Human Services News

Catholic Charities USA:

Hundreds of Catholic Charities leaders from across the country will gather in Cincinnati this week to discuss the connection between race and poverty during Catholic Charities USA's (CCUSA) Annual Gathering---Crossing the Rivers of Freedom---being held Sept. 13-16 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hotel.

The centerpiece of the meeting's agenda is a draft of Catholic Charities USA's thought-provoking 2007 issue brief, "Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good," which examines racism's economic effects and how they intersect with poverty.

The draft document grew out of CCUSA's 2006 policy paper, Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good and its Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America that was launched in January, which calls for policy changes that reduce by half the number of Americans living in poverty by 2020.

"Poverty and racial injustice are deeply intertwined" said Rev. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, whose member Catholic Charities agencies serve nearly 8 million people a year.

Afterward, a panel will examine the real-world experiences of living in a culture where race matters.

Meeting attendees will then discuss the paper with one another in smaller break out sessions.

In the evening on Saturday, September 15, hundreds of Catholic Charities leaders from 38 states will participate in a candlelight march across the entire Roebling Bridge toward the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to demonstrate their commitment to eradicating racism and helping the many faces of the poor.

His most recent book, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope to African American Communities, provides keen insights on the devastating effect of generational poverty on African-American communities.

The meeting is cohosted by Catholic Social Services of Southwestern Ohio, Catholic Social Services of Miami Valley, and Catholic Social Services of Northern Kentucky.