The Rick Perry Jobs Program

Already taking root in Louisiana

Unger and community activists, union leaders, businesses and shipyard employees represent Save Our Shipyards (SOS), a campaign to keep the shipyard in the public eye. Billboards, flyers and posters hanging in nearby shops and restaurants read in large, bold letters, "Save Our Shipyards." "Today it's not a closed shipyard, but an open shipyard with people thinking about what comes next," Unger says.

This year the campaign that started in July 2010 turned to another community to keep the conversation going and raise Avondale's profile through word of mouth. More than 100 congregations ranging from Avondale and New Orleans to other parts of the state and representing all faiths will participate in a Pray for Avondale weekend Sept. 9-11. "We're treating [the congregations] as a member of the community," Unger says. "Each of these congregations is doing something inside the congregation, which means that the number of people reached is magnified tenfold, a hundredfold."

An SOS pledge letter addressed to congregations (and signed by several pastors, church presidents, interfaith organizations and an imam) reads, "The faith traditions that inform our deepest commitments remind us that we have a moral obligation to stand together with our brothers and sisters who work at Avondale in faith and solidarity. We invite you and your congregation to join the growing community working to save Avondale Shipyard."