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Census 2020: Who are we?

Reposted from ELCA Advocacy on April 1, 2020

On this National Census Day, commit to complete your form – but also encourage the community as well! Undercounting is a significant issue among groups which benefoit most form anti-poverty programs and from greater representation in decision-making. “Hard to count” individuals in census experience include persons residing in rural areas, young children, LGBTQIA persons, people experiencing homelