Catholic Charities USA aims to tackle poverty, racism together

Published: 2008-04-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic Charities USA affiliates nationwide are seeking to establish links between poverty and racism in hopes of cutting both significantly. In 2007 Catholic Charities adopted a goal of cutting poverty nationwide in half by 2020. This January it released "Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good," an issue brief that laid out the framework for establishing links between the two. The initiative got a renewed push from a three-hour electronic town-hall meeting conducted online April 2 with participants from across North America and several other countries. Some Catholic Charities affiliates have already made inroads at establishing the poverty-racism link. In Detroit, archdiocesan officials are looking to go well beyond the annual "Keep the Dream Alive" awards bestowed annually around the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday for the past 28 years.

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