Category: Community Events - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Civil Rights Legislative Forum - After Action Report

3/30/2025

Civil Rights Legislative Forum - After Action Report

About 70 people attended the Civil Rights Legislative Forum at the TMBC Lincoln Resource Center on Saturday morning, March 29th. The event was sponsored by the Davenport NAACP, One Human Family, the Civil Rights forum of PACG and the Quad Cities Ministers Association.

In attendance to discuss the impact of civil rights legislation in the Iowa legislature were Representatives Cindy Winckler, Ken Croken and Dan Gosa of Davenport and Senator Mike Zimmer of DeWitt. Representative Ross Wilburn of Ames, a Democrat and member of the Iowa Legislative Black Caucus, joined us and shared his insights. The local Republican members of the Iowa legislature were invited as well but did not attend.

Rep. Wilburn said that the Republicans, having "opened" the civil rights code to remove gender identity, intend to remove sexual orientation in the upcoming session. Rabbi Karp of One Human Family QCA urged us to all come together to protect vulnerable groups, even if we are not a member of that group. We need to stand together if we want to protect LGBT+ civil rights in Iowa!

If you subscribe to the Quad City Times, read their coverage here.

Alta Price

Progressive calendars of events and actions in the QCA - What You Can Do Now

3/26/2025

Progressive calendars in the QCA

PACG Forums

Want to explore more ways you can get involved in progressive actions and events in the QCA? We are collecting calendars for our Community Events page! They are posted at the top of the website page, so if you are looking for information about a particular event, you will have to do some scrolling.

Here's the link for the PACG events calendar.

Our friends at One Human Family-QCA started the QC Activism calendar in 2024 and we have put it on our Community Events page. You may add events to this calendar here.

Activist Leslie DuPree, President of Quad Cities National Organization for Women (QC NOW), is single-handedly managing the QC Action Calendar as a Google Document. Her contact information is at the top of it.

Clock, Inc is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive community center, offering vital resources, mental health programs, empowerment, and advocacy for the LGBT+ community to thrive without fear of discrimination. The Clock, Inc Events calendar is here.

MainStream, formerly known as The Real Mainstream, is a progressive, intersectional, LGBTQ+ affirming publication serving Illinois and Iowa, and available online and in print. They have a number of calendars for eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois, including a filter for adults-only and spiritual Sunday gatherings. The MainStream calendar for Quad Cities Events is here.

If you know of other groups in our area who are compiling calendar events and actions, please contact us at [email protected].

Wold Cultures Festival - Community Event

3/11/2025

World Cultures Festival
Sunday, March 30th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Rogalski Center
St. Ambrose Univeristy
Corner of Lombard and Scott Streets
Davenport, IA 52803 (map)

Quad Cities World Affairs Council

This year the Immigration Coalition of the Quad Cities will be hosting a table at the World Cultures Festival and has sponsored an Immigrant and Refugee Poetry, Essay and Visual Arts Contest. Come by to experience the many wonderful cultures present in the Quad Cities and to see the contest submissions created by local students.

Allison Ambrose

Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Disobedience Training - What You Can Do Now

1/24/2025

Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Disobedience Training
Wednesday, February 12th at 7:00 pm

Metropolitan Community Church QC
2930 W Locust St
Davenport, IA (map)

One Human Family

NOTE: If the schools are closed tomorrow due to weather, this event will move online instead of being canceled. Check the Facebook page in the link below.

PACG encourages any of its activists interested in protest during the upcoming year to take this training from Rev. Rich Hendricks, hosted by One Human Family QC. PACG members at our events need to commit to nonviolence. Learn how to keep yourself safe while participating in the resistance.

Sign up for the training on Facebook here, if possible, or contact me and I'll put you in touch with One Human Family.

