Keeping the Poor with Us

ALL Diocesan Committees and Groups; Include at ALL meetings; For 3 consecutive months; “How will what we are doing here affect

or involve people living in poverty?”

Fulfill Resolution 2013-1.

Experience & better understand poverty. Reflect on Baptismal Covenant & personal

call. Respond with action that supports the

rights of ALL of God’s children.

Purpose of Campaign

To seek and serve Christ in all people To strive for justice and and to respect

the dignity of all people.

Our Baptismal Covenant

A Human Rights Perspective

Background

The poor are often invisible & forgotten.

Poverty is overwhelming.

Preconceived notions blind us.

We need to tackle the underlying causes

Lessons Learned

What About Today? Most people below

poverty line since 1959

20% of children in US lack steady access to sufficient food.

Over 50 million Americans are food insecure.

Increase in extreme poverty Increase in people receiving only

food stamps Near poor rose to more than 103

million people

A Closer Look at the Rise in Poverty

Using Federal Standard: 11.4% under poverty line

Based on NJ Cost of Living: Roughly 25%: 1 in 4

Facts in New Jersey

• Roughly 400 food banks• Over 150 homeless shelters

• Reactive not proactive

Our Response in NJ

Decline in extreme poverty and hunger.

International commitment.

Global Poverty

Millennium Development Goals

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

UN General Assembly 1948

Make Poverty a Human Rights Issue

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Tutu

Empowerment Advocacy

Accountability

Promote Hope

“The arc of the moral universe is long…

…but it bends towards justice.”