Orange County Congregation Community Organizations

For Oliva de Leon, a housewife and mother living in an area where drug dealers peddle their wares from bicycles and gang wars puncture the silence of weekend nights, the last straw came when gang graffiti began appearing inside the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Though she speaks little English and had only a scant formal education in her native Mexico, the defacing of her church was enough to catapult the 44-year-old mother of two boys into the role of a public crusader.

For years they were a thorn in the side of city officials, an ever-present group who harangued leaders to do something about the problems of youth violence and gangs. But opinions of the Orange County Congregation-Community Organization have changed.

A group of church congregations that have battled local officials the last 2 years over such matters as stoplights and park patrols will hold a mass meeting on countywide drug problems Thursday with the mayors of Anaheim and Santa Ana. More than 1,000 members of the Orange County Congregation-Community Organizations, an interfaith federation of 15 congregations, are expected to attend the 7:30 p.m. meeting at Servite High School in Anaheim, group...

A coalition of community leaders on Sunday appealed to the public and local government officials to support a policy that focuses on improving the future for Orange County families and children. More than 2,000 members and supporters of the Orange County Congregation Community Organizations held a convention Sunday at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, officials said.

In an atmosphere charged with the excitement of a political convention, 1,200 church members packed an Anaheim auditorium Thursday and won commitments from the mayors of Orange County's two largest cities to do more to combat drugs in their communities. Mayors of Anaheim and Santa Ana promised the crowd that they would take to their city councils a resolution declaring the existence of a "drug epidemic" and calling for coordinated action by local police, prosecutors, judges, educators and elected officials to eradicate it. To the delight of the crowd, Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter and Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young put their promises in writing on a blackboard wheeled out to the school auditorium stage by Father John Lenihan of St. Boniface Church in Anaheim.

Elected officials often make a promise, form a committee or pass a resolution, figuring that will take the steam out of public pressure on an issue. But they are learning not to do that with Orange County Congregation-Community Organizations, a group of members of 15 churches. The parishioners have banded together in a grass-roots effort to cope with Orange County's growing drug problem and, as part of the process, to make local government try harder to cope with drugs. Last April, congregations from churches and synagogues in Anaheim and Santa Ana were given what sounded to them like commitments by the Santa Ana and Anaheim city councils to launch a coordinated effort to help eradicate drugs.

A coalition of community leaders on Sunday appealed to the public and local government officials to support a policy that focuses on improving the future for Orange County families and children. More than 2,000 members and supporters of the Orange County Congregation Community Organizations held a convention Sunday at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, officials said.

Saying that local government must improve education, a coalition of community leaders representing families countywide announced Wednesday its new public policy goals and the start of a massive voter registration drive. Orange County Congregation Community Organizations officials unveiled their "Lighting the Way" campaign during a 30-minute press conference at Madison Park in Santa Ana.

In the style of delegates to a political convention, a spirited, foot-stomping crowd filled the Century High School gymnasium Monday night to say that they want an end to the drug epidemic. Gathering under signs that identified the names of their churches or neighborhoods, about 2,000 people asked elected officials to provide more leadership in the drug war. "Tonight we demand that our voices be taken seriously in this county," the Rev.

In Santa Ana and Anaheim, church and state are not as separate as they used to be, and the result, without compromising any bedrock Constitutional concepts, promises to produce a healthier, more livable and crime-free community. In a coordinated effort prompted by a mutual concern over the growing drug problem and local government's failure to adequately address the issue, members of 15 churches in Santa Ana and Anaheim have successfully banded together to secure a commitment from the Anaheim and Santa Ana city councils that they would launch a coordinated effort to help eradicate drugs.

Saying that local government must improve education, a coalition of community leaders representing families countywide announced Wednesday its new public policy goals and the start of a massive voter registration drive. Orange County Congregation Community Organizations officials unveiled their "Lighting the Way" campaign during a 30-minute press conference at Madison Park in Santa Ana.

An Orange County church organization wants the city to develop a multifaceted strategy using its parks, library system and police to turn back mounting gang and drug problems. "People are saying this area is becoming more like downtown Los Angeles or Detroit," said Chuck Carey of the Orange County Congregation Community Organizations. "Ninety percent of the people (in member congregations) say crime is increasing, as is gang activity and drug use."

For Oliva de Leon, a housewife and mother living in an area where drug dealers peddle their wares from bicycles and gang wars puncture the silence of weekend nights, the last straw came when gang graffiti began appearing inside the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Though she speaks little English and had only a scant formal education in her native Mexico, the defacing of her church was enough to catapult the 44-year-old mother of two boys into the role of a public crusader.

In the style of delegates to a political convention, a spirited, foot-stomping crowd filled the Century High School gymnasium Monday night to say that they want an end to the drug epidemic. Gathering under signs that identified the names of their churches or neighborhoods, about 2,000 people asked elected officials to provide more leadership in the drug war. "Tonight we demand that our voices be taken seriously in this county," the Rev.

To the dismay of church and community leaders, County Supervisor Don R. Roth said he will not attend a large anti-drug rally planned Monday at Century High School, even though the organizers already had announced that he would lead the meeting. Roth chalked it up to a "communications confusion" and said he never promised to attend in the first place.

Elected officials often make a promise, form a committee or pass a resolution, figuring that will take the steam out of public pressure on an issue. But they are learning not to do that with Orange County Congregation-Community Organizations, a group of members of 15 churches. The parishioners have banded together in a grass-roots effort to cope with Orange County's growing drug problem and, as part of the process, to make local government try harder to cope with drugs. Last April, congregations from churches and synagogues in Anaheim and Santa Ana were given what sounded to them like commitments by the Santa Ana and Anaheim city councils to launch a coordinated effort to help eradicate drugs.

An Orange County church organization wants the city to develop a multifaceted strategy using its parks, library system and police to turn back mounting gang and drug problems. "People are saying this area is becoming more like downtown Los Angeles or Detroit," said Chuck Carey of the Orange County Congregation Community Organizations. "Ninety percent of the people (in member congregations) say crime is increasing, as is gang activity and drug use."

To the dismay of church and community leaders, County Supervisor Don R. Roth said he will not attend a large anti-drug rally planned Monday at Century High School, even though the organizers already had announced that he would lead the meeting. Roth chalked it up to a "communications confusion" and said he never promised to attend in the first place.

Several hundred anti-drug activists from local church groups Monday night heard Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter pledge that his city would clamp down on drug dealers operating out of businesses or homes, hitting them with fines or "locking up" their property for up to a year. Father John Lenihan of St. Boniface parish earlier told the crowd of about 300 Anaheim residents that a 1986 drug-abatement law gives police and city officials the power to "go after landlords who rent to drug dealers."

Sister Carmen Sarati spoke softly but firmly into the telephone to one of her neighborhood lieutenants. "Make sure the people get there early, OK? You have your 10 people? All right, Alberto. I knew I could count on you." Sister Carmen, the woman behind much of the community organizing in east Santa Ana's barrios, was at work for yet another cause, another campaign for human rights and the poor. Five years ago it was a citywide rent strike among Spanish-speaking tenants. Then she helped start a soup kitchen for the homeless at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church.