Alta Price (she/her)

"The Children's Hour" film fundraiser - Of Interest to Our Comunity

7/21/2024

The Children's Hour film presentation
Sunday, July 28th at 3:00 pm

The Last Picture House
325 East 2nd ST
Davenport, IA (map)

One Human Family-QCA and Ken Croken

Iowa State Representative Ken Croken invites you to join him at the second annual film
fundraiser in support of access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Proceeds will benefit Iowa families forced to seek this care in Illinois as a result of the Iowa ban on these health care and related services for children suffering gender dysphoria.

The benefit will be held on Sunday, July 28 at 3 pm at The Last Picture House, located
at 325 East Second Street in downtown Davenport. The private screening will feature
the Academy Award honored 1961 film masterwork, The Children’s Hour. Directed by William Wyler and based on the Lillian Hellman play, the film stars Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, along with James Garner, Miriam Hopkins and Fay Bainter. The Children’s Hour is a groundbreaking classic based on the true story of two teachers whose reputations and lives were destroyed by the lies of a vicious student
accusing the women of a lesbian love affair in a time when such relationships were
considered immoral.

Sadly, there are many in government who still feel this way. Governor Reynolds signed a ban into Iowa law on March 22, 2023 amid GOP claims that the use of puberty blockers and hormones is “inappropriate” and based on faulty science. Nonetheless, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics all recommend providing transgender youth with precisely such medical care. Children will suffer unimaginable and unnecessary depression and anxiety as a result of the Republican misguided beliefs about gender identity. Indeed, some will even die by their own hands. We must do what we can now until such time as we remove from office those who would dictate personal decisions for the children of others.

There is no set ticket price to attend the July 28 event. But a “free will” offering of any
amount will be gratefully received at the door. Checks and credit card gifts payable to
“The Project of the Quad Cities” and cash are all welcome. The theater will have its
usual food and beverage concessions for sale. Seating is limited and reservations are
strongly recommended. Please reserve your seats ASAP by email (preferred) to
[email protected] or by phone/text at 563/940-8439.

All proceeds will be divided between Moline-based The Project of the Quad Cities and
Rock Island-based Clock, Inc. LGBT+ Community Center. Since 1986 The Project has
served the local LGBTQIA+ community with remarkable health care services and the
mission of Clock, Inc. is to provide a non-judgmental, safe and reliable gathering space
for queer youth and others to reduce feelings of discrimination or isolation.
Please join us on July 28!

Women's March Day of Action - What You Can Do Now

6/18/2024

Women's March National Day of Action in Davenport
Saturday, June 22nd at 11:00 am

Vander Veer Botanical Park
215 W Central Park Ave
Davenport, IA (map)

Women's March, Gender Equity Forum

The Women's March is promoting events across the nation this June to support women's reproductive healthcare and freedoms. The Davenport event will be Saturday, June 22nd at Vander Veer Park in Davenport (Note: the Women's March has declared June 24th the National Day of Action but in Davenport we will rally on June 22nd). Given that women in Iowa are on the brink of losing their reproductive rights, the Gender Equity Forum urges you to attend this rally! Please sign up in advance to let the organizer know you are coming, in case there are weather-related changes.

Alta Price

Celebrate Juneteenth - Of Interest to Our Community

6/8/2024

Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, June 15th from 11 am to 4 pm

LeClaire Park
400 Beiderbecke DR
Davenport, IA (map)

Friends of MLK

The Friends of MLK (FoMLK) are proud to host the Quad City Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 15th at LeClaire Park located at 400 Biederbecke DR in Davenport, from 11 am to 4 pm.

This festival is complete with food and retail vendors; local and national history information; community and resource booths; and fun-filled games and live entertainment for the whole family. This is sure to be an event you will not want to miss! Now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday, we are looking to make this year’s event our largest ever. Read more on our FoMLK website here.

