Larry James' Urban Daily

Comin' out of the ground!

2012-05-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

CitySquare's new Opportunity Center, located at Malcolm X and I-30, comes out of the ground as workers push the project forward!

Set to open in June 2013, the new center will focus on health, nutrition, employment, adult education, community service and opportunity and friendship development!

Gandhi

2012-05-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Seven Deadly Social Sins

• Politics without principle

• Wealth without work

• Commerce without morality

• Pleasure without conscience

• Education without character

• Science without humanity

• Worship without sacrifice

Mahatma Gandhi

Facts about public education in Dallas County

2012-05-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Dallas County has roughly 2.5 million residents and over 800,000 students involved in early childhood, public K-12 and higher education.
They are educated by 1500+ early childhood providers, 15 ISDs, 80 different charter schools and numerous 2-year and 4-year all operating in an independent manner with insufficient sharing of data, best practices or coordination of strategic plans.
About 70% of students in Dallas Count public schools are eligible for free and reduced lunch.
Every year almost 5,000 students who started 9th grade at the same time in a Dallas County public school fail to graduate from high school.
The average college graduate earns roughly $1 million in their lifetime that a high school dropout.
The cost to the Dallas region for each 9th grade cohort's subsequent failure to send 100% of students to some type of post-secondary education is over $5 billion!
By 2040, if current educational attainment trends persist, Texans will experience the following: $15 billion delcine in state tax revenue; 15% increase in number of households living in poverty; increase of 100,000 in prison population and additional $1.5 billion per year in incarceration costs.

(Data drawn from materials published by Commit in Dallas, Texas)

Tickets going fast! Act today!

2012-05-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

CitySquare's 11th Annual A Night to Remember

See Lyle Lovett and His Large Band on Friday, September 7th at 8 PM at the Majestic Theatre. You'll have a great time as Lyle and the band entertain with classic hits, as well as new songs. Your ticket purchase helps CitySquare provide programs and services for our neighbors in need. For more information, please visit http://www.citysquare.org/.

Buy Tickets

Become a Sponsor

Who Will Cry For Me?

2012-05-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

(The poem below was written by Dishundra Thomas, one of the young people with whom we work after aging out of the foster care system in Texas. The average child has experienced 8 different foster care placements prior to arriving at our one-stop-shop on Live Oak here in Dallas. CitySquare works with youth in the 19-county, Child Protective Services NE Texas Region, over 800 young people annually. I think you'll find her words to be very moving.)

Who Will Cry For Me?

Who will cry for the battered little girl inside me?

Who will cry for the painful memories others can't see?

Who will cry for the girl that continued to yell,

The girl everyone thought was doing so well?

Who will wipe the tears that run down my face?

Who will take those memories that I can't erase?

Who will cry for the little girl with no love?

Who will cry for the girl delicate as a dove?

Who will cry for me when I can't cry for myself?

Who will I turn to when I have no one else?

Can anyone see the hurt in me?

Are lives that perfect people are too blind to see?

Who will cry for the little girl torn and abused?

Who will cry for the little girl neglected and misused?

Who will cry for the little girl afraid to give her heart?

Who will cry for that same girl when her heart is torn apart?

Who will cry for hte little girl that has lost everything?

Family, friends, and maybe even her dreams?

Who will cry for the little girl who is dying inside?

Who will cry for the little girl in which I hide?

Who will cry for hte little girl who missed out on childhood?

Who will cry for the little girl that's had no good?

Will anyone cry for me? Must I continue to cry for myself?

Who will cry for me when I have no one else?

Churches and poverty

2012-05-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

So, I "popped off" on Twitter the other day, making some statement like, "Churches could take a huge bite out of poverty, but most are too busy with religion to even notice the poor--most, thankfully not all."

Predictably, a number of my young, smart preacher buddies called me out on my statement, but very kindly. They all asked if we'd put together any materials on what churches could actually do to sit at the table where poverty might be consumed, never to rear its ugly, discouraging head again! I love these young guys! They give me hope for the future, even more for now!

So, what can churches do to enter the battle, the war on poverty? Here are a few beginning ideas/suggestions:

1. Appreciate the power of money. Years ago in a Pogo comic strip, Pogo related to another character, "The reason for poverty is clear: lack of monies." Laugh if you will, but it's true. And, what is true for individuals is true for organizations devoted to attacking the poverty that ravages so many of our neighbors. Every church should have line items in their annual operating budget reflecting support of efforts like CitySquare. I don't apologize for being a shameless beggar for the poor in Dallas. Groups that insist on volunteering (often on their own terms) rather than or before investing capital resources don't understand the enormity of the problem. Don't be afraid to give money to help stand poverty down!

2. Make overcoming poverty a central "value proposition" in your church's theology. Seriously explore the dynamics of poverty, including its affects, its causes, the systemic realities that entrench it in our society. Open the Bible and teach and preach about poverty. Ministers and teachers will find thousands of texts with which to work. Congregations that join the battle do so from a strong theological/biblical position. Work hard to have an educated congregation when it comes to poverty and what it does and doesn't do in the lives of your neighbors. Don't be afraid to apply what you learn in the real world of action, service and public policy.

3. Form lasting partnerships with organizations that exist to stand with "the poor." Going beyond the checkbook or the occasional volunteer opportunity will require that the church go deeper with one or, depending on the size of the congregation, just a few organizations. Research the organizations where you have an interest or questions. Get to know the leaders. Invite them into your church. Ask if you can tour and learn and relate on an on-going basis. Dont' be afraid to inquire about outcomes and measurements for success/progress. I promise you'll be received with open arms by any legitimate group. Fast, enduring partnerships between faith communities and anti-poverty non-profits can be game changers in poor neighborhoods or around a constellation of issues and problems.

4. Make sure that volunteer opportunities result in genuine benefit to the group with whom you want to work and, even more, to the neighbors who may be involved as the supposed recipients. I know a national non-profit leader who talks about "the wall to paint" in his shop. It seems that volunteers enjoy painting things. Even though nothing really needs painting, this leader has a long wall where he sends painting crews again and again to paint! He finds this easier than explaining there is no need for painting crews. A better approach is to simply deal with reality. If there are legitimate jobs for volunteers, then bring them on! If not, just say so. Even more important, community organizations have an obligation to protect poor neighbors from well-intentioned, but misguided outsiders.

Gerald Britt tells the story of a church who entered a neighborhood on a mission to work on houses that needed painting and repairs. The church volunteers worked hard all day, but noticed that none of the neighbors seemed very interested or impressed. All day long they worked. No one in the community pitched in to join in the work like usually happened on work days like this one. At the end of the day, one of the outsiders' leaders asked a neighbor why no on helped them out. The answer came as a big surprise. "Well, you see, this house you've worked on all day is a drug house. We've been trying to get rid of it for years. Ya'll came in without a word and started fixing it up. We would have told you, but no one asked. And we figured you knew what you were doing." Dignity, respect and community development must be seen as more important and a higher priority than making volunteers feel good.

5. Invest the time and energy necessary to create real, lasting friendships between and among everyone involved. Over the years I've come to believe that friendship changes everything. Friendship takes time. Its development can't be forced, rushed or orchestrated. Church folks and their inner city hosts, both organizations and neighbors, need to relax, forget any agenda and just get acquainted, have some fun and devote enough time for long conversations to result. Once folks become friends, the world changes.

The Corner

2012-05-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

As I've reported here before, I sit on the steps of an abandoned house at the corner of Malcolm X and Dawson every Thursday afternoon from 2-4. I arrive with an ice chest of cold, bottled water and absolutely no agenda, except the desire to listen to homeless people. I'm toying with several ideas regarding how to best use the time, including a video exercise that I call "Tell Dallas What You Really Think!"

But, I'm not there yet.

I need more listening time.

Last Thursday I met a man, I'll call him "Les," who really engaged me.

After he took a bottle of cold water, we sat on the steps and visited.

Billy, the owner of the filing station next door, had interrupted someone's question or he had stepped in front of another person to make a point or grab a bottle of water or take a seat ahead of someone else, the details elude me, but Les commented dryly with a big grin, half way under his breath, "Looks like white people could take a back seat at least sometime. Do you always have to be first?"

I regard his very fair question as having no answer save "guilty as charged."

We sat under the large, old, gnarly shade tree on those steps and talked for a long time.

"Who are you anyway?" Les finally asked.

"I work for the outfit that's building the center across the street," I told him.

"You mean, this is your job, just sitting here watching them work?" he asked, incredulous.

"Well, sort of," I replied.

"You should give me half what you are paid!" he jousted back at me.

"Really, what do you do at your work?" he pressed me.

"Well, I'm the leader, I guess you could say," I told him.

"Oh, so it's like 'undercover boss' that's going on here! Do they know you're out here watching 'em?" he asked.

"No, it's not like that. I'm not watching them. I'm watching you!" I explained.

"Why are you watching me?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"Well, we are building the new center and I don't like moving into a neighborhood where I don't have any friends. So, I'm here to make friends, to listen and to get to know you!" I tried to explain.

"So, we gonna hang out, you and me, is that what you are sayin, man?" he asked.

"That would be good in my opinion," I replied.

Less laughed and laughed. He seemed to understand.

We stood up and talked together for a long time, including others who passed by in our conversation. He told me that he could take me to "some places." I told him that I expected that he could do that. He reported that some I'd like and some I wouldn't. Again, I agreed.

As he walked away, I felt some sense of hope that comes from knowing there will be many more conversations with Les and others who'll come by "the corner."

I also felt gripped by the obvious fact that getting to know people like Les will be essential if our community is to do better by its poorest citizens. It's not that complicated. It feels like friendship could take us a long, long way toward the outcomes we all seem to desire.

I'm committed to listening for as long as it takes.

Donna Summer, RIP

2012-05-20T08:48:00.001-05:00

Bill of Rights for the homeless. . .

2012-05-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

My friend and CitySquare colleague, Will Goldman sent the following interesting report from the Huffington Post my way. Let me hear your reactions.
Rhode Island Considers 'Homeless Bill Of Rights' To End Discrimination
AP
By DAVID KLEPPER Posted: 05/14/2012 2:20 pm Updated: 05/14/2012 2:56 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Eddie Vega has been homeless for a year. He was waiting for a bus one day last week when a police officer rolled up to ask what he was doing and where he was headed. Vega said it's the kind of subtle harassment that happens all the time.

"I get the looks," said the 31-year-old Providence man, squinting because he recently lost his glasses in a fight that also left him with stitches on his forehead. "It's the same hassle everywhere. Happens every day. There's nothing you can do. You speak up and you get in trouble."

Vega had just finished a bologna sandwich at a weekly soup kitchen set up in the Rhode Island Statehouse, where lawmakers are now considering first-of-its kind legislation that would create a "Homeless Bill of Rights" intended to give people like Vega greater protection from discrimination.

The bill would specifically prohibit law enforcement, health care workers, potential landlords or employers from treating homeless people unfairly because of their housing status. The measure's sponsor, Sen. John Tassoni, said most Americans probably aren't aware of the daily discrimination faced by homeless people.

"Nobody decides one day they want to be homeless," said the Smithfield Democrat. "And nobody deserves to put up with the stuff these people have to deal with every day. It's time we did something to stop the appalling things that go on."

Read the entire report here.

Irreversible Progress

2012-05-15T14:29:00.001-05:00

"Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed."

- Psalm 10:12

“Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

- Cesar Chavez

[Found on SoJo.net from Sojourners magazine and community.]

Rocky Ground

2012-05-13T10:01:00.002-05:00

Rocky Ground

(I'm a soldier!)

(I'm a soldier!)

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
The stars have faded, the sky is still
The angels are shouting "Glory Hallelujah"

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Forty days and nights of rain have washed this land
Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand
Find your flock, get them to higher ground
Flood waters rising and and the kingdom's on fire

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

(I'm a soldier!)

Tend to your flock or they will stray
We'll be called for our service come Judgment Day
Before we cross that river wide
Blood on our hands will come back on us twice

(I'm a soldier!)

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
Stars have faded, the sky is still
Sun's in the heavens and a new day's rising

You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best
That your best is good enough, the Lord will do the rest
You raise your children and you teach them to walk straight and sure
You pray that hard times, hard times, come no more
You try to sleep, you toss and turn, the bottom's dropping out
Where you once had faith now there's only doubt
You pray for guidance, only silence now meets your prayers
The morning breaks, you awake but no one's there

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

There's a new day coming

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

(I'm a soldier!)

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Oh, a new day's coming

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

(I'm a soldier!)

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Oh, a new day's coming

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

(I'm a soldier!)

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

There's a new day coming

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Bruce Springsteen

Defined as a problem. . .

2012-05-11T16:44:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago my colleague, Gerald Britt made a statement that set me back. Actually, the impact of his words virtually knocked me down. I can't remember what we were discussing, but I do recall that we had been together at a conference where we both spoke about our work and about the challenges facing inner city communities in America.

At one point Gerald said, "Larry, its really hard when you realize that you are regarded as 'a problem' by lots of people. It affects your self-understanding."

Gerald spoke to the immediate and extended affect of racism and racist judgements on the lives of millions of our fellow Americans. To have one's life classified as basically "a problem" is a devastating reality that I would never have thought of had he not been so honest a friend.

It took me a full day to come back to him. I told him that while my opinion didn't really matter and that I had no claim to comment on his life or his experience, I did want him to know that at no time did I ever consider him to be "a problem." In saying that I realized it was hollow and insignificant when placed alongside the brutal, unrelenting reality he attempted to describe to me.

What a burden to carry and to unload.

On Thursday as I sat out on the steps at "the porch" talking to homeless persons who strolled by, I met a very quiet, reserved and observant gentleman. He passed by several times, finally stopping to pick up a bottle of ice water that I had available.

As he drank his water, he finally spoke, asking me what I was up to. I told him about the project we were building across the street and of my desire to simply listen to people. I explained that we didn't want to "invade" the community and make stupid mistakes. We wanted to hear folks regarding the neighborhood, our project and what the people who lived nearby hoped to see developed.

As we talked, he said something that pulled me back to Gerald's comments.

"You know," he began quietly, "people think its dangerous here, that we're dangerous. But, we're not. We're just like everyone else, just working through issues, just trying to get on with life. We're not dangerous."

What if your life was regarded by most people as a dangerous life, a person to be avoided?

Something to think about as we continue to dismantle stereotypes that plague our perspectives and continue to injure others.

Lyle Lovett for CitySquare! Tickets go on sale May 11!

2012-05-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Get tickets here, NOW!!!

CitySquare Outreach team

2012-05-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Dallas Morning News published the following report that includes information about the work of the CitySquare Homeless Outreach Team. Tough work. Important results. Street savvy workers. I'm very proud of them.

Dallas' hard-to-reach homeless often victims, advocates say

They live in fields and under highways. They may show up at a shelter or soup kitchen for a hot meal.

But offer them a way off the streets, and many of these men and women prefer the independence of homelessness.

These people, experts say, are the hardest to reach and need the most help. Almost all of them suffer from severe medical or mental problems, or both. They’re often addicted to drugs and alcohol. . . .

Hard to reach

On most days, homeless outreach teams search the streets of Dallas for “roaming clients.”
Last week, volunteers from CitySquare, a poverty-fighting agency, looked for Robert Henderson, 52, a homeless man who needs his seizure medicine. They also wanted to catch up with Teddy Dean Wise at The Bridge.

CitySquare caseworkers brought him there several months ago, along with his wife, Olga Ausburne. The couple had been living in a field near Interstate 30 and Winslow Avenue, near Samuell Grand Park. Wise and Ausburne both have drug and alcohol problems. But they represent two sides in the spectrum of acceptance of help.

Read entire report here.

Housing that aims to be permanent

2012-05-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

Not everyone understands the intent of "permanent supportive housing" (PSH). That's understandable since most housing intervention strategies for homeless persons involve some sort of "transition" plan that includes teaching people how to be housed again, requiring that they maintain absolute sobriety in order to remain housed and/or setting a time limit on just how long they may remain in the program before moving on to housing on their own. The intent with transitional housing is to prepare and qualify people for permanent housing.

In PSH programs the pressure and fear of an approaching, somewhat arbitrary deadline is removed so that the tenant relaxes into an opportunity that removes this pressure. Once housed, a tenant in a PSH program is free to go to work on improving her life. In the most successful PSH projects, requirements for entry into housing remain minimal. In many cases, depending on the funding sources, requirements boil down to simply being a good neighbor and keeping one's problems and potentially disruptive issues inside one's apartment, rather than bringing such problems into the common areas of the larger community, you know, just like how you live at your place!

