Advocacy for the Environment, Health Care, and Housing
Do you have an interest or passion for the environment, health care, or housing? Want to learn more about the issues facing Marylanders in these key areas? Join Lynn Mortoro, Susan Allen, and Phil Reynolds, St. Anne’s parishioners, who are on the Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network (MEPPN) team. They get involved in reviewing legislation at the state level, testifying, and helping to inform local parishes about the issues and state bills that MEPPN supports on behalf of the Diocese of Maryland.
Read more about environment, health care, and housing issues below.
Caring for God’s Creation, Phil Reynolds shares his story about caring for the environment and invites you to become an environmental angel.
A Passionate Advocate for Healthcare, Lynn Mortoro writes about her experience as a nurse and how she got involved with MEPPN to advocate for health care.
Susan Allen summarizes the housing issues discussed at MEPPN and invites you to learn more.
Housing
Marylanders in every region of our state are experiencing severe affordable housing shortages. This shortage affects renters and home buyers. Governor Moore has estimated we need 96,000 additional housing units. Here are four main points we covered in our MEPPN housing sessions.
1. Your local jurisdiction must develop a plan by January 2026 to address the housing shortages in your area. Several people in our session reported that their local communities already have a housing shortage plan and additional units are under construction. We can take action by finding out about our local housing shortage plan.
2. 2025 MD legislation cuts red tape to allow churches, synagogues, and other faith organizations to much more easily construct affordable housing on their property. Attendees reported that churches currently help house parishioners and supplement income through these affordable housing projects.
3. The Episcopal Housing Corporation (https://www.episcopalhousing.org) develops affordable housing and community facilities to help our neighbors live in safer and healthier neighborhoods.
4. The Episcopal Public Policy Network (eppn@episcopalchurch.org) sends out actions you can take to end homelessness and other problems facing our vulnerable neighbors.
If you have questions or comments, please reach out to Lynn Mortoro (health care), Susan Allen (housing), and Phil Reynolds (enviroment).
We invite you to sign up for advocacy updates at https://www.stannes-annapolis.org/advocacy to stay informed about the issues and actions that MEPPN is supporting in these areas during the state legislative session.