November 2020 Newsletter
Issue #45
Homeless Children in America
November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month

  • Over the course of a year, between 750,0001,000,000 children are homeless in America — approximately 25% of the homeless population.

  • Approximately 35% of the homeless population are families with children.

  • Over 1 million students ages 6 to 18 experience homelessness. Of children in federally funded shelters during the school year, 10% are younger than 12 months and 35% are between the ages of 1 and 5.

  • Nearly 1 in 5 youths under the age of 18 will run away at least once.

  • Approximately 40% of homeless teens identify as LGBT.

  • Over 50% of young people in shelters or on the streets report that their parents told them to leave or knew they were leaving and didn't care.


  • 21-40% of homeless youth have been sexually abused compared to 1-3% of the general youth population.

  • Of youth who run away, 41% have been abandoned by their parents for at least 24 hours and 43% have been beaten by a caretaker.

  • About 80% of homeless youth (ages 12-21) use drugs or alcohol as a means to self-medicate to deal with the traumatic experiences and abuse they face.

For more about Housing, click here.
Action Ideas
  • Learn more about the causes of homelessness
  • Contact your representatives about affordable housing initiatives
  • Volunteer at a local homeless shelter
  • Support an organization that works with homeless youth
For more, click here.
Resources
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. Learn more.
For more on Housing, click here.
Redlined, A Legacy of Housing Discrimination
Looks at how housing discrimination has been a violation of basic civil rights and continues to negatively impact educational attainment, health outcomes, wealth accumulation, self-esteem, mortality rates and civic engagement. Watch now.
For more on Housing, click here.
Locking Up Our Own:
Crime and Punishment in Black America
By James Forman Jr. Seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970's and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation’s urban centers. Tells stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants, and crime victims trapped in dilemmas―from the men and women in court, to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency. Explains why the U.S. society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
Dignity and Justice:
Welcoming the Stranger at Our Border
By Linda Dakin-Grimm. Through stories of real children and families, explores the issue of migration to the southern border of the United States and why, including the historical, social, legal and political dynamics. Highlights the almost insurmountable legal hurdles they face if they actually reach their destination and defines and encourages a Christian response to this heartbreaking situation. Read more.
For more on Immigration, click here.
National Partnership for New Americans
Represents the collective power and resources of the country’s 37 largest regional immigrant and refugee rights organizations in 31 states. Members provide services for their communities —from naturalization to voter registration to deportation defense —combined with organizing tactics to advance local and state policy. Learn more.
For more on Immigration, click here and for more on Refugees, click here.
Lift Up the Vulnerable
An ecumenical Christian organization that prevents the trafficking and oppression of vulnerable children and women in warzones such as Sudan and South Sudan, which are marked by violence and extreme poverty. Learn more.
For more on Human Trafficking, click here.
Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation
A resource from Bread for the World, this interactive tool helps people understand the connections among racial equity, hunger, poverty, and wealth. It is a good first step for people unaware of structural inequality, a support tool for those who want a deeper understanding of structural inequality, and a source of information for experts who want to know the quantifiable economic impact of each policy that has widened today’s racial hunger, income, and wealth divides. Learn more.
For more on Racism click here and for more on Economic Justice, click here.
The Sentencing Project
Works for a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system by producing groundbreaking research to promote reforms in sentencing policy, address unjust racial disparities and practices, and to advocate for alternatives to incarceration. Learn more.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
Creation's Wisdom:
Spiritual Practice and Climate Change
By Daniel Wolpert. Speaks to the need for a spirituality during a time of massive climate change, crisis, and disruption. What does such a spirituality look like? What are the practices that can guide us? Points out that our spirituality must directly engage this creation and articulate a spiritual framework that will allow us to relate to both the world and the crisis we face that is both life-giving and healthy.
For more on the Environment, click here.
On Fraternity and Social Friendship
(Fratelli Tutti)
Pope Francis lays out a comprehensive vision for how the world should change after the coronavirus pandemic, imagining societies that are more caring, more focused on helping those in need and fundamentally less attached to the principles of market capitalism. The pope addressed several topics including: trickle-down economics, the world’s unfair distribution of wealth, continued use of the just war theory and the death penalty, and populist leaders who appeal to people’s “basest and most selfish inclinations.” Read more.
For more Catholic Social Teaching resources,
Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace
in the Church and the World
A resource from Pax Christi International and its Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. Looks at how the Catholic Church might return to its Gospel nonviolence roots and transform the world. Shares the experiences of on-the-ground nonviolent interventions, explores the scriptural, theological and historical foundations of nonviolence, reviews the most current social science on how nonviolence has been effectively employed, and outlines a vision for how the Church might embrace active nonviolence into every aspect of its life. Read more.
For more Peace resources, click here.
Hunger for Hope: Prophetic Communities, Contemplation, and the Common Good
By Sr. Simone Campbell. Written by the author of A Nun on the Bus, explores the quest for a justice that works for all and explores what it means to be holy in today's world. Proposes a prayer practice that summons a communal prophetic action with those who are marginalized in our fractured economic system and broken world. Read more.
For more Justice resources, click here.
We Are Called to Be a Movement
By Rev. Dr. William Barber. In a single, rousing sermon, the celebrated leader of the Poor People’s Campaign makes an impassioned argument whose message could not be clearer: It's time for change, and the time needs you. Read more. 
For more Public Witness resources, click here.
Faith in Action
A national community organizing network that gives people of faith the tools that they need to fight for justice and work towards a more equitable society. Focuses on issues such as: gun violence, health care, immigration, mass incarceration and voting rights. Learn more.
For more Community Organizing resources,
YourMorals.org
A resource created through a collaboration of social psychologists who study morality and politics. Offers a large number of surveys and quizzes on wide range of topics related to morality such as: general moral constructs, political/societal judgments and opinions, attitudes towards groups, justice and fairness, everyday behavior etc. Their goal is to understand the way our "moral minds" work. Why do people disagree so passionately about what is right? Why, in particular, is there such hostility and incomprehension between members of different political parties? Each quiz or survey provides an immediate report on how the participant scored, how the responses compare to others, and what they might say about the participant. Learn more. 
2020 Nobel Awards
2020 Nobel Peace Prize
This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to World Food Programme (WFP) "for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict."
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger.
To learn more, click here.
 
Important Dates This Month

Individuals Honored This Month
November 8th
I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.
November 9th
Do everything possible so that liberty is victorious over oppression, justice over injustice, love over hate.
November 9th
Peace requires the simple but powerful recognition that what we have in common as human beings is more important and crucial than what divides us.
November 14th
Only by being a man or woman for others, does one become fully human.
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