Of course, one of the key ingredients in successful PSH programs is the presence of consistent support services that are continually available to residents. The best supportive housing efforts involve offering residents lots of options designed to help residents realize the goals that they set for themselves. PSH surrounds tenants with positive, health-giving options that they are free to choose or reject.

In those PSH programs that also employ "housing first" methods, tenants are welcomed into housing from the beginning. Once housed, persons find themselves in a setting where they can go to work on life problems and negative issues. But, housing is removed as a concern. In the freedom of being housed, most persons experience recovery and stability more quickly and with more sustainability than in more traditional housing programs.

Housing first approaches also employ supportive services to be freely chosen or rejected by tenants. Housing providers across the nation are discovering that when formerly homeless persons are given freedom to choose their own way toward better lives, the outcomes/results are better and longer lasting. Giving tenants choices and options in the vast majority of cases leads to better, stronger communities and more effective personal results.

Permanent supportive housing offers homeless persons and their communities the best options for success in ending homelessness in our nation and its urban centers.

For more information take a look at the Corporation for Supportive Housing at www.csh.org and watch the video below:

Good News!

2012-05-07T12:23:00.002-05:00

Brand New

The Gospel is handed down from generation to generation but it must reach each one of us brand new, or not at all. If it is merely "tradition" and not news, it has not been preached or not heard--it is not Gospel.... If there is no risk in revelation, if there is no fear in it, if there is no challenge in it, if it is not a word which creates whole new worlds, and new beings, if it does not call into existence a new creature, our new self, then religion is dead and God is dead.

-Thomas Merton

Party!

2012-05-05T18:13:00.003-05:00

Party with "the poor." They'll make you rich!

See Luke 12:12-14!

The "Corner"

2012-05-04T14:32:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Billy Merendino, owner of the old Mobil service station located at the corner of Louise Avenue and Malcolm X, I am able to sit on the steps of a house he owns right at the corner of Malcolm X and Dawson Street. I always bring bottled water iced down for those who stop to chat or sit.

My seat positions me right in the middle of a human thoroughfare from the Austin Street Center toward the Downtown business district and the web of underpasses that far too many of our neighbors without homes call "home."

Just yesterday I met some amazing people as I sat on "the porch."

Two men who expressed genuine interest in accessing the opportunities of the new Opportunity Center under construction across the street. One of the two visited with me for almost half an hour about his work history and his hopes for the future.
A woman who shared some of her writing about homelessness that she had published. She also offered to share her bag of chips and passed out chewing gum for my benefit.
"Buck," a new friend and a regular guest at the porch, still checked me out just waiting to see what I'm "really up to" coming out every week at the same time. I call him the "Sage" of Malcolm X because of his wise words.
The same man who cursed me out the week before came by again carrying a gigantic plastic bag of cans on his way to the recycle shop to cash out for the day. This time I had the good sense to let him pass without a word. The week before he had made it very clear that he didn't want my water, my charity, my camera or my words. He didn't even want a friend's bus pass. "All I want is some money," he screamed from across the street at the top of his lungs.
Billie, a woman suffering from schizophrenia finally worked up the courage to approach for a bottle of water and to panhandle for pocket change to buy a snack in Billy's station. I watched as another woman called out to her and joined her down the street to make sure she was okay.
Numerous people who just stopped to pick up a drink, express their thanks, usually with a "God bless you!" added as they walked on.
A frustrated gentleman who the week before told me about frustrations he had with staff in a shelter facility. Yesterday, he told me that he was glad to see me because he "just needed to talk to someone" as he dumped his trouble on someone who would listen. Before we were done he had shared the story of his 20 years of selling narcotics, and how the presence of small children during his last deal drove him out of the business and back to his family.
Two young people who had followed the developments on the corner via this page or on Twitter showed up as well. One a medical student doing a 3-year internship at Parkland, the other an accountant who had worked at The Bridge, Dallas' homeless assistance center. It was good to have them, and more than one person stopped to meet them and to express thanks that they had come.

This is a corner in the inner city.

But it is a very special place.

What's a Church to Do?

2012-05-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

What’s a church to do?

Declining memberships. . .

Aging members who’ve never questioned the church as system/institution. . .

Stories like this cover of Newsweek two weeks ago. . .

What’s a church to do?

Maybe what we need is a movement, a movement back to our roots, back to the foundational “value propositions” of our faith. . .ancient, but powerful; Hebrew and Christian. . .

