted on Thursday.

The legislation would rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. They would be able to bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy.

California is home to 171,000 homeless people — about 30% of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects already in the works.

But churches and colleges often face big hurdles trying to convert their surplus land and underutilized parking lots into housing because their land is not zoned for residential use. An affordable housing project in a San Jose church had to go through a rezoning process that took more than two years before it could break ground in 2021.

The goal of this legislation is to carve an easier path to build much-needed housing in the state, said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored the bill.

The bill, which was approved by the Assembly, needs the final approval in the state Senate before heading to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will decide whether to sign it into law.

It would only apply to affordable housing projects, and the law would sunset in 2036.

Democratic Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, who represents Orange County, said there are hundreds of faith-based organizations and several community colleges in her district that could use this bill as a tool to expedite affordable housing projects.

“If only a small fraction of them chose to build very small amount of units, we could start picking away at this issue one church at a time, one educational institution at a time,” she said Thursday.

Supporters of the bill said it could help add hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units to the state’s housing stock. A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley, Terner Center for Housing Innovation estimated California religious and higher education campuses have more than 170,000 acres (68,797 hectares) of land that would be eligible under the bill.

But several cities opposed the bill and said it would take away local control over housing developments. Environmental groups also worry the bill doesn’t have enough guardrails and would put low-income housing close to polluting areas such as freeways, industrial facilities, and oil and gas plants.

Lawmakers have until Sept. 14 to act on this and other bills. When lawmakers finish, Newsom will have a month to decide whether to sign them into law.

The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill to require schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026.

The legislation would apply to schools with multiple female and male restrooms. The bill comes amid debates in California and elsewhere about the rights of transgender and nonbinary students, including whether teachers should notify parents if their child changes pronouns at school.

The state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond supported the bill, saying it would help gender nonconforming students feel safe in the restroom they choose to use on campus.

“This legislation is a critical step toward preparing California students to succeed by ensuring the necessary steps of having a safe foundation to rely on; having a safe and inclusive place to use the restroom,” Thurmond said in prepared comments to the Legislature.

DIVERSE TEXTBOOKS IN SCHOOLS

The state Senate passed a bill to ensure school curricula reflect the cultural and racial diversity of California and the U.S.

The bill would also require school governing boards to approve instructional materials that include accurate depictions of LGBTQ+ people and their contributions. It would ban governing boards from rejecting textbooks because they mention the contributions of people with a particular racial background or sexual orientation.

It’s an issue that has cropped in many states, and one that garnered renewed attention in California when a Southern California school board, Temecula Valley Unified, rejected an elementary social studies curriculum that included materials mentioning Harvey Milk, a former San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate. Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened the school board with a $1.5 million fine. The board later reversed course.

State senators debated intensely on the bill. They took a “timeout” after Democratic Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, who chairs the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said Republican Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh’s comments about the bill were off topic. Republican lawmakers and Democratic Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil voted against it.

Ochoa Bogh said the bill wouldn’t make sure that school materials would be age-appropriate for students, but Democratic Sen. Lena Gonzalez said school governing boards would still be able to make those decisions.

“This bill will ensure that we’re expelling disinformation,” Gonzalez said.

The post California lawmakers vote to fast-track low-income housing on church buildings’ lands | State appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are debating nearly 1,000 bills during the hectic final two weeks of the Legislative session. Here’s action taken by the California Legislature Thursday:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHURCHES’ LANDS

Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California could soon turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing to help combat the ongoing homeless crisis, lawmakers voted on Thursday.

The legislation would rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. They would be able to bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy.

California is home to 171,000 homeless people — about 30% of all homeless people in the U.S. The crisis has sparked a movement among religious institutions, dubbed “yes in God’s backyard,” or “YIGBY,” in cities across the state, with a number of projects already in the works.

But churches and colleges often face big hurdles trying to convert their surplus land and underutilized parking lots into housing because their land is not zoned for residential use. An affordable housing project in a San Jose church had to go through a rezoning process that took more than two years before it could break ground in 2021.

The goal of this legislation is to carve an easier path to build much-needed housing in the state, said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored the bill.

The bill, which was approved by the Assembly, needs the final approval in the state Senate before heading to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will decide whether to sign it into law.

It would only apply to affordable housing projects, and the law would sunset in 2036.

Democratic Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, who represents Orange County, said there are hundreds of faith-based organizations and several community colleges in her district that could use this bill as a tool to expedite affordable housing projects.

“If only a small fraction of them chose to build very small amount of units, we could start picking away at this issue one church at a time, one educational institution at a time,” she said Thursday.

Supporters of the bill said it could help add hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units to the state’s housing stock. A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley, Terner Center for Housing Innovation estimated California religious and higher education campuses have more than 170,000 acres (68,797 hectares) of land that would be eligible under the bill.

But several cities opposed the bill and said it would take away local control over housing developments. Environmental groups also worry the bill doesn’t have enough guardrails and would put low-income housing close to polluting areas such as freeways, industrial facilities, and oil and gas plants.

Lawmakers have until Sept. 14 to act on this and other bills. When lawmakers finish, Newsom will have a month to decide whether to sign them into law.

DIVERSE TEXTBOOKS IN SCHOOLS

The Legislature passed a bill to ensure school curricula reflect the cultural and racial diversity of California and the U.S.

The bill would also require school boards to approve instructional materials that include accurate depictions of LGBTQ+ people and their contributions. It would ban school boards from rejecting textbooks because they mention the contributions of people with a particular racial background or sexual orientation.

It’s an issue that has cropped up in many states. The issue garnered renewed attention in California when a Southern California school board, Temecula Valley Unified, rejected an elementary social studies curriculum that included materials mentioning Harvey Milk, a former San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate. Newsom threatened the school board with a $1.5 million fine. The board later reversed course.

State senators debated intensely on the bill. They took a “timeout” after Democratic Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, who chairs the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said Republican Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh’s comments about the bill were off topic. Republican lawmakers and Democratic Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil voted against it.

Ochoa Bogh said the bill wouldn’t make sure that school materials would be age-appropriate for students. But Democratic Sen. Lena Gonzalez said school boards would still be able to make those decisions.

Later in the day, the state Assembly gave final sign-off on the bill, sending it to Newsom’s desk.

Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson, who introduced the proposal, touted it as a chance to show the nation that California would be “on the right side of history.”

“A yes vote means that not on our watch will these political class wars be declared and use our students and our children as pawns,” Jackson said.

But Republican Majority Leader James Gallagher said the bill would overstep on local school boards’ authority to approve class materials.

STREAMLINING THE HOUSING PERMITTING PROCESS

The state Assembly passed a bill that would extend the life of a landmark law streamlining rules about housing projects in cities that have not met state-mandated goals for affordable housing. The bill is one of the most contentious pieces of housing legislation this year.

Since the original bill took effect in 2018, it has helped fast-track 18,000 homes, with roughly 75% of them being affordable housing, according to the bill’s author, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener.

The new bill would remove the requirement to hire “skilled and trained workers,” a provision typically sought by the powerful construction trades union, and instead require workers to be paid prevailing wage, which is the average wage paid to workers, laborers and mechanics in a particular area.

The bill had met fierce opposition from the state Coastal Commission and environmental groups in July because it would remove the exemption on streamlined housing development in coastal zones. Opponents worried the bill would place housing in areas prone to sea-level rise or wildfires and make way for luxury apartments, not affordable housing, along the coastline.

Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a co-author of the bill, said the legislation only applies to coastal areas zoned for multifamily housing and that Wiener has worked with the commission to address critics’ concerns. The Coastal Commission no longer opposes the bill.

“We’re extending current law, so it’s not scary,” Wicks said Thursday. “It’s the right thing to do. We know this program works.”

GENDER NEUTRAL BATHROOMS

The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill to require schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026.

The legislation would apply to schools with multiple female and male restrooms. The bill comes amid debates in California and elsewhere about the rights of transgender and nonbinary students, including whether teachers should notify parents if their child changes pronouns at school.

___

Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin @sophieadanna

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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