Domestic Workshops
Saturday, March 14th
10:45 - 12:15am: Workshop Time I
Meeting the Needs of Poor Working and Unemployed Families
Many families barely get by on the wages they can earn during normal economic times. Fully one-quarter of all jobs in the US pay poverty wages so low that a full-time worker cannot keep a family out of poverty. But what happens in an economic downturn when people lose their jobs, wages stagnate or fall, and workers' hours are cut back? How can a decent and caring society support poor working and unemployed families? This workshop examines key policy changes needed in both the short and longer term that will help these families and strengthen our economy.
Speakers: Edith Rasell, PhD, Minister for Workplace Justice, Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ. Liz Weiss, Senior Policy Analyst, Interfaith Worker Justice; Judy Conti, Federal Advocacy Coordinator, National Employment Law Center; Rob Scott, Senior International Economist, Economic Policy Institute; Holly Sklar, Senior Policy Adviser, Let Justice Roll
Climate Change and Poverty
Poor communities in the United States are chronically neglected. We recognize this by the lack jobs in these communities that pay living wages, or by the deteriorating state of vital services like education, health care and public transportation, or simply by the lack of access to healthy foods. Climate change and how the United States chooses to address it presents an opportunity to reverse the trend of putting poor communities last. Van Jones, founder of Green for All, has focused the public's attention on how to fight poverty and climate change at the same time. To meet these two profound challenges requires a new public commitment and leadership at federal and local levels. The policy choices are clear, thanks to advocates like Jones and others. In this workshop session, I propose to explain what those choices are, how the whole country stands to benefit, and why it is practical and feasible to address poverty and climate change together.
Speakers: Todd Post, Senior Editor, Bread for the World Institute. Charles Uphaus, Senior Poicy Analyst, Bread for the World Institute
Confronting Climate, Inequality and Hurricane Recovery: The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign
No region has suffered greater consequences for our nation's carbon addiction than America's Gulf Coast. As energy companies' dredge wetlands and accelerate the erosion of natural flood protection, storms of increasing severity continue to threaten the livelihood and culture of diverse coastal communities across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Three and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, many families, especially in low income communities, still face immense challenges. Despite millions of hours volunteered and the the heroic continued efforts of neighbors and the faith communities to help families rebound, Gulf Coast communities still lack a significant federal partner to take on the massive interrelated social, economic and environmental challenges towards sustainable recovery. The result is an American human rights crisis. In response, a growing multi-ethnic grassroots partnership of local and national community, faith, and environmental organizations, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign, is calling for just and sustainable federal policy to create living wage green jobs and training opportunities for residents to return and rebuild more resilient communities, restore the coastal environment and conserve energy.
Speakers: Stephen Bradberry, National Campaign Coordinator, ACORN (New Orleans, LA) Sharon Gauthe, Executive Director, Bayou Shared Interfaith Community Organizing (Thibodaux, LA) Tronn Moller, Consultant, National Council of Churches Special Commission on the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast (New Orleans, LA) Father Dan Krutz, Executive Director, Louisiana Interchurch Council (to be confirmed)
Moderated by Jeffrey Buchanan, Information Officer, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
4:30 - 6:00pm: Workshop Time II
Poverty, Race, and Injustice in the Federal Education Law
No Child Left Behind, the federal education law long overdue for reauthorization, commands that schools raise test scores while the law is virtually silent about equalizing the resources that guarantee opportunity to learn. NCLB overlays a system of test-and-punish on massive school funding inequity across and within states, and then punishes the schools that cannot quickly raise scores, while schools serving wealthy children are hardly affected. In the church we are called to speak for improving learning conditions for students and teachers in our nation's poorest schools, for building the capacity of states to help these schools, and for building the public will to invest in the education of children who are hyper-segregated by race and poverty and insulated from opportunity systems.
Speakers: Jan Resseger, Minister for Public Education and Witness, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, Chair of NCC Committee on Public Education
The Greening of Affordable Housing
This session will explore federal policy proposals to enhance the energy efficiency of federally-assisted affordable housing. The session will also look at ways in which existing affordable housing can be renovated to meet modern green standards while preserving affordability for low income residents. Finally, the session will provide an overview of federal affordable housing issues expected to be considered by the 111th Congress.
