Plenty

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"Woe to you legislators of infamous laws...who refuse justice to the unfortunate, who cheat the poor among my people of their rights, who make widows their prey and rob the orphan..." Isaiah 10:1-2 (Jerusalem Bible) 

UPCLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH LEGISLATION...AND LEGISLATORS 

Little did any of us anticipate that, stepping onto the same path one evening, we would travel together for the next six months. Kinda like getting stuck on an elevator together, but different because we each kept choosing to hang in there and go along for the ride. 

That may be a minority opinion about what happen on a blustery night last March when heretofore (mostly) strangers straggle into the social hall of Trinity Baptist Church in Columbus’ Eastside to begin a two day retreat. They came together to learn about urban poverty and discover within themselves and communities how best to overcome it. 

Supported by the national Episcopal Jubilee Ministry program and brought together by the Episcopal Community Services Foundation of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, Neighbor House, and Hunger Network, their demographics made them an unlikely group. 

While dominantly Episcopalian, they came from different parts of the city and suburbs with dissimilar lifestyles and backgrounds, unique ways of worshipping, and contrasting ideas about the meaning of faith. 

However, of those 48 persons bucking winter and cultural differences that day, nine would eventually find in each other a singular conviction--that reducing poverty means changing systems that create poor people. 

They decided in their second day together to try do something particular about the economic distress on families in the city, first by better understanding underlying cause and then exploring possible remedies. 

Considering various public policies intended to bring people out of poverty, they zeroed in on nearly nine year old federal legislation popularly known as welfare reform.

Temporary Assistance to Families in Need (TANF) had been signed into law during the Clinton administration as an answer to criticisms of government handouts without obligation. In contrast, TANF has since required recipients to get training, a job, and work toward becoming independent of public assistance. 

A worthy idea, but was it working? And since the bill was up for reauthorization, how could it be improved? 

Taking on the name of the retreat, the “Jubilee Justice” group spend the next three months reading everything available on the topic, gathering regularly to debate conclusions, and eventually shaping their recommendations. 

Then with well-earned expertise and consensus among themselves, they devoted the following three month to sharing their conclusions with legislators. They met as a group with their congressional representatives — first with Rep. Pat Tiberi, then Rep. Deborah Pryce, and finally with Senators Voinovich and DeWine’s regional staff — to exchange information and express their convictions. What difference did this make? With reauthorization still being hotly debated, it’s still too early to measure their impact on the views of their congressional representatives or the eventual reauthorization of TANF.

However, some change--at least within them (and, as one of them, I should say “us”)--are undeniable: 

So, to Mary Henton, Allen Huff, Rick McCrackin-Bennett, Sylvia Moore, Jeffrey Pryce, Helen Starghill, and Carolyn Vander Stouw, and Fred Taylor, I am grateful for the “ride.” I am convinced that the quality of the debate--along with our ability to do advocacy--was elevated to another level. 

Bob Erickson 

See "Next Steps: Advocacy Action Lab"

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Tidbits (about the extent of poverty) 

No Longer Poorest City...But

In contrast to previous ratings, recent Census data reveal that Cleveland is no longer the poorest city in America. Detroit has taken that distinction. However, this is little comfort to the 471,000 people (23.2% of the population) compared to a previous high of 478,000 or 31.3%) living in poverty. 

Raising Ohioans Above Poverty: Earned Income Tax Credits 

Since its inception in 1975, the Earned Income Tax Credit has become the single most important federal anti-poverty program. As with all tax credits, the EITC is used to reduce or eliminate a worker’s tax liability. 

In Ohio, approximately 97% of the total EITC dollars claimed are refunded, putting money directly into the pockets of working families and individuals. However, despite obvious benefits, only 80-86% of eligible taxpayers claim EITC, meaning that workers most in need are foregoing millions of dollars in tax credits they have already earned. 

Thousands of Ohioans could be helped by educating workers about EITC and availability of FREE tax preparation assistance through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), rather than pay high fees often charged by commercial preparers (over 730,000 low income Ohio workers paid out $83 million in these unnecessary fees and excess interest to this commercial tax preparers in 2003). 

For more information on EITC and services available to Ohioans, contact Shawn Tucker of the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, stucker@cdfohio.org. 

Living Wage Days 

Ohio is in the embarrassing position of being the only one of two states that has a minimum wage below the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. Our minimum wages for more than 92,000 workers is only $4.25 per hour. These individuals working full-time earn only $8840 annually which, even for a single person with no family is $1000 below the poverty level. 

This next year’s campaign to raise the minimum wage in Ohio is being launched over the Martin Luther King weekend as “Let Justice Roll: Living Wage Days". 

