ACORN disbands, Philadelphia branch changes name but not purpose

The national champion of low and moderate income people: ACORN will dissolve in two weeks.

The national champion of low and moderate income people: ACORN will dissolve in two weeks.

Federal funding to the troubled organization had been cut off after a secretly recorded video tape was made public. [audio:100322PCACORN.mp3]

The tape showed ACORN workers giving tax advice to covert activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute. Subsequently, Congress refused ACORN funding. Other foundations, likewise, refused. The New York Times reported ACORN was facing bankruptcy.

For the last few months, several regional branches of ACORN have been breaking away from the national organization. Here in Philadelphia, on the day ACORN dissolves – April 1 – a new organization called Pennsylvania Communities Organizing for Change will launch. The leader of the new organization will be D. William Brown.

Brown:
Due to ACORN’s large membership, and the fact that it was national, a lot of localized issues were not being addressed appropriately. There are groups in each state organizing its own localized organization. Hopefully we will be able to address local issues more effectively.

Brown says the new organization, PCOC, will fight for quality-of-life issues for low-income people, just like ACORN did.