Davenport emergency evictions - After Action Report

3/30/2024

Davenport residents face emergency evictions! - After Action Report

Quad Cities Interfaith (QCI) and QC Tenant Alliance (QCTA)

From the QCTimes

TOM LOEWY, SARAH WATSON, AND GRETCHEN TESKE
Mar 28, 2024

DAVENPORT APARTMENT VACATED

Lamond Lathan-Burge is happy to have a roof over his head. But the 23-year-old isn't sure where he'll go after the city of Davenport vacated his apartment building on West 4th Street on Tuesday on advice of Shive-Hattery structural engineers. He spent Tuesday night in the Relax Inn on North Brady Street. Scott County made rooms available at the extended-stay hotel. The city notified tenants of the evacuation of Schricker Apartments at 401 W. 4th St. and "has secured available resources to assist in displacement," according to a Tuesday news release from the city's Development and Neighborhood Services Department. Per the apartment building owner, the current expected number of units vacated is 18, according to the city.

Notices taped to the building's doors told residents the building was being evacuated immediately and that with proof of residency, rooms are available at the Relax Inn from March 26 to March 31 at no cost. Pets are allowed.

An unexpected notice
Shive-Hattery was hired by the city of Davenport, and its report recommended the immediate vacate order based on the conditions of a wooden wall believed to be a structural wall. Nicole Gleason, Davenport's public works director and assistant city administrator, told the City Council on Wednesday night that recommendations from Shive-Hattery were that the building should be immediately evacuated because of the building's potentially unsafe structural conditions and could "fully or partially collapse with little or no warning." Lathan-Burge said he wasn't surprised the building was vacated. "A couple of days after I moved in, I was hanging out and playing some video games and mice ran through my living room," he said. "I didn't have a stove for two months, and then they installed a gas stove. Turns out I had a gas leak, and I had to have MidAmerican Energy come and fix it. "And it just felt like the maybe the floor was sagging. It was weird."

Displaced residents find temporary home
Lathan-Burge said he didn't fault the city, but he was taken aback by the lack of notice. "I came home and the stuff taped to the door said we had to be out by 4:30 (p.m.)," Lathan Burge said Wednesday while he stood outside the Relax Inn. "That wasn't a lot of notice. I just put together what I could, put it all in my car and came here." Lathan-Burge said he felt "really bad for some of the people living in the apartment building who might not be physically able to move stuff." Courtney Jones, senior operations and partnerships manager for the city of Davenport's office of administration and finance, said, "Tenants will be allowed to retrieve belongings so long as admittance into the building is coordinated with the property owner." "This really just puts a lot of stress on everyone," Lathan-Burge said. "So when I got here, I was told I only had one day (at the Relax Inn). Then we had to work out how long I could stay. I'll be staying at the Relax Inn through Sunday. "After that, I'm not sure. I either have to move back in with my mom, or I have to find a shelter that will take me." Lathan-Burge paid $800 a month for his one-bedroom apartment at Schricker Apartments. "I paid my rent early, so now I'm really low on cash," he said. "Things are going to get hard for me and the other people who lived in that apartment. “I’m just not sure what I'll be able to do."

The Quad Cities Tenant Alliance, a part of nonprofit Quad Cities Interfaith, hosted a rally on Wednesday ahead of Wednesday evening's City Council meeting, calling on leaders to provide the tenants with security deposit and two months of rent by Monday to find somewhere else to live. "This is another example of landlords' complete abdication of responsibility for the health and safety of their tenants," said Beth Longlett, a member of QCTA and Zion Lutheran Church. "The tenants are forced to find new housing — in an already tight market — without the means to do so." "We've seen this over and over. Landlords rarely return security deposits in these situations. When tenants are displaced because of landlord neglect, the city should require landlords to pay tenants immediately. It should be a condition of having a rental license in Davenport," said Dennis Platt, a member of QCTA.

A last resort
One long-term resident of the Relax Inn described it as a "last resort" for people who cannot find permanent housing. That same resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said the hotel's owners "try to help people" and "there are good people living here." She also said some of the residents scare her. Lathan-Burge said he received a scare early Wednesday morning.