Congregations and community groups supporting this initiative may wish to focus their worship or sponsor an event during January 14-16. Sign up and obtain Resource Kits at www.letjusticeroll.org.  

Living Poor in Ohio 

The percentage of Ohioans with incomes at or below the federal poverty level has climbed 5 points in recent years as has enrollment in government-funded services for the poor such as Medicaid and food stamps is also up: 

 (Ohio Family Health Surveys; Ohio Department of Job and Family Services)

 1 in 6 kids is hungry or at risk of hunger: 

(“Hunger in Ohio: The State of the State 2005”: Children’s Hunger Alliance) 

Education Reform and Poverty 

Data from a recently released analysis of relationship of poverty to educational achievement reveal an “impoverished view of education reform”: 

The study argues that poverty places severe limits on what can be accomplished through school reform efforts, particularly those associated with the federal “No Child Left Behind” Law. 

The data suggests that the “most powerful policy for improving our nation's school achievement is reduction in family and youth poverty.” 

(TC Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education www.tcrecord.org)   

Katrina exposes US poverty 

Ordinarily the faces of America’s poor are as hidden as their stories. But Hurricane Katrina has spotlighted deep poverty that this country has failed to solve--world of people who live without social security numbers and without running water, people who are too poor to shop at Wal-Mart and whose children go hungry. Even as the economy strengthened in 2004, Census Bureau figures show 37 million Americans lived under the poverty line, a jump of 1.1 million from 2003...a steady increase since 2001. For years, advocacy groups have been shouting the frightening statistics: 45.8 million people don’t have health insurance; 25% of blacks live in poverty; 36 million Americans are hungry or at risk of hunger. But before Hurricane Katrina exposed raw poverty and its consequences, no one has wanted to hear this....

(Martha Mendoza, Associated Press, 9.25.05) 

Grim Forecast 

In a pre-Thanksgiving editorial in the Columbus Dispatch, Lisa Hamler Fuggitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks listed her fears about proposed Food Stamp cuts: 

She grieved that “it’s hard to downplay the impact of forcing low-income people to pay more out of their limited budgets for health care. Study after study shows that when health care becomes unaffordable for poor people, they do without it and their health worsens. One study showed that one-third of those who were subject to increased health costs reported that they had to cut back on food to pay for medical costs. The proposed underfunding of child-care assistance over the next five years means that 330,000 child care slots for low income working families would disappear. Many parents of these children will cut back on food and other essentials to pay for child care...or be forced to leave work altogether.   lisa-oashf@ameritech.net  

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The Role of Faith in "Ending Hunger Now" 

Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith. George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald E. Messer. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005. 

The following excerpts were lifted from a review by Jim Miner, Chairman of the Hunger Network, of this book: 

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Jim Miner takes on HNO Leadership 

At the Annual Meeting of the Hunger Network this spring, Rev Jim Miner was chosen to be Chairperson. Moving to Vice Chairperson, Rev. Lloyd O’Keefe was recognized for his insightful and steady leadership over the last several years. Judy Canan was selected Secretary and Fritz Rauschenberg re-confirmed as Treasurer. 

Jim is ordained Episcopal clergyperson who has served in church positions across the state of Ohio, including congregations in Sandusky, Youngstown, Medina, Columbus, Dayton, and Granville. He also served as executive assistant to the Bishop of Ohio in Cleveland. Jim’s work in congregations has involved him in refugee resettlement, hunger, unemployment, homeless, public education, ecumenical ministries and a number of positions of church leadership. He and his wife live in Columbus and have two grown children. Jim describes the way he spends his time since his recent retirement as “keeping appointments I made with myself years ago.” This includes spending time together with his family, reading and studying (theology, biblical studies, literature), canoeing and walking, carving and woodworking, and blessing this organization through his leadership.

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Opportunities to Contribute 

The Board’s newly adopted goals for 2006 call for recruiting of at least one designated person in each of the 99 Ohio House congressional districts around the state to serve as “contact,” “liaison,” “point person” for our efforts within that area. As hunger-related legislative issues arise involving public officials within particular districts, that “contact” would be asked to take on special responsibility for reinforcing our advocacy with their legislator, recruit and rally others as advocates, and disseminate information within those communities and congregations, etc. We also are trying to identify other persons to serve in various task forces including one to improve upon our ability to motivate advocates and another to enhance organizational develop. If you would consider one of these or other prospective roles (or know of someone who might), please inform us by phone, email, or indicating your interests on the return envelope. 

“Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in it, because He is out of place in it, His place is with those others for whom there is not room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who discredited, who are denied the status of persons...it is in these that He hides Himself, for whom there is no room.” 

