Billy Graham s 1977 Cincinnati Crusade. Courtesy of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Billy Graham s 1977 Cincinnati Crusade. Courtesy of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

History Citizens for Community Values (CCV) was founded in 1983. However, a trip to CCV s origins requires going back an additional six years, to Billy Graham s Crusade in 1977 in Cincinnati. Following that Crusade, a group of pastors of various denominational backgrounds experienced a common burden to pray for the families of greater Cincinnati, particularly with respect to the devastating effect that pornography and other elements of our highly sexualized culture were having on those families. Courtesy of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Those prayer warriors grew in number, as additional pastors and laypersons alike joined their ranks. And their prayers led to action. It became clear to these concerned men and women that the calling to be salt and light in their community required working together to restore Judeo-Christian values to their culture and to reduce destructive behaviors, such as pornography distribution and consumption, that were so contrary to those values. History The more involved those pastors and laypersons became in the task, the more they realized how hostile our society had become to the very values upon which it was founded. In 1983, it became apparent that success in this cultural warfare would require a team of specialists who could educate and equip grassroots volunteers for effective battle. Commitments were made to support a 501 (C)(3) organization for that purpose. And so Citizens for Community Values was birthed. CCV = Citizens for Community Values

Mission Statement To promote Judeo-Christian moral values and to reduce destructive behaviors contrary to those values through education, active community partnering and empowering individuals at the local, state and national levels. Education, Partnering and Empowering Those are the operative words in our mission statement. And that s what CCV does! Those Judeo-Christian moral values form the foundation upon which this great nation was built. In so many ways today, those values are being attacked, that foundation shattered. And too often, those who cherish those values and that rich heritage sit by silently, feeling alone and helpless. CCV equips concerned, values-driven citizens with the tools they need to effectively exercise their First Amendment, free-speech rights to reverse this destructive trend and to fortify that foundation. Although CCV s staff stands ready to assist communities in any area where Judeo-Christian family values are challenged, there are four specialized areas in which CCV has established nationally recognized expertise. Four Primary Issues Chief among those destructive behaviors mentioned in our mission statement are the distribution and consumption of PORNOGRAPHY. It was the devastating toll that pornography consumption was taking on families that gave birth to CCV. And the organization remains dedicated to exposing and eliminating all distribution channels.

Equally detrimental to men, women, children and families and even more detrimental to communities are SEXUALLY-ORIENTED BUSINESS- ES, including strip clubs (alias adult cabarets or gentlemen s clubs ), adult bookstores, video stores, bathhouses, and message parlors. Through activities ranging from holding Town Hall meetings for the purpose of organizing public outcry, to assisting local officials in understanding the specialized body of law surrounding the zoning, regulating and licensing of sexually oriented businesses, CCV continues to partner with communities throughout the state to curb the harmful influence of sex businesses. The most vulnerable targets of the programmed breakdown of Judeo-Christian moral ethics are our children. All PROGRAMS HARMFUL TO CHILDREN are a primary concern of CCV. Access to age-inappropriate materials in public libraries; indecent outdoor advertising; indecent broadcasting on radio, network TV and cable; school curricula and policies that promote and encourage sexual behaviors that are physically, emotionally or spiritually unhealthy these are but a few of the many fronts on which our children are being attacked, and on which CCV is fighting in their defense. The basic building block of our society is the family a father, mother, and their natural or adopted children. And at the heart of a healthy family is a healthy marriage, the lifelong, monogamous relationship between one man and one woman. CCV works fervently to support programs that uphold MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, and to defeat programs that undermine or distort their true nature and their importance to the continued prosperity of our nation.

From Volunteer to President In the early days of the organization, CCV relied heavily on volunteers - not just for grassroots activism, but even for routine office work. One of the earliest volunteers, willing to help in any capacity, was a young independent businessman, Phil Burress. Phil Burress, CCV President Phil s zeal for the mission of CCV stemmed from his personal experience and gratitude. Just a few years earlier, Phil committed his life to Christ, and in doing so turned away from a 25-year addiction to pornography. Phil knew firsthand what a devastating affect pornography could have on an individual and his family. And he was determined to do whatever he could to prevent others from experiencing such devastation. Burress background seemed to uniquely qualify him for pro-family activism. During his years as a union chairman, he had developed strong team-building and negotiating skills. As an independent businessman, he had learned to stretch his resources. From willing volunteer he progressed to a member of the Board of Directors, and then through several staff positions. In 1991, he became president of CCV, the position which he still holds. Today, Phil is recognized nationally as one of the most effective leaders in the pro-family movement. Much in demand as a seminar facilitator and speaker, Phil travels extensively to share his expertise with communities across the nation, especially in the area of curbing the harmful effects of sexually oriented businesses. CCV s President successful campaigns have distinguished Phil as a national spokesperson for the family, and he has appeared on numerous talk shows, including World News Tonight, Larry King Live, MSNBC, Good Morning America, CNBC, and Fox News.

