The Future of Children: A Report on the State of Children in Poverty in Post-Katrina America

Here's an interesting report from "The Future of Children" on the state of child poverty in America after Hurricane Katrina.

More than 700 000 children are uninsured in America in 2006

Children's Defense Fund just reported this week that new census statistics show that more than 700 000 children have been uninsured in America in 2006.

Marian Wright Edelman of CDF states:

"It is a national disgrace that in just two years, the number of uninsured children has increased by a million in the richest nation on earth... This alarming jump demonstrates that our children need a strong national safety net so that every child has access to the health coverage needed to survive and thrive. It is shameful that despite overwhelming public support, the President appears to be doing everything in his power to prevent children from getting the critical health coverage they need. Congress has a moral obligation to stand up to the President and stand strong for children today to ensure a healthy America tomorrow."

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice

Check out this incredible group called Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. They have 6 centers in the South Bronx:

• The Center for Arts Activism
• The Center for Education for Liberation
• The Center for Wellness
• The Center for Youth and Community Organizing
• The Center for Community Justice
• The Center for Community Development and Planning

Read the letter from the Executive Director,

The fires that led to the devastation of the South Bronx in the late 60’s and early 70’s still rage in my mind. I witnessed them day after day as a little girl perched on the ledge of my ninth floor window in the Bronx River Public Housing Projects. I was too little to understand things like "Planned Shrinkage", "Urban Renewal", "Disinvestment" and "white flight" back then. All I knew is that they were frightening and tumultuous times for me and all of the children of the South Bronx.

No wonder so many of us ran away. Understanding only that our success in life would be measured by how far from the "ghetto" we could someday escape.

In this sea of uncertainty, hundreds of young people, like me, anchored ourselves to the love offered us at the Youth Group of Holy Cross church. There we were formed as leaders and guided in the Franciscan principals of simplicity and servant leadership. It was our sanctuary, a place of refuge during those difficult adolescent years.

Teetering on the edges of these two very different realities, I began to grapple with questions that I know many young people struggle with ... I asked, "Does the God I know in there see what is going on out here?" "Does the One I worship on Sunday, understand how ugly it can be on Monday?" "Does He care?" I prayed that I could find a place where my faith could do more than get me to heaven, when all hell seemed to be breaking loose around me.

I had to experience one final fire before my questions would be answered. In 1992 after Fr. Mike, then pastor of Holy Cross, led the parish in an Anti Drug Prayer march, drug dealers vandalized and torched the church in retaliation.

Led by Fr. Mike and the youth group, we refused to let evil and despair have the last word. We marched again and as I witnessed the sea of people on that day…children, mothers pushing baby strollers, elderly men and women, immigrant families…those that the world would consider powerless…I understood so very clearly what true power was! It was there, God said to me, in His children from the center to the margins coming together not just hoping for miracles or praying for change but making it manifest by the power of our will and the courage to stand up and do something!

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice was born on that day. Throughout the past 13 years, we have worked to create a space that forms young people to be prophetic voices for peace and justice and we have dared to believe 2 fundamental things: 1) We can rebuild our neighborhood 2) armed with faith and trained as community organizers, youth can lead that movement
And so they brilliantly have!!! Their accomplishments are numerous. They lead campaigns for environmental justice, community health, decent housing, police reform, education and immigration.

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice stands in solidarity with these young comrades. Our presence reminds them that they are not alone and that we are committed to nurturing their mental, physical and spiritual development even as they work on the development of their community.

I no longer despair or wonder if God CARES. I have seen God bend down to pick up garbage along the Bronx River…I have heard her testify at hearings against highways that bring trucks and soot and asthma in my neighborhood…I have heard him stand up against the police officer that would stop and frisk him simply because he is a brown child. I see God care in the young people and staff of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice every day.

The Salvation Army's Position Statement on Poverty and Economic Justice

Below you will find The Salvation Army's public "position statement" on the subject of poverty and economic justice. I sensed it important to post this as some of my previous posts have been focusing upon childhood poverty in the U.S.A.

This quest to understand poverty in America emerged after I was deeply disturbed with a report from UNICEF that was shared with me a by a friend, Dr. Lynell Johnson earlier this year (An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries). In the report, America was voted the second worst country in an assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents in economically advanced nations.

This reality has been haunting me for months. This is one of the major reasons why I am so glad that I do not only have the opportunity to respond as an individual, but that I am part of an organization that has chosen to make at the center of its' mission to be motivated by the love of God to care for the poor and the marginalized.

"What is a position statement?", you ask...

"Position Statements briefly set out the views of The Salvation Army on moral or social issues of current relevance. The statements articulate the gospel values and principles on which the Army takes its stand." (The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory's website)

Here is the statement:

Poverty & Economic Justice

The measure of any society is how well it cares for its weakest citizens. The persistence both of widespread poverty and indifference to that poverty is morally unacceptable. Jesus Christ motivates us to love our neighbor in practical ways. Our response to the poor is a measure of our obedience to and love for God.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ should free us from the enticements of consumerism and desire for individualistic gain. As Salvationists, we remain committed to The Salvation Army's historic mission to care for the poor and marginalized. Therefore, individually and corporately, we will work to eliminate poverty by:- Providing empowering practical assistance to poor people in our personal, family, and vocational lives, and in our congregational and organizational practices-through prayer, listening and dedication of our time and resources.- Making relational and financial choices that promote economic opportunity and justice for those in poverty.-

Evaluating public policies by how they respond to people who are poor.- Challenging racism and other attitudes that promote inequality and seeking reconciliation and harmony among all groups in our society.- Building community capacity, nurturing the bonds of family and community, and protecting the dignity of each person.- Partnering with other agencies in common commitment and action to overcome poverty in our own communities, our nation, and our world.

Frontline: Testing Our Schools

On the Move - by Bono

"The one thing, on which we can all agree, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor. God is in the slums and in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the debris of wasted opportunities and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. 6, 500 Africans are dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality."

Bono, On the Move.

The State of America's Children

Marian Wright Edelman has founded the Children's Defense Fund that advocates for children who are at-risk in America. This is their report on The State of America's Children the year 2005. It is a great resource for understanding what the critical needs are for youth in America.