A movement grounded in scripture, tradition, reason and experience. . .

A movement that could be catalytic, that could spark a real life change for the poorest, the weakest and the most vulnerable among us. . .

A movement that could, that can happen right here. . .

And a movement that is so full of truth and power and hard work that once begun with hearts engaged and heads down in the grit of the work, a church might just look up and find its sanctuary full again without any focus on that sort of thing at all!

If. . .if, the church will surrender itself to the mission Jesus pursued.

Surprised?

2012-05-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Study: Less Religious Are More Motivated By Compassion Than Highly Religious

May 1, 2012

by Eyder Peralta

Are religious people more moved by compassion than those who described themselves as less religious or non-religious?

A group of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley set out to answer that question and what they found would surprise some: In three experiments, the social scientists found that the less religious were more generous when presented with situations that stimulated their compassion, which the scientists defined as "an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at a personal risk or cost."

Read the entire report here.

The facts about government assistance efforts

2012-05-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

The newsletter to the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church USA published the following very useful and clarifying report concerning the public assistance programs of the federal government. Whatever your point of view about the efforts of our government to assist the poor among us, the facts of this report are important to understand.

Myths and Facts

Poverty and the federal budget

By Amelia Kegan

Renee Hummel, a mother in Staunton, Va., remembers a time when her family was struggling to make ends meet.

“We saved by buying food on clearance that had passed the expiration date,” she says. “I cooked from scratch and never ate out; it took a lot of time, but it sure saved a lot of money. When you’re poor you have to do things to stretch the food. … I watered down my daughter’s apple juice. I watered down her formula, but stopped doing that when she became anemic. That time I got really scared.”

Most of the items in a household budget—rent, utilities, transportation, child care—are fixed expenses. When the car breaks down, a child gets sick, the furnace goes on the fritz or a parent is laid off from work, a struggling family may fall into poverty. When money starts to run out, food—one of the few flexible items in the budget—often must be cut back.

Certain federal programs are designed to help low-income families cover those unexpected costs without going hungry. Those programs include the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as the food stamp program), school lunch and breakfast programs, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), housing subsidies and job training.

Most Christians agree that helping poor and hungry people is an important part of Christian discipleship. But not all agree on what the government’s role should be in this effort. Research by Bread for the World, a Washington, D.C.–based Christian advocacy organization dedicated to ending hunger, suggests that government programs play an essential role in helping low-income families.

MYTH: Federal anti-poverty programs are wasteful and ineffective.

FACT: The programs have a strong track record of efficiently targeting assistance to those who are eligible. For example, while poverty has reached record highs over the past three years, the percentage of households that the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers food insecure (struggling to put food on the table) has not gone up, because programs like SNAP and the school lunch program have responded to the rise in need. Nearly 46 million Americans now use SNAP benefits to buy groceries. Half of all SNAP participants are children.

The WIC program currently serves about 9 million people. Women who participate in WIC have fewer premature births, fewer low-birth-weight babies and fewer fetal and infant deaths. Moreover, 4- and 5-year-olds whose mothers participated in WIC during pregnancy have better vocabularies than eligible children whose mothers did not receive WIC.

MYTH: If government programs are cut, churches and private charities can provide the necessary safety net for low-income people.

FACT: The difficult economy challenges churches, soup kitchens and food pantries to step up their efforts, but it simply isn’t possible for these organizations to meet all the needs. For example, if you add up all the food provided by all the charities in the country, the total is only 6 percent of the amount of food that poor people receive from federal food programs.

To read the entire report click here.

Robert, a new friend who knows homelessness. . .

2012-04-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

On a weekly basis we're sitting out on the steps of an adbandoned house at Dawson and Malcolm X talking to increasing numbers of really interesting people, people with dreams/aspirations, but no place to call "home." Meet Robert, one of my newest friends!

Worship that moves God

2012-04-29T05:44:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 58:1-12

Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.

A family no longer homeless. . .and much more!

2012-04-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Marquita's story moved me. Watching this bright, young mother and her little girl do well in their new home provided by CitySquare and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation has been and continues to be a pure delight!

ESA--check it out!

2012-04-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Evangelicals for Social Action provide great resources and a wonderfully informed network of folks who practice faith-based, community development and justice work

Check them out!

After you do, I'd love to hear reactions.