At the Local Level The seed from which CCV was birthed was a concern for the harmful effect that pornography, sexually oriented businesses and other elements of the culture were having on the families of greater Cincinnati. Therefore it s roots, deeply implanted, are in that metropolitan area. Headquartered in Sharonville, just north of Cincinnati city limits, the organization s efforts during the early years focused almost entirely on Cincinnati and the surrounding 17 counties. Local After years of persistently trying to compel Cincinnati s City Council to Those early years were devoted primarily to educating residents about the harms of pornography and to raising awareness of the numerous channels through which obscene materials were being distributed in the greater Cincinnati area. enact ordinances to regulate sex businesses, in the mid-90 s CCV was successful in working with sympathetic council members to establish very effective, Constitutionally sound ordinances to zone, license, and regulate such businesses. The citizen actions and legal steps that CCV organized in that campaign, as well as the resulting ordinances, have served as a model for numerous cities across the nation. Today, the greater Cincinnati area has fewer sexually oriented businesses than any of the other 38 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. The city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, in which it is located, have no adult theatres, no peep booths, no strip clubs, no bathhouses, and none of the illegal massage parlors that front for prostitution in so many other cities. Further, no outdoor advertising companies allow sexually explicit billboards or billboards advertising sex businesses, and 95 percent of the 2800 stores that sell magazines do not sell even soft-core pornographic magazines.

The State Level As Cincinnati s reputation for protecting family values grew, CCV s circle of influence grew accordingly. Throughout Ohio, communities large and small increasingly sought CCV s assistance in curbing the toll that sexually oriented businesses, pornography, and indecent advertising were taking on their families. In the early years, CCV s staff traveled frequently to Columbus to maintain working relationships with pro-family legislators in the statehouse. They encouraged citizens to know where candidates stood on the important family values issues, helping them in that process with voter information guides and registration drives. In 2002, CCV opened a permanent office in Columbus. Two full-time staff persons, both registered with the Ohio Legislature as lobbyists, closely follow all familyvalues legislation. From that office, also, CCV has been able to organize a grassroots effort to stop the negative influence that numerous strip clubs, pornographic bookstores, and even bathhouses have had for years on the families, and particularly on the students, of the Columbus area. State From the early days on, CCV also has maintained a close, mutually beneficial relationship with the largest national pro-family organizations, Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. In 2001, Focus on the Family designated CCV their Family Policy Council in the state of Ohio. Since that time, both allied organizations have referred their Ohio constituents to CCV for statewide public policy matters.

Impact at the National Level Partnering with other pro-family ministries at all levels has been critical to CCV s effectiveness. Utilizing the team-building skills developed in his union days, in 1996 Burress organized two National Pro-family Forums. Quarterly, these Forums, which Burress still coordinates, bring together leaders from 25 of the most influential organizations across the nation. It was in 1996, also, that Burress called together pro-family leaders to a meeting at which the blueprint for the federal and state Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMAs) was developed. President Clinton signed the federal DOMA into law in 1996. Ohio s DOMA, which CCV authored, was signed into law in February of 2004. National Burress also is a founding member of another national coalition, the Arlington Group, which coordinates strategies specifically relating to the protection of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. When the sanctity of marriage was threatened by the legalization of same-sex marriage by four justices in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004, Burress, along with CCV s Board of Directors and staff, felt that they were being led to initiate and lead a campaign to take the truth of marriage out of the reach of Ohio s court system by embedding it in the state s constitution. Against what many experts considered impossible odds, in just 168 days CCV managed a successful elector petition effort collecting over 550,000 signatures and a campaign to get out the vote. Ohio s Issue 1, the Marriage Protection Amendment, passed by a 62-38 margin. Many in media and political circles credited the voter turnout for Issue 1 with President Bush s victory in Ohio and his eventual reelection to a second term.

Youth: Programs Youth That Protect and Connect B y far the most vulnerable and targeted of victims in the cultural warfare are our youth. CCV constantly seeks ways to protect young people both from the harmful influences of a highly sexualized culture and from the multi-faceted agenda of activists who seek to normalize samesex behavior and to undermine marriage and the family. But protecting goes only so far. CCV seeks to connect with young people - to help them in their own search for truth and to provide programs through which they can use their own innovative and energetic spirit to create a more stable, promising future. Examples of CCV s youth-oriented programs include: Exposed - In Pursuit of Truth, a combination concert and multi-media presentation that exposed the deceptive message of the mass media and pornography industries. Internet Safety: Protecting Our Children Online, a DVD produced and directed by CCV to educate parents on the dangers of the Internet and to equip them with both common-sense and technical tools that they can use to protect their children from those dangers. In 2002, CCV s vice-president David Miller authored a document entitled The Legal Liability Associated with Homosexuality Education in Public Schools, to help parents, educators and administrators identify and prevent school policies and programs that encourage students K-12 to accept as normal and healthy behaviors and lifestyles that have serious physical and emotional consequences, and even to experiment with such behaviors. For Such a Time as Now! CCV cooperated with InWord Resources in the development of a teen study on faith, government and leadership. Appropriate for small or large group settings, For Such a Time as Now is a six-session study that uses Biblical character studies to challenge teens to shape rather than be shaped by the world around them. Equips students to engage the culture from a Christ-honoring worldview.