"I woke up to a man and woman screaming at each other," he said. "It was right outside the door. Then he started hitting her. "It was disturbing. “The Relax Inn has seen some violence and drug activity. Joseph Fitzgerald Dodd was arrested in October 2023 for a Sept. 17, 2023, shooting at the motel that left a man injured. Also in September, a man was arrested for allegedly peddling multiple drugs — including "crack" cocaine, heroin and meth — out of a room he rented. Local law enforcement agencies served eight search warrants on rooms in the Relax Inn in 2023. All of those search warrants were related to the people staying in the rooms, not the owners, managers or employees of the motel. The manager working Tuesday at the Relax Inn said the owners "work very hard to keep people safe." He added that the management "can't turn away people based on how they look" and it is "very hard to tell what people will do in their rooms." Multiple complaints about the hotel last year led to some inspections in 2023. The complaints ranged from trash left in rooms to dirty sheets to cockroaches. These inspections fall under the jurisdiction of the Scott County Health Department, according to the state department's website.

'A stopgap'
The county, through its general assistance fund, is paying for residents displaced from 401 W. 4th St. to stay at the Relax Inn until Monday. "We're a stopgap," said Lori Elam, the Scott County Community Services director. Elam said the city of Davenport reached out to the county and nonprofits for help with relocation assistance for tenants Every county has a general assistance fund, Elam said, which can be used for assistance with rent, utilities, transportation, and even cremation and burial services for people who need it. Elam said the hotel accepted payment from the county. Vendors must go through a process to determine eligibility. "This is an emergency situation," Elam said. "We were just trying to help folks get off the street quickly, and we were able to use general assistance to do that." Elam said she was not aware of recent inspections nor had heard concerns about the hotel.

COMMENTS AT THE DAVENPORT CITY COUNCIL OPEN FORUM:

It has been 304 days since the building at 324 Main Street in Davenport, Iowa, collapsed and nothing has been settled for those who died, were injured or lost their homes.

PACG and QCI member Loxi Hopkins said, “The city needs to show responsibility for those displaced and in need.”

Paul Vasquez, 3rd Ward Alderman, Davenport said, “The Council is more reactive than active. Resolutions approving City Home funding applications for Davenport Projects are given to out-of-state landlords. The city needs to adopt basic housing and rental housing inspections and enforcement.”

Dennis Platt, 6th Ward resident and a member of the QC Tenant Alliance, listed a number of properties where tenants have been evicted. The city should push landlords to take care of their properties in substandard status and allow housing choice vouchers to tenants who are displaced from those properties.

Susan Meenan, 7th Ward resident and a member of QCI, said, “Landlords should refund deposits and rents and provide moving costs.”

LaShanna Dixon, QC Tenants Alliance, said, “People deserve much better.” Her sister, LaCanna Dixon, said, “That she doesn’t see any compassion from the city when these buildings are condemned.”

According to one resident, he received ½ hour to vacate because Shive-Hattery, a Quad Cities Architecture and Engineering Firm, found structural issues that made the building unsafe. An eviction notice was never posted. The police knocked on doors to make sure that everyone was out.

Tenants’ immediate needs are laundry soap, toilet paper, bath towels, toilet plungers, and hygiene products. Check the QC Tenant Alliance or the Quad Cities Interfaith websites for updates on where to bring these important items! Once drop off information is available we will post it.

Ann McCluskey

QCTA success! - Of Interest to Our Members

12/27/2023

Quad Cities Interfaith Award justified!

PACG Board of Directors and Holiday Party Committee

As you may know, Quad Cities Interfaith (QCI) was a recipient of the Dick Fallow Fund for Social Justice at our PACG Holiday Party in December. This year, a $1,500 grant was awarded to Quad Cities Interfaith, a coalition of congregations and community groups that have come together to address issues such as civil rights, immigration, social justice and housing in the greater Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities. Of particular interest this year was QCI's partnership with the Quad Cities Housing Cluster to form the Quad Cities Tenant Alliance (QCTA). Since 2021, QCTA has been actively helping residents living in substandard housing to know their rights, advocate for them with landlords and local politicians and register them to vote.