Thomas Merton 

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Friend of the Hunger Network in Ohio: 

In this season of anticipation and hope—a time of celebration for all God’s children—many remain outside the inn, not welcome to the feast. These are the ones we are called—as was He—to embrace. These are the ones who, often beyond our circle of consciousness, we must not forget during this special moment...or ever. So, within our celebration this season of the assurances of home and sustenance, we also remember the tragic reality that many people “for whom there is no room.” 

A primary reason for homelessness, hunger, and poverty in Ohio is that many persons cannot find employment. Others are employed but do not make enough money to provide their basic needs. Children are especially at risk within precarious families. 

The Hunger Network in Ohio was created 27 years ago as an ecumenical commitment to be an extension of this One who, uninvited, came to be with those for whom there is no place. Through commitments of caring people of faith, this witness combines faith and action. Our mission is to end hunger in Ohio through changing the conditions which cause hunger—such as public policies which permit and perpetuate poverty. We do this by providing timely information and opportunities to become advocates of mercy and justice for everyone. 

We are sponsored by the Eastminster Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio; the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio; the Northeast Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Each of these judicatories provides funding. However, additional support is essential from individuals who receive our communications and share our passion for this ministry. 

Please consider making a contribution to the Hunger Network in Ohio so that our faithful work may continue to be a strong witness on behalf of Ohio’s hungry. 

Thank you and faithfully yours, 

(The Rev.) Jim Miner, Chairperson 

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Become Involved in this Ministry of “Doing Justice” 

Please consider these various ways of contributing to the work of the Hunger Network in Ohio. You may call or email your response. 

(1)___ Sign-up to be on the email list to receive legislative alerts/updates on hunger-related policy issues 

(2)___ Help organize a group using “Plenty and Scarcity: Hunger and Public Policy 2006” 

(3)___ Serve as a contact person within your congressional district 

(4)___ Participate in an Advocacy Action Lab 

(5)___ Be part of a Task Force:

(a)___Communications; 
(b)___Development; 
(c)___Other 

(6)___ Promote “2 Cents-a-Meal” in your church and/or begin “Prayers, Pennies, and Public Policies” at home 

(7)___ Make a financial contribution toward the mission of “ending hunger in Ohio” (*) 

(8)___Others? 

Please include: 
Your Name
Home Address 
Email Address 
Your Phone(s) 
Suggestions of other Ideas, persons to contact, etc. 

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Change, Challenge, and Commitment 

The Hunger Network is under construction. Perhaps you’ve noticed and, depending upon your point of view, have been curious or, hopefully, felt you have been better served. The “way we always did it” is being scrutinized and—especially our ways of communicating—remodeled. 

The most obvious shift has been reducing the frequency of our newsletters. Due to rising costs in printing, processing, and postage for mailings now being sent to a more than doubled circulation, we have tried to become better stewards of our limited funds by exploring more economic and effective ways to carry out our work. 

Flagging Hunger Issues 

One way has been to concentrate our energies. The Board or Trustees now annually prioritizes which are the most significant and/or accomplishable issues to address. Previous patterns of providing primarily general presentations of hunger-related topics have given way to more targeted legislative goals and strategies.

Hunger Issues Booklet 

This also reflects an underlying intent to shift our emphasis toward generating interaction and mobilizing advocacy. No where is this more evident as in the metamorphoses of the first edition each year of “Plenty” to “Plenty and Scarcity: Hunger and Public Policy.” In the last three years, we have targeted five exceptionally critical hunger issues for inclusion in an annual study booklet. It is designed for use by Sunday School classes, social concerns committees, ad hoc groups, or families and friends. Meant to serve less as conclusion-givers and more as discussion-starters, they begin with prayer and scripture, foster dialogue, and ultimately call individuals to act on their conclusions by contacting their public officials. Whether for an hour, over five weeks, or throughout the entire year ahead, “Plenty and Scarcity” is meant to more fully energize and engage interest persons in our mission of “ending hunger in Ohio” through a strategy of “changing conditions which cause poverty.” 

Email Public Policy Network 

To better meet that goal (as well as save money), we have also implemented greater use of electronic technology—namely, the internet. A public policy email network, piloted in 2004, has become our dominant method for alerting individuals and congregations about critical hunger-related legislation and pending policy decisions. Averaging about twice a month, “HungerNetOhio,” as it sometimes known, has become the quickest and most efficient voice imaginable for sharing information. Paralleling the development our website, e-mailings enable us to make available constant, comprehensive, and readily accessible information. 

