FAITH focus
3A
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square6 THE NEW POOR Continued from page 1A
ONNECTIONS
They recently hosted a one-day legal “The cuts couldn’t happen at a
clinic, where attorneys offered pro- worse time,” said President-CEO Jim
Campus ministries
bono advice on housing issues and Dickens, “because the need for what
secretary named
rights of the homeless. we do is going through the roof and
The Rev. Bridgette Young
“We’re seeing more families out we’re scrambling to keep up.” In 2007
has been appointed
there—and women,” said Mr. Souza, a their two food banks in Georgia’s
assistant general secretary
former police officer. “A lot of the Floyd County gave out 85,000 pounds
for campus ministry in the
Division of Higher
women get into dangerous situations, of food; the number soared to over
Education, General Board
resorting to prostitution or going to 500,000 last year after massive layoffs
of Higher Education and
crack houses just for a place to stay.” at local plants and retailers.
Ministry,
Homeless people, he said, are al- Aircraft manufacturers in Wichita,
effective July
ways vulnerable to cruel pranks and Kan., had suffered after the 2001 ter-
6. Ms. Young
even hate crimes. A war veteran with a rorist attacks, when a slump in the in-
has served
prosthetic leg was attacked last year in dustry led to 14,000 job cuts. Those
as senior
Woonsocket by youths who set fire to losses were gradual and didn’t peak
associate
his tent. “He got out with his life, but until 2004, but recent layoffs have hit
dean of the
he did sustain minor burns,” Mr. much faster.
chapel and Souza said. “There’s an immense level The United Methodist Open Door, COURTESY PHOTO
religious life of violence.” a Wichita-based nonprofit, responded
Atlanta-based Action Ministries keeps food pantries stocked in five
at Emory
Rev. Young
Action Ministries in Atlanta, Ga., with a $7.4-million capital campaign
University,
North Georgia counties.
founded by the denomination’s North to build a new center for its clothing,
and before that as director
Georgia Conference, shelters families food and shelter services. “We deal with the homeless and
civil-rights movement took off in the
and campus minister at the
for up to two years in homes pur- “We’re about a quarter of the way the working poor—that’s always been
1960s.
Wesley Foundation at
chased from the Department of Hous- there,” said executive director, the Rev. our expertise,” said John Barnett, di-
The Rev. Ed Rowe, senior pastor,
Georgia Tech. An ordained
ing and Urban Development. Staff Deann Smith. “It’s been slow, like rector of the church’s N.O.A.H. Project
hopes to put the same spirit of advo-
elder in the North Georgia
work with parents to help them save walking through quicksand, but I’m (Networking, Organizing and Advo-
cacy to work during the recession. In
Conference, she will
money, pay off debt and find perma- optimistic that we’ll reach the goal.” cating for the Homeless). Since 1999,
2008, he helped organize Michigan’s
oversee the promotion and
nent jobs. Hundreds of former Boeing and his office has served bag lunches twice
support of the
Moratorium NOW! Coalition, urging
That’s getting harder all the time, Cessna employees are coming to Open
denomination’s campus
a week with sandwiches donated by legislators to hold off on all foreclo-
ministries and college
according to Teresa Johnston, the min- Door for food now that their unem- other churches and agencies, while so-
sures and evictions in the state for two
chaplaincies.
istry’s case management director for ployment checks have run out. Other cial workers and parish nurses pro-
years. Mr. Rowe said the banking in-
transitional housing. clients worked for subcontractors who vide counseling and medical tests.
dustry’s practices bordered on “brain-
Young clergy lead
“The lack of jobs is just horren- were forced to downsize. “The trouble is that we already
dead economics.”
40 days of prayer
dous,” she said. “Most of the parents So far, local churches have kept the have our hands full with just the local
“These houses sit empty until
The United Methodist Young
are at the lower end of the employ- shelves stocked. West Heights United crowd,” Mr. Barnett said. “Now we’re
they’re vandalized,” he said. “Then
Clergy Network is leading a
ment spectrum, and we used to help Methodist in Wichita donated one ton getting folks from 9 miles away, com-
everyone loses, and people who did
40-day prayer campaign
them find work above minimum of macaroni and cheese in March, ing in for the first time. The demand
nothing to get us into this mess are
for renewal of the church. wage. Now it’s about finding any kind while another congregation brought in is so great, we end up turning people left out on the streets.
The campaign, which of work at all.” 2,000 cans of vegetables and fruit. away.” “The church cannot simply open a
began May 18, involves Action Ministries will lose nearly But staff and volunteers are over- Central, one of the oldest churches
soup kitchen and think that’s our only
young clergy from more half of its church funding in 2010 be- whelmed these days at Central UMC
in Michigan, will celebrate its 200th calling. We have to feed people, but if
than 20 United Methodist
cause of conference budget cuts. The in downtown Detroit, Mich., where anniversary in 2010. Often referred to
that’s all we’re doing, then we aren’t
conferences. Participants in
cutbacks aren’t a surprise in a region one third of the population lived as “the conscience of the city,” the
doing anything.”
the young clergy community
where unemployment hovers around below the poverty line even before the church led protests against racial dis-
are encouraging all people
12 percent. auto industry crisis. crimination some 20 years before the
bfentum@umr.org
to join them in prayer by
visiting www.umcyoung
clergy.com, clicking
“Prayer,” and subscribing to
the RSS feed.
President nominates
Otero for State post
President Barack Obama
has nominated Maria Otero
as Under Secretary of
Global Affairs in the
Department of State. Born
and raised in Bolivia, Ms.
Otero is president and CEO
of ACCION International, a
microfinance organization
working in 25 countries with
a combined portfolio of
nearly $3.6 billion. She is
the spouse of the Rev. Joe
Eldridge, a former
missionary for the
denomination’s General
Board of Global Ministries
who is now a chaplain at
COURTESY PHOTO
American University in
The food pantry at United
Washington, D.C.
Methodist Open Door in
Wichita, Kan., serves at least
COURTESY PHOTO
—Compiled by Mary Jacobs
2,500 families a month. People in need shop at United Methodist Open Door’s free clothes closet in Wichita, Kan.
U NITED M ETHODIST R EPORTER | J UNE 26, 2009
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