Here is a recent update from QCI about QCTA: We got HUD!

88 supporters flooded the inboxes of H.U.D. representatives, and it worked: we got HUD! On Monday, November 27th, the regional Director for the Kansas City Hub Tanya Burgin, and the Iowa and Illinois Field Directors Steven Eggleston and Kimberly Dannae visited Davenport to meet with Quad Cities Interfaith. A technical issues with our email system prevented us from updating you sooner, but we are eager to celebrate with our base!

We set the agenda: safe, decent, and affordable housing for all Quad Citians. Leslie Kilgannon of the Housing Council and Dennis Platt of the Quad Cities Tenant Alliance presented research on the housing crisis and Ronda Wilson, a directly affected tenant, shared her story. Thank you to the countless community members who advised and contributed to this presentation--we could not have done it without you! Click here to view the slideshow.

This meeting marks the beginning of a fruitful partnership with HUD. Let's celebrate the WINS! Because of our community organizing,

1. HUD is beginning a compliance review of Davenport. We look forward to hearing the results of that review.
2. HUD has contacted the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) based on our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) findings
3. HUD has promised to educate our local elected officials on funding sources and creative solutions to promote safe decent and affordable housing. We are especially interested in the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, nonprofit receiverships, Community Land Trusts, and employer-assisted housing.

Please consider attending our next Quad Cities Tenant Alliance meeting: Tuesday December 19th at 6pm at St. Anthony's Grace Center 130 W 5th St., Davenport. Let's build a Quad Cities were we all can live. Visit qctenantalliance.org to learn more!

Take action for housing justice! - What You Can Do Now

11/2/2023

Your Efforts are Working. The Pressure is Building! Keep Emailing HUD!

Quad Cities Interfaith

It has been only 1 week since 150 supporters showed up to the Town Hall for Housing Justice, and we have already received word from Steven Eggleston and Kimberly Dannae, the Field Office Directors at HUD for Iowa and Illinois! The pressure on HUD to meet with us in the Quad Cities is building! Mr. Eggleston reports that they have received our "multiple email messages"--at least 58 emails to be exact! He promises to get back to the community in "a reasonable amount of time." This is major headway, but whenever means never until HUD sets a date and time for a meeting.

Keep emailing. We need every Quad Citian who cares about housing justice to continue building the pressure! Please send the link to your neighbors, friends, and family. Click this link to ENSURE HUD hears our message.

As we shared at the Town Hall, the QC faces a housing shortage--we need at least 6,645 units ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing for every neighbor. Testimonies from directly impacted people powerfully demonstrate how municipal divestment from housing has catastrophic consequences for us and our neighbors. As LaShanna Dixon said: "For my cousin Branden, the cost of renting in the Quad Cities was his life. I am here today because I don't think renting should be a death sentence." We cannot let another collapse like the one at 324 Main Street happen ever again. We will continue the struggle together: "Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a Human Right!"

That's why the Quad Cities community is calling HUD to come to town. We need HUD to audit local municipal compliance with HUD standards for inspections and ensure proper investment in safe, decent, and affordable housing. If you have not emailed already, please email HUD to demand a meeting. Click this link to ENSURE HUD hears our message.

You can also take Action for Housing Justice by:

1. Sharing the email link with friends, family, and neighbors to get HUD to the QC!

2. Organizing a tenant alliance at your apartment or volunteering with the Quad Cities Tenant Alliance. Contact [email protected] or visit qcinterfaith.org to learn more

3. Voting in your local election on November 7th. Find your polling place HERE

4. Attending your City Council meetings to push our local leaders to put housing justice on the agenda. Meetings are every Wednesday at 5:30 PM at Davenport City Hall.

PACG Webmaster