Protestants for the Common Good coordinated Let Justice Roll, Chicago! at North Park University
and the clergy breakfast at Fourth Presbyterian Church on October 10 & 11. Participants
are working together to gain support for the Covenant Against Poverty and For the Common Good nationally
and in Illinois in the coming months.
Please read the Covenant and endorse it by completing the
online form below. You can also mail it to: Protestants for the Common Good, 200 N.
Michigan Ave., Suite 502, Chicago, IL 60601.
Covenant Against Poverty and
For the Common Good
As people of faith in Illinois, we covenant to run a marathon against the moral
evil of poverty and for the common good of all: the poor, the rich, and the in-between.
We run to let justice roll through our communities, our state, our nation, and our world.
A million-plus reasons cause us to join the race for human lives without poverty:
A million-plus poor children and adults in Illinois, nearly 36 million Americans in poverty, over one billion people across the globe living on less than one dollar a day.
A million-plus people in Illinois without health insurance, nearly 45 million in the nation, worldwide the greatest burden of health risks borne by poor nations.
A million-plus people in Illinois who are homeless or without affordable housing, over 32 million U.S. households paying more than 30% of their total income for housing, more than 500 million people worldwide (half of whom are children) living in substandard housing or are homeless.
A million-plus people (one in six children) in Illinois who are hungry, 25.5 million people (13.1 million children) nationwide in food insecure households, 842 million malnourished people around the world.
To win this race against poverty, all people need:
a fair start in life - high quality pre-school and public education, and opportunities for higher education and job training.
food for the journey - nourishment that frees them from hunger;
rest and security - safe and affordable housing;
strength and stamina - health care and a healthy environment.
We call on our fellow citizens in the marathon to let justice roll, as well as religious communities and civic organizations, to publicly join in this covenant, and by so doing raise a united voice to our elected officials.
We call on the Governor of Illinois in conjunction with leaders in the Illinois General Assembly to convene a Joint Task Force on Poverty to formulate recommendations to: (1) reverse the trend of increasing poverty through strategies that reduce poverty annually by 1% in each of the next four years, and (2) reduce "extreme poverty" by half during the same four year period.
We call for the President of the United States to convene a White House Conference on Poverty within the first 100 days in office to establish goals for reducing poverty and strategies to meet them on both a national and global scale.
We covenant and pledge to be active in the democratic process in support of public policies that fight poverty in our communities, across our nation, and around the globe.
|
