|
Home > Mission
and Ministry > Ministries
Mission & Ministry
Poverty
Website:
37 million Americans live below the poverty line. (U.S. Census Bureau)
© 2008, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) “Ours is the first generation in the history of the world with the ability to eradicate extreme poverty. We have the means, the resources and the know-how. All we lack is will.”
Jeffrey Sachs, author of the book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time Facts• Nearly half of the world’s population lives on less the $2.50/day; with 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25/day
• One in every two children in the world lives in poverty; close to one in five American children live in poverty.
• In 2006, a child was born into poverty every 35 seconds in the United States.
• The overall poverty rate of the U.S. is 12.5%, in Erie County the rate is 14.5%
• In Erie County one of seven residents lives below the poverty threshold and in some regions the rate is as high as one in two or three.
• Twenty-five million people in our nation sought help from food banks in 2007 -- an increase of 18 percent.
Sources: US Census Bureau August 2008, World Bank Development Indicators 2008 In September 2000, 189 heads of state and government came together at the United Nations and firmly committed themselves to fight poverty, hunger and other pressing social issues. These commitments gave birth to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), each with measurable targets. The first goal aims to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and has as a target to reduce, by half, the number of people whose income is less than $1 a day by the year 2015.
Members of the U.S. Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph, in their efforts to become a more conscious, global community, made a commitment to integrate the MDGs wherever possible in their peace and justice ministries. (read more…..) click links to pdf file of poverty article….. Take ActionWrite a letter to your legislator - Bread for the World http://www.offeringofletters.org/ PrayerFor Those in Poverty
God of justice and compassion,
we ask forgiveness for the widening gulf between rich and poor,
for the use of money as a measure of all things,
for the culture of self-gratification,
for the continuing disparities between those that have so much
and those who have so little,
and for the suffering of those people who are excluded from the table of abundance.
Forgive us for our focus on material goods,
and our part in the worship of economic growth
in a world where resources are limited
and where we are already using more than our fair share.
Forgive us for going along with what is easy,
for failing to come to grips with the problems of change
and to engage in the complexity of social issues.
Fill us with a living faith that we may become lively seeds of your kingdom,
continually growing in your way of love,
instruments of personal and social reconciliation,
vehicles for a new dawn when those in poverty
are welcomed to the table where compassion and justice meet.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our Prayer
Based on a prayer by Alan Litherland ResourcesCatholic Campaign Against Global Poverty http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/globalpoverty/
Catholic Charities USA Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/Page.aspx?pid=897
Micro loans - KIVA - http://www.kiva.org/ Confront Global Poverty - Catholics Confront Global Poverty - http://donate.crs.org/site/PageNavigator/ccgp_signup Stand Up Against Poverty http://standagainstpoverty.org/
Contact
For more information, please contact us using the information below.
| 
RSS
BLOG
