Sligo Members Speak Out for Community, Candidates Listen

County executive candidates. Photo credit: Sligo church staff

Sligo Members Speak Out for Community, Candidates Listen

Story by Sligo Church Staff

Sligo church, located in Takoma Park, Md., played a major role in a recent Action in Montgomery [AIM] County Electoral Assembly that presented the real needs of the county to the candidates for county executive.

Nearly 70 Sligo members attended the event which took place at the United Methodist Parish Church in Silver Spring. Terri Jo Hayes, the Sligo AIM leader, co-chaired the event with Reverend Nancy Ladd, of River Road Unitarian Congregation and Donald McFarlane, a Sligo pastor, delivered the opening prayer, while other members worked on the floor committee, ensuring the evening progressed without incident.

During the meeting, AIM--a coalition of Montgomery County-based congregations and nonprofits that work to strengthen the community and advocate for social justice--presented three major needs to the candidates: getting to know the African immigrant community, improving after-school programs and constructing affordable housing.

Photo credit: Sligo church staff

As a result of the meeting, all candidates committed to spending half a day before January 1, 2015, getting to know the needs of the African immigrants. Two of the candidates committed to permanently dedicating 2.5 percent of the county’s property tax to the Housing Initiative Fund, and to the production of a minimum of 1,000 new units of affordable housing annually.

Terri Jo Hayes, the Sligo AIM leader, co-chaired the event. Photo Credit: Sligo Church Staff

Hayes says Sligo received many thanks from AIM’s leadership, who attributed the successful outcomes of the evening to the co-chairs' approach in delivering the AIM agenda to the candidates and congregation. “What a remarkable evening and a privilege for our church to be an integral part of such a wonderful outreach ministry,” she adds.

Read more about the meeting in this Washington Post article: “Social justice advocates get the last word in final Montgomery executive candidate forum."