Bishops Renew Poverty USA Campaign in Response to Growing Domestic Poverty

With 15 percent of all Americans, including nearly 1 in 4 children, living in poverty, the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is renewing its poverty awareness campaign, Poverty USA, including a revamped website, a new social media presence, Poverty Awareness Month in January.

"Our culture of life begins with a love that binds us to the hopes and joys, the struggles and the sorrows of people, especially those who are poor or any way afflicted," said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the bishops’ domestic anti-poverty effort, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, in a prepared statement. "We march with immigrant families toward a society made stronger and safer by their inclusion. We embrace the mother and her unborn child, giving to both of them hope and opportunity. We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable. We labor with those whose work is burdensome."

The campaign is designed to promote awareness about domestic poverty with updated statistics on the Poverty USA landing page on the USCCB website (http://www.usccb.org/about/catholic-campaign-for-human-development/povertyusa/). Other resources include an interactive poverty tour and a newly-launched presence on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/povertyusa).

For Poverty Awareness Month, the campaign plans to launch a month-long event on its new Facebook page. Catholic families and individuals may take part in Poverty Awareness Month by joining the Facebook event and participating in daily activities that are designed to build greater understanding about poverty in the United States. The content is also recommended for use by diocesan social action directors and program coordinators and parish social ministry leaders, teachers, and others.