About Us

Our Organizing Model

Mission

CCISCO is committed to building civic engagement and increasing public participation by those most affected by injustice and inequity in Contra Costa County. We are a multi-racial, multi-generational, interfaith federation of 25 congregations and youth organizations representing over 35,000 families across the county, most of whom are low and moderate income. CCISCO helps everyday people win extraordinary victories by providing a vehicle for them to speak, act and engage in public arenas. We believe in the power of relationships and that by acting together on our common values, we can imagine and create a new world.

Vision

CCISCO believes that all faith communities are called to seek justice and peace for all people. We seek to answer this call by empowering people to transform their communities. We are a unique community organization in the region that is successfully building bridges across boundaries of faith, race, geography, generation and economic class. We believe in building unity through diversity.

History

Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO) began in 1995 as a powerful alliance of religious congregations and institutions whose sole mission was to restore a sense of community health in low and moderate income areas across Contra Costa County. Through community organizing, we have trained thousands of community leaders to build relational power and strategies to resolve the issues that affect the quality of life in their communities. We are a proud member of the PICO National Network and PICO California. Over the past ten years, we estimate that 15,000 people from CCISCO member congregations have put their faith into meaningful action as they have successfully advocated for new public policies that have helped to leverage $450 million in increased resources for low- and moderate-income county residents. In 1997, CCISCO developed a vision for “Youth Friendly County” which envisioned quality public schools for all students, multi service youth centers and afterschool homework programs in every community. Our goal was to create a strong system of support for families during a significant increase in youth violence and homicide in Contra Costa County. Also of great concern, was the widening achievement gap between the poorest and most affluent communities in our county. To address these issues, CCISCO created a youth organizing program whose purpose was to develop youth leaders who would advocate for their needs and shape public policy and advocate for increased funding. Since 1999, CCISCO staff has trained over 40 youth organizers and has successfully pioneered efforts to incorporate youth organizing in a congregation-based community organization. Each year, we honor youth participants and their accomplishments at our annual CCISCO Youth Celebration. With over ten years of experience working to build a powerful county-wide organization, our leaders are keenly aware of the challenges they face. As one of the fastest growing and changing counties in the state of California, Contra Costa manifests great disparities in income, education, and opportunity. Yet it is often at best neglected, and more often invisible to the larger Bay Area. CCISCO is committed to making long-lasting change in our County to create a positive atmosphere which benefits everyone. We dedicated to making concrete change and to putting our faith into action.

Funders