F requently, CCV s campaigns to protect families at the local level expand to take on a statewide and/or national significance. One exciting example is CCV s efforts to prevent the distribution of hardcore pornographic movies through lodging facilities. Many of the nation s hotels, including national chains, offer the worst of the worst in pornographic movies through their in-room pay-per-view service. Working with conscientious county prosecutors, CCV has been successful in convincing many hotels in the greater Cincinnati area to cease offering adult pay-per-view movies. But cleaning up greater Cincinnati s hotels though a significant accomplishment was hardly a scratch on the surface of this $150 million annual business. Across the nation men were being tempted, in the privacy of their hotel rooms, to view addictive, hardcore pornographic movies that could not even be sold in their local video stores. Families, marriages and careers were being destroyed through resulting addictions. And families as well as women traveling alone were being exposed to an unhealthy, dangerous environment. CCV had a vision: A Web site which families could access to find lodging facilities that did not offer adult pay-per-view movies. As originally envisioned, that site would have been simply a national database of clean hotels - clean, that is, of harmful pornographic movies. When CCV shared their vision with the principals of Myers Hotels in Branson, Missouri, that vision expanded. Christian friends who shared CCV s concern about the distribution of pornographic movies through hotels, and who had first-hand knowledge the lodging industry, the Myers became CCV s technology partners in developing a site through which families could actually book their clean hotels while online. Cleanhotels In the spring of 2005 CleanHotels.com became a reality. Now families across the nation can find lodging for business or leisure travel with the assurance that they will not be subjected to the numerous dangers associated with hardcore, frequently obscene, in-room pay-per-view movies. Protect your loved ones. Visit www.cleanhotels.com to plan your next trip.

Voter Information F rom the beginning, a fundamental component of CCV s strategy and message has been the ballot box. Having in office elected officials who share our Judeo-Christian family values, and who will enact and enforce laws to protect those values, is critical to CCV s mission. From the beginning, therefore, CCV HAS worked with churches, civic organizations and individuals to encourage voter registration and participation in the electoral process. The organization also has always worked to provide citizens the information they needed to make intelligent choices between candidates and to understand ballot issues. For years, though, CCV staff deemed their own efforts in this critical area of service inadequate. Printed voter information guides compared only candidates for state and federal positions. Further, no guides were produced for Primary or off-year elections. UNTIL 2005. In that year, CCV s Board and staff established as their top priority developing a state-of-the-art, online Voter Information Guide that would cover every candidate on every ballot throughout Ohio - in every election cycle. The result of that commitment is OhioElectionCentral.com. Questions covering all the values issues are sent to every candidate throughout Ohio, and their answers are posted on the site. In the site s launch election, questionnaires were mailed to over 13,000 candidates! By simply inputting his zip code, a voter now can compare the answers of every candidate who will appear on his specific ballot, including judgeship candidates. CCV s Vice President of Public Policy, David Miller, emphasizes that OhioElectionCentral.com is an ongoing project. Informed voting is the most important responsibility that we have in this republic. And we re committed to equipping voters with the information they need to fulfill that responsibility - and to preserve our Judeo-Christian heritage. OhioElectionCentral 2006 www.ohioelectioncentral.com

Citizens For Community Values ACTION S ince 1983, the year of its founding, CCV has mobilized and equipped citizens to take the actions necessary to protect their families and their communities from forces that threatened their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Working with elected officials at the local, state and federal levels, the organization has strived to influence legislation that was consistent with family values. But Citizens for Community Values could only go so far. Because CCV is a 501 (C)(3), non-profit organization to which gifts are taxdeductible, the IRS severely limits the organization s involvement in the political process. There are specific limitations on the extent to which an organization can address family-friendly legislation, and even on how often an organization can encourage citizens to contact their elected officials regarding such legislation. In recent years, as even our most fundamental values and freedoms have come under attack, those limitations have become increasingly frustrating. Thus, in 2006, a new organization was birthed Citizens for Community Values ACTION. Established to serve as the legislative and political arm of CCV, CCV Action was incorporated as a 501(C)(4) organization. Unlike CCV, contributions to CCV Action are not tax-deductible. Therefore CCVA has the freedom......to keep concerned citizens informed and involved in critical legislative issues....to speak frankly about which candidates best represent Judeo Christian family values.....to level the playing field! In each election cycle, the action arms of organizations bent on destroying our nation s foundation of Judeo- Christian moral values organizations such as the ACLU, the Human Rights Commission, and Move-on.org pour resources into Ohio and surrounding states. Now CCV Action can counter their deceptive claims. For information on how you can you can partner with CCV or CCV Action, visit the Web sites, www.ccv.org or www.ccvaction.org, or call 513-733-5775.

11175 Reading Road - Suite 103 Cincinnati, OH 45241 info@ccv.org (513) 733-5775