Denominations join to fight poverty

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and interfaith clergy of the Capital Region have joined the ranks of "Fighting Poverty with Faith," a national coalition which has asked political candidates, here and elsewhere, to commit themselves to specific plans to halving the ranks of the poor.

Co-sponsored by Catholic Charities USA and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, this national coalition was formed to reduce poverty in America by 50 percent over the next ten years by holding forums, engaging in community service, and mobilizing politicians to take action.

Poverty rising

"Emerging trends are raising alarm bells," said Martha Pofit, the diocesan Director of Public Policy. "With the recent financial downturn, there are people who need to be protected."

According to the 2007 U.S. Census, poverty is defined as an annual income of less than $21,730 for a family of four. The poverty rate for Albany is 24 percent. New York ranks the highest among northern states and above than the national average.
Contributing to the crisis are out-of-pocket medical cost, part time jobs that offer no health coverage, and rising food and fuel costs.
The latter two, said Mrs. Pofit, "pose grave concern especially to children and seniors. We must do everything within our power to have their story told."

Days of action

To raise awareness and draft candidates to the cause, Sept. 10-16 was designated as "Fighting Poverty with Faith Week in Action." This featured a national conference call on poverty topics, a letter-writing campaign and a proposal to create a New York State legislative commission on poverty.

The group also asked politicians for specifics on their plans to fight the problem.
"We sent 18 letters to candidates of state and federal offices in our area," said Sister Marianne Comfort, CSJ, a public policy advocate for the diocesan Catholic Charities office. "We asked them to state what they would do, if elected, to address poverty within their first 100 days in office."

Signatories of the letters included Bishop Hubbard; Rev. Bishop William H. Love, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany; Rabbi Scott L. Shpeen, Chair of the Capital District Board of Rabbis; Rev. Dr. Victor L. Cullier, President of ARISE, a community organization; and Rev. Marian P. Shearer, Regional Conference Minister for the United Church of Christ.

Obtaining pledges

The letters were followed up with emails to the candidates. To date, four have responded.

"Their responses are very thoughtful and well thought out," said Sister Marianne. "We're confident we'll get more."

After the Oct. 15 deadline, responses will be distributed through an email faith network to 2,000 people.

Mrs. Pofit said that Bishop Hubbard and the other signers listened to the national telephone conference. This was followed by a meeting with the Times Union editorial board. "It went great," she said. "They are very sensitive to this. They did a follow-up article on preventing poverty in our area."

More work

The group has also encouraged Gov. David Paterson to establish a commission on poverty "to examine the root causes of poverty in New York, set poverty reduction targets and adopt promising anti-poverty policies gleaned from research and experience from around the country."

Mrs. Pofit hopes that "both sides of the aisle will commit themselves to making this a priority. Together we are the faith community. It is our number one priority to come up with a comprehensive strategy to alleviate the suffering."

"It is part of our call to be faithful, informed citizens," said Sister Marianne. "A good part of Catholic social teaching is how we treat the least among us."

(10/16/08)