Beckstrom Electric Volunteers getting it done at the GSA Center of Hope during the one day "Blast" in early April 2008.
Photograph courtesy of Mary Fittro.
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Local Volunteers Provide a Selfless Service
Local volunteers provide a selfless service - simply to give something to make a difference in another persons’ life.
In January 2008 the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) launched a new national awareness campaign that calls attention to the 36.5 million Americans now living in poverty, according to the most recent U.S. Census figures. Concurrently, it focuses attention on the struggles poor and low-income people face living below the “poverty line”.
The new CCHD-sponsored campaign uses television, radio and print ads to attract attention to the high number of American children who are living below the poverty line.
The overall poverty rate declined slightly from 12.6 percent in 2005 to 12.3 percent in 2006. However, for children younger than 18, the poverty rate is 17.4 percent, amounting to 12.8 million American children, or nearly one in every six children. According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August 2007, 9.8 percent of all families are living in poverty, which amounts to 7.7 million families.
As defined by the government and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the new poverty threshold for a family of four is $20,614; for a family of three, $16,079; and for a family of two, $13,167. Other studies have shown that Americans believe the current poverty threshold figure is unrealistic. A study conducted by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development a few years ago showed that most Americans believed it took closer to $35,000 annually to adequately house, clothe and feed a family of four.
This year’s awareness campaign offers a glimpse at the struggles that poor and low-income children face day-to-day. It seeks to educate the public about the cost of living and how hard it is for those living in poverty to budget for basic expenses. On its website www.povertyusa.org are suggested ways to get involved and help reduce poverty in America.Since its inception, the Campaign has provided seed money to train leaders in the community for programs that are initiated and led by low-income people themselves. Over the years, CCHD has offered close to $300 million in grants.
Established in 1970 by the U.S. Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is one of the largest private funders of self-help programs initiated and led by poor people in the United States. Committed to the permanent elimination of poverty and injustice in the U.S., CCHD supports programs nationwide that know no racial or religious boundaries - projects that help create jobs, improve neighborhoods and allow people to find a climb out of poverty not just for a day, but consistently, for the rest of their lives.
In America today, there are 16 million Non-Hispanic White Americans living in poverty.
There are 9.3 million Hispanics in poverty, 9 million African Americans and 1.4 million Asian Americans in poverty.
The poverty rate for America's elderly population - those people over 65 - stands at 9.4 percent, or one out of every ten seniors, while the child poverty rate is 17.4 percent, or one out of every six children in America. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007
In fact, the U.S. child poverty rate is two-to-three times higher than other major industrialized nations. According to the latest comparative numbers, the child poverty rate in Sweden in recent years has been less than four percent; in the Czech Republic, less than six percent; France, seven percent; Germany, 10 percent, Australia and Japan, 12 percent; Canada, 14 percent; while, in the United States, the child poverty rate has remained at over 16 percent for the past two years - with some sources placing the comparative number at more than 23 percent of all children in America living in poverty (Society at a Glance, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2002.)
Top Ten States with Highest Percentage of Children under 18 Living in Poverty
| District of Columbia | 32.6 % |
| Mississippi | 29.5 % |
| Louisiana | 27.8 % |
| New Mexico | 25.6 % |
| West Virginia | 25.2 % |
| Arkansas | 24.3 % |
| Oklahoma | 24.3 % |
| Texas | 23.9 % |
| Alabama | 23.0 % |
| Kentucky | 22.8 % |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007
Community Lutheran Church in Sterling - Photo courtesy of Justin Letendre
We at the Good Shepherd Alliance (GSA) are reminded every day of the valuable contributions made by the local volunteers who give so much of their time, talent, and energy to support homeless and indigent folks living in our own community. Volunteers of many faiths volunteer at GSA and they are critical to the organization’s ability to reduce poverty and homelessness in Northern Virginia in an efficient and effective manner.
Our volunteers’ inform us that their desire is simply to give something of themselves to make a difference in someone else's life. Whether they are helping out at the thrift store, at the office or the three shelters, providing the most important gift to those in need— a selfless service.
Please consider joining GSA in a fund-raising and awareness 1.2 mile mini walk in historic Leesburg on Saturday, September 20. You can spend a wonderful day with your friends and family walking for The Good Shepherd Alliance and help the homeless right here in Loudoun county.
Please sign up on our web site at loudounhomeless.org or call GSA at 703-724-1555. Every dollar donated and raised goes back to the Good Shepherd Alliance with Fannie Mae picking up the costs for the events. Last year’s event garnered GSA $11,239.
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