Speakers: Linda Couch, Deputy Director, National Low Income Housing Coalition
Sunday, March 15th
2:00 - 3:30pm: Workshop Time III
Child Nutrition Reauthorization
The programs contained in the Child Nutrition Act - the School Breakfast and Lunch Programs, Summer Nutrition Programs, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for WIC, and Child and Adult Care Food Program - serve millions of hungry and needy children in America each day. Chances are good that you or someone you know benefits from these services. In 2009, Congress must reauthorize these programs, and the faith community can play a pivotal role in pushing for increased funding, healthier food options (thus combating childhood obesity), and greater accessibility. Come learn about Child Nutrition Reauthorization and how you can be involved in working on behalf of hungry children!
Speakers: Pat Nicklin, Managing Director, Share Our Strength; Sophie Milam, Senior Domestic Policy Analyst, Bread for the World; Julie Brewer, Child Nutrition Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Moderator: Robert Francis, Director for Domestic Policy, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Enough for All - Including Health Care for Immigrants
The January debate over the re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program reminded us that the issue of immigrant health care remains controversial among lawmakers, in spite of growing public support for health care for legally documented immigrants. Because many of our faith communities support comprehensive and compassionate reform in both health care and immigration, we will have a unique role in bridging these issues. In the context of current health care reform opportunities, the workshop will focus on 1) human rights issues related to immigrant health care, 2) facts to dispel myths about how immigrants currently receive health care, 3) tested messaging that works well in responding to opponents, and 4) faith messaging being used to help build broader support for health care for all - including immigrants.
Speakers: Kevin Minder, S.T.D, Executive Director of the Center for Immigrant Healthcare Justice, which educates the public about the right of health care for every member of society. Mara Youdelman, J.D., National Health Law Program (NHeLP), with a focus on Medicaid, language access, racial and ethnic disparities, and immigrants' issues. Linda Hanna Walling, M. Div., Executive Director of Faithful Reform in Health Care, a coalition of faith communities and individuals working to elevate faith values in the current conversations about state and/or national health care reform.
3:45 - 5:15pm: Workshop Time IV
Our Day to End Poverty
Are you looking for a practical and accessible resource to engage your congregation in making a difference to end poverty and improve the lives of people here and around the world? / Our Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference is a simple, fun, and practical book that challenges us with an immense diversity of actions we can take to really help eradicate poverty. Each chapter takes a task we undertake during a typical day and relates it to what we can do to ease the world's suffering. As the Preface notes, "Our Day to End Poverty is a book for all of us who know that there is poverty and suffering in our world and who want to know what we can do to help. This isn't a book to convince you to care about global poverty-we trust that you already do. This is a book for those of us who have felt hopeless or helpless-a book to show what each of us can do to make a difference." This workshop will introduce participants to Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference and explore ways that participants can use this resource to engage their congregations and communities in learning more about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and taking action to reach the MDGs and end poverty in our day. Contexts for using this action-oriented resource that will be explored include a congregation's social action committees, adult study groups, youth groups, special studies and task forces; schools, and work places.
Speakers: Shannon Daley-Harris, writer, editor, and strategist on religious organizing for social change, has served the Children’s Defense Fund in various capacities since 1990, and consults with other non-profits.
Understanding the Financial Crisis and the Nation's Fiscal Outlook
The economic meltdown was not without its warning signs, but still it took many of us by surprise. In the immediate aftermath, some blamed the poor for these problems while offering golden parachutes to the financial sector. Debate continues about how to rejuvenate the ailing economy and spend precious government resources. The faith community has long called on Presidents and Congress to view federal fiscal policy as a roadmap for our future, which must reflect our values as a nation. We must provide government help where it will be most effective, remembering and especially targeting aid to those who are most vulnerable in society: older adults, children, people with disabilities, and low-income communities. We stand at the brink of a great historical precipice - what decisions will we make as a nation? What should the faith community urge? Come to learn the basics of how we got here and what we can do to prevent it from happening again.
Speakers: Debbie Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs; Martha Coven, Director of the Office of Mobility and Opportunity, Domestic Policy Council, Executive Office of the President (invited)
Moderators: Leslie Woods, Representative for Domestic Poverty and Environmental Issues, Washington Office, Pr/esbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Robert Francis, Director for Domestic Policy, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America