Justice Bulletin Board

"Brothers and sisters, rejoice…encourage one another…live in peace." (2 Corinthians 13:11)

On Mothers’ Day, while many mothers were celebrating with their children, tens of thousands of mothers were homeless. Family homelessness has emerged as a serious global problem. Our US Catholic Bishops say:

"The lack of safe, affordable housing requires a renewed commitment to increase the supply of quality housing and to preserve, maintain, and improve existing housing through public/private partnerships, especially with religious groups and community organizations. The USCCB continues to oppose unjust housing discrimination and to support measures to meet the credit needs of low-income and minority communities." (US Catholic Bishops' letter: Faithful Citizenship)

Did you know?

·         The number of homeless persons on any one night in Raleigh is estimated to be nearly 1500 and 46,000 across the State.  The average age of a homeless family member is 4 years old.

·         A study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found 23% of all requests for emergency shelter went unmet due to lack of resources. For families, the numbers are worse: 29% of emergency shelter requests from families were denied.

·         Requests for assisted housing by low-income families and individuals increased in 86 percent of the cities during the last year.

·         Nationally, an estimated 1.2 million children are homeless.

·         A poor child in the US is more likely to live in a working family than to be on government assistance.

·         The City of Raleigh, with the encouragement of many congregations has agreed to form an Affordable Housing Task Force so that the needs of poorer citizens will be included in the new City Plan.

What you can do:

·         Support the Brown Bag ministry in its service to the homeless.  Brown Bag Ministry prepares and distributes 175 brown bag lunches to the homeless every Saturday at Moore’s Square in downtown Raleigh.

·         Support Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network (WIHN). (WIHN is a county-wide program that provides food, shelter, job resources, housing resources and support for prescreened families in transition from homelessness to housing. St. Andrew’s hosts WIHN families at our church four times a year. 

·         Learn more about Homelessness: http://www.naeh.org/ The National Alliance to End Homelessness or also:

www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts.html,