History
CCI was formed in 1975 by a group of ministers in Waterloo, Iowa who felt Iowa needed an organization to fight for social justice issues. CCI began by focusing mainly on neighborhood-level organizing, but soon grew into a state-wide organization. Early issues addressed by CCI members included misuse of public funds, slum landlords, and the practice of redlining. Notable victories from the 1970s included the establishment of the Peoples Community Health Clinic in Waterloo, passage of the state-wide Iowa Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and the state Neighborhood Revitalization Law.
As Iowans faced the Midwest farm crisis of the 1980s, CCI members added fights for justice in rural areas to their urban organizing. CCI members stopped farm foreclosures, renegotiated mortgages, and helped family farmers gain access to much-needed credit. In the 1990s, as agriculture began to be ever more tightly controlled by corporate interests with the appearance of factory farms and the mandatory pork checkoff, CCI members led their communities in fighting to save the rural way of life.
CCI made national news in August 2011 when members questioned Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a soapbox appearance at the Iowa State Fair, leading Romney to respond, "Corporations are people, my friend." The line was picked up by media outlets as an indication that Romney was out of touch with ordinary Americans.
Read more about this topic: Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement
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