2 Cents-a-Meal 

A not-so-high-tech, irreplaceable, and yet also evolving dimension of the Hunger Network provides essential foundation for all that we are and whatever we do-- “2 Cents-a-Meal.” Our very existence is largely dependent upon this novel and effective approach to funding. Over many years, supportive congregations have encouraged their family members to collect two pennies each day as a modest method to recognize and relieve suffering in the world. Regularly gathered by the church, one penny is directed toward a local direct service, such as a food pantry, and the other dedicated to impacting the root causes of hunger through the Hunger Network. In recent years families have been further encouraged to treat this practice as a “spiritual discipline and shared ministry for reducing hunger.” We provide daily scriptural references on wrappers designed for encircling containers to collect pennies. Along with other resources for generating discussion, “Prayers, Pennies, and Public Policies” expands upon the meaning of “Grace” within families and congregations while leading to greater commitment for ending hunger. 

These few recent changes reflect a larger variety of ideas for building on what we what to do best—involving each of you in what the prophet Micah called “doing justice.” 

Next Steps: Advocacy Action Lab? 

The experience of the “Jubilee Justice” group (see opening article) could serve as a template for what might be more generically called an “Advocacy Action Lab” — a forum for potential advocates to get started influencing public policies around issues about which they care deeply. Maybe they’ve already given themselves through the direct services and been involved in what is sometimes called “compensatory” ministries — services which substitute for what others (namely our government “of the people”) ought to be doing. Perhaps they’ve thought about but have never felt that they could “change the system.” They may have concluded that they, out of their own abundance and blessings, want to give something back -- well aware of discrepancies between their lives and those they want to help. They may want to do more but -- inexperienced, intimidated, or without sufficient information -- have difficulty rising up on their own and doing public policy advocacy. This kind of group offers them focus on a particular, manageable piece of legislation. But more, its intensity offers the strength of relationships with others (“Christian community”), opportunity to learn, and ultimately meeting with legislators to share their concerns and recommendations. It also reinforces their determination, through a shared bond of commitment, to follow though and not “faint on the path.” Anyone else Interested? 

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Plenty and Scarcity: Hunger and Public Policy 2006 

The Hunger Network in Ohio has adopted the following priority hunger-related issues to be addressed next year. They are consistent with our mission to “end hunger in Ohio,” through a strategy of trying to “change condition causing poverty,” and within the scope of our capabilities to advocate. They are now being researched for inclusion in the upcoming edition of Plenty and Scarcity: Hunger and Public Policy 2006 available in January. Please let us know if you would like to order copies for a discussion group you would be willing to organize. 

1. Faces of the Poor and Facing Poverty
The realities of hunger and poverty in Ohio and the USA Hurricane Katrina dramatically revealed faces of the poor especially in New Orleans. However, beyond the Gulf Coast, how do we develop greater sensitivity to poverty and remedies throughout the nation and the state of Ohio? 

2. Meeting our Obligations 
The federal and state budgets are moral documents As our country’s spending commitment and deficit grow, we have been caught in a dilemma over cutting domestic programs and, at the same time, reducing re venues. What are viable options for drastic cuts of human services and alternatives to tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? 

3. The Tax Code is Public Policy 
The impact of policies of taxation on the “Haves” and “Have Nots” After being postponed for consideration this November, Tax Payers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR) along with alternative politicized spending-reduction schemes will likely return for debate in Ohio in 2006. Anticipating the potential for damaging long-term impact on precarious Ohioans, what can we do to challenge this trend? 

4. The Economic Bind and a Fair Wage 
Energy, health care, and economic stress; minimum wages and a living wage. Our nation is confronted with a sudden and an unprecedented rise in costs of gasoline and natural gas as health care and housing costs continue to rise astronomically. The impact will be felt particularly by those who struggle simply to survive. Efforts are currently underway to highlight the need in Ohio to increase the minimum wage from $4.25 to $6.85 and, longer term, to press for a “living wage.” How might we be helpful? 

5. Society’s Bare-bones Safety Net for its “Underclass” 
Looming legislative battles over Food Stamps, TANF, and other precarious poverty programs The forecast of drastically reducing the amount of federal spending on food stamps for low income families will continue to demand greater responses from food pantries and the countless churches who sponsor them. Meanwhile, TANF reauthorization continues to be stuck in the federal bureaucracy. How do we as a nation improve upon and move this critical legislation that is essential for enabling families to become self-sufficient? 

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The mission of the Hunger Network in Ohio is to end hunger in Ohio and strategy to change condition which cause poverty. Largely through the commitments of caring people of faith, this Witness combines faith and action. It is sponsored by the Eastminster Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio; the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio; the Northeast Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Participants receive publications, have opportunities for education on policy issues, and are given tools to become public advocates for those who are hungry. While members of sponsoring organizations receive services free of charge, individual contributions are essential and welcomed. 

Would you like more information about hunger or ways to make a difference? 

Do you need help developing social justice ministries in your congregation?

Have you concerns which you would like help exploring? 

Contact Bob Erickson, Director