PATH Events


PATH Events

April 2, 2007 First PATH Win!

The year 2006 was marked by the rise of a broad based community action organization in Howard County. On April 30 the congregations associated with the Howard County Sponsoring Committee met at Mt. Pisgah AME and decided to form PATH (People Acting Together in Howard). We held our first public assembly on June 11, 2006 at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Elkridge. Approximately 500 people from 36 county institutions were present along with 40 politicians and candidates as well as the local news media. We formed this organization to build POWER in the county. We will use this capacity to act on behalf of our families, especially the most vulnerable. PATH includes three action teams which are focused on a) public transportation and access, b) youth, and c) affordable housing. The accomplishments of the Transportation Action Team are what this notice is celebrating. At the June 11th assembly PATH requested that county transportation officials change the wait time for Howard Transit buses from 60 to 30 minutes and improve the accessibility of buses by increasing and improving their routes.

PATH is delighted to report that both of these improvements are scheduled to begin April 2. The new schedules and routes began operating on Monday, April 2, 2007. PATH was at the bus central at the Mall in force to celebrate this victory. We asked County Executive Ken Ulman to join us at a press conference, where we expressed our appreciation for his commitment seek further improvements in the county’s public transportation system. He agreed to work with PATH in seeking these improvements.

In a two month listening campaign conducted and just concluded by youth in our institutions and in a number of our high schools, more accessible public transportation was a major issue. It is also a major issue for the elderly and handicapped in our churches and congregations. We will now ask members of our institutions/congregations to hold additional house meetings to understand better the issues of mobility faced by our members. Listening to the stories arising from these house meetings will equip PATH to shape its transportation agenda and to work with our county officials to bring about needed improvements.

Click here for the photo gallery from this event.

On October 8, 2006, PATH met at Oakland Mills High School auditorium to present our current issues to the candidates for the office of Howard County Executive. We will ask each of them to commit to adopt our issues as their own.

These issues are:

	more affordable housing;
	more accessible public transportation; and
	greater variety of wholesome youth activities in our county.

The 400 leaders present October 8 are taking the candidates responses to our questions on our three issues back to their institutions.

We will be spending the next several months building action teams inside our institutions.

We have action teams working on each of our issues. If you are interested in participating in one of these teams, please

Click here for the photo gallery from this assembly.

In late summer 2006, the leadership of PATH elected its first executive leadership team. This team is composed of two lay co-chairs and two clergy co-chairs. They are:

Lay Co-Chair - Mrs. Christiane Howey; St. Mark's Episcopal (Highland)
Lay Co-Chair - Mr. John Farrell; Patapsco Friends (meeting at Mt. Hebron Presbyterian)
Clergy Co-Chair - Fr. Gerry Bowen; St. Augustine’s Catholic Community (Elkridge)
Clergy Co-Chair - The Rev. Carletta Allen; Locust United Methodist Church (Columbia)

On June 11, 2006, PATH held its first public meeting with approximately 500 people in attendance. That number included members of 36 institutions in Howard County, 40 county politicians (actual and hopeful), and the news media.

On that evening PATH:

	achieved proper recognition from the community and the politicians present;
	presented the three issues that are currently being developed by our action teams; and
	received public commitments from the politicians present to work with PATH and to meet with PATH representatives before and at the next public meeting scheduled for October 8, 2006.

On Sunday, April 30, 2006. after a deliberative, four year process of gatherings among ministers, rabis, imams and other community leaders, twenty four churches and one mosque gathered to witness the founding of a broad-based organization which can address itself to the concerns of the members of our congregations. The gathered assembly heard stories arising out of our house meetings, and decided that collectively they could do more to resolve some of the issues they were hearing about. Action teams were formed around issue areas such as affordable housing, transportation and youth activities. Other issue areas will be taken up as members decide their strategic importance to the organization. Visits are being held with public officials to invite them to the first public meeting of this new vehicle for social change in Howard County, which we decided to name PATH for People Acting Together in Howard.

We are excited to join Action in Montgomery (AIM) and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) as the newest Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) affiliate in Maryland. We hope that you will send a delegation to our go-public assembly on Sunday, June 11, 2006 at 7:00 PM. The location is St Augustine Catholic Church, 5976 Washington Blvd in Elkridge. The zip code, for Mapquest purposes, is 21075. The St Augustine Music Ministry will welcome us with song at 6:30 that evening.

We look forward to working with you on issues of mutual interest in the months and years to come.