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Religious Communities to Press Government Leaders for Good, Green Job Creation for the Nation's Poor

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 October 2009, 11:50 CDT

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thousands of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and other members of the religious community from across the country will contact their Senators and Representatives on Wednesday, October 21 to encourage them to usher in a new green economy while simultaneously fighting poverty by ensuring equal opportunities for training and employment for the nation's most vulnerable.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081008/CCUSALOGO)

Organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), the National Call-In will be held on the final day of a week-long nationwide, grassroots mobilization effort endorsed by 34 national faith organizations to call on government officials to create new, sustainable and green job opportunities for the poor.

Entitled Fighting Poverty with Faith: Good Jobs, Green Jobs, the week-long mobilization held this year from October 14-21, will organize supporters at public events across the country. Programs and events will include worker training/retraining seminars, home retrofitting fairs, roundtable discussions on how to implement green job training opportunities and tours of green job facilities across the country.

"Our Senators and Representatives have an opportunity today to endorse efforts to help transition our country into a more clean-energy economy while simultaneously helping the most vulnerable among us make ends meet," said Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and lead organizer of the Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization. "As part of the faith community's week-long effort to highlight across the country how green job creation will not only help restore our economy but also help the poor, hundreds of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others will contact their members of Congress and ask them to do the right thing for our country."

"Families are hurting. Children are hurting. Senior citizens and those who worked hard all of their lives are hurting," said Rev. Larry Snyder, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA. "If we ever hope to seriously reduce poverty in America, we must work harder to reduce the social and economic risks that result in people falling into poverty -- particularly now as we have the opportunity to rebuild our nation's economy. Reducing poverty must be a priority on the national agenda. It is time for us to put 'Love Thy Neighbor' into practice."

Callers on the 21st will specifically thank their Senators for including the Green Construction Careers Demonstration Project and funding for the Green Jobs Act in the draft version of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Callers will also ask Senators to improve upon language already approved in the House on emission allowance values and allocate funding earned from these allowances to the Green Jobs Act well past 2013.

When addressing their members of Congress, callers will ask them to invest additional funding into workforce training and to support improved access to education and training opportunities through community colleges and technical schools. Callers will also ask Representatives to cosponsor the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (H.R. 2269).

In addition to the National Call-In, other Washington, D.C. based events during the Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization included the national kick-off teleconference on October 14, featuring U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and U.S. Representative Mike Castle (R-Del.).

Specifically, the mission of the Fighting Poverty with Faith week is to encourage federal, state and local government officials to:

• Target funds toward projects that help low-income families develop the necessary skills to compete in a new economy;
• Ensure green industries create "good jobs" with decent benefits, family-supporting wages and safe working conditions;
• Promote projects that improve the quality of life for low-income families by lowering energy costs and enhancing public health through safer housing;
• Create pipelines that enable low-income people to access jobs in green, traditional and other newly emerging industries; and
• Ensure equity and transparency in the distribution of funding associated with the creation of new workforce development, including green jobs.
  

National organizations endorsing this effort include: the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Catholic Charities USA; Alliance to End Hunger; American Baptist Churches USA; Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies; BBYO, Inc.; Bread for the World; Center of Concern; The Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Evangelicals for Social Action; Hindu American Foundation; Hindu American Seva Charities; International Association of Jewish Vocational Services; Islamic Relief; Islamic Society of North America; Jewish Labor Committee; Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; Jewish Women International; Lutheran Services in America; MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger; The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Council of Churches USA; National Council of Jewish Women; NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Progressive National Baptist Church; The Rabbinical Assembly; Society of St. Vincent DePaul; Sojourners; Union for Reform Judaism; United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries; UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America; The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society; and Women of Reform Judaism.

The Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization is part of JCPA's "There Shall Be No Needy Among You" anti-poverty campaign and Catholic Charities USA's Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. Since both campaigns launched in 2007, JCPA's and CCUSA's efforts to urge local, state and national leaders to advance anti-poverty legislation and programs that help provide food, shelter, additional work and educational opportunities for the nation's most vulnerable, have led to an increased national commitment to reduce poverty.

More information on this year's Fighting Poverty with Faith initiative can be found at www.fightingpovertywithfaith.com.

Catholic Charities USA's members -- more than 1,700 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide -- provide help and create hope for nearly 8.5 million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. For almost 300 years, Catholic Charities agencies have worked to reduce poverty by providing a myriad of vital services in their communities, ranging from health care and job training to food and housing. In 2010, Catholic Charities USA celebrates its centennial anniversary.

JCPA, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 14 national and 125 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations.

SOURCE Catholic Charities USA

Source: PR Newswire

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