{"id":22734,"date":"2025-10-27T09:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T09:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/22734\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T09:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T09:52:11","slug":"cops-metro-celebrates-50-years-of-advocacy-unveils-new-decade-long-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/22734\/","title":{"rendered":"COPS\/Metro celebrates 50 years of advocacy, unveils new decade-long strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">SAN ANTONIO \u2013 COPS\/Metro unveiled a new, decade-long strategy for neighborhood infrastructure and workforce development Sunday as part of its 50th-anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">More than 2,000 people gathered at the Henry B. Gonz\u00e1lez Convention Center for the announcement of the organization\u2019s initiative, \u201cPublic Money for Public Good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The strategy focuses on three key areas:<\/p>\n<p>A $5 billion investment in inner-city flood control and neighborhood infrastructure<\/p>\n<p>Expansion of Project Quest, the organization\u2019s workforce training program<\/p>\n<p>Development of support systems for immigrant families<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe celebrate our local work,\u201d said a COPS\/Metro representative during the convention, highlighting the organization\u2019s half-century of community advocacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Founded in the early 1970s as Communities Organizing for Public Service (COPS), the organization says it is the nation\u2019s \u201coldest and longest-standing community organizing endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Its model of community organizing has since inspired the creation of over 60 similar organizations across the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) Network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The anniversary event drew support from sister IAF organizations, interfaith clergy, elected officials, and business leaders from across the West and Southwest United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Over its 50-year history, COPS\/Metro and the West\/Southwest IAF have secured over $1 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure in economically disadvantaged areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The organization has also developed programs to advance living wage careers, achieved living wage victories in five states, stopped predatory corporate tax breaks, and established the world\u2019s largest network of solar-powered resilience hubs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Read also:<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 COPS\/Metro unveiled a new, decade-long strategy for neighborhood infrastructure and workforce development Sunday as part&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13761,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-22734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-cops-metro","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}