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With the birth of National People's Action in the early seventies, my mission was to constantly travel to Washington DC and testify about the destructive problems in our neighborhoods and the solutions that were necessary to fix our communities.

Each time I went, I slept on a friend's bottom bunk.

When I came back to Chicago, I worked for six months without any pay because I believed so much in what we were fighting for.

NPA had little money and no recognition. The only thing we did have was a group of people from across the country that all had the same mission - to bring back the power to our neighborhoods. Now 30 years later, NPA has not only stuck around but has grown into a dynamic coalition of groups and campaigns with the same mission from when we started.

NPA has expanded into a full-fledged force that rocks Washington each time groups gather for our annual conference.

Do you know why?

Because while we have found innovative solutions to the problems plaguing our communities, we have never lost sight of the basic, grassroots, kick ass, powerful mentality that has kept us going for the past three decades.

Because we did whatever we had to do to get wins for our communities and we worked to keep them.

We've learned that if the issue is important enough, everyone must be prepared to follow through on the wins. That means making sure the necessary reforms are put into place and insuring that they work for our groups and our communities. And if we don't follow through, we can't blame the enemy.

This is especially important to teach the new leaders that join NPA each year. The new leaders at every conference reflect the growing diversity of leaders in our communities across the country. It is the combination of the young and the old, the new and the experienced that has turned NPA into a firestorm of people and organizations.

The campaigns this year are a combination of new and old as well. Continued reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act are necessary to fight against redlining and predatory lending in our communities. We need to fight to keep our past FHA wins to stop bad loans and the growing number of abandoned buildings in our communities.

NPA groups are working to make sure every student has an opportunity to learn, including school construction as a major priority and ensuring the high quality of teachers across the country. The fight against Citibank, the world's largest predatory lender, has gathered steam over the past year and we are ready to take it to a new level at the conference and beyond. This destructive process of bad loans is destroying our neighborhoods and it won't be tolerated any more.

30 years and dozens of issues. While each issue might evolve as time goes by and as new ones crop up as old ones disappear - NPA stays ready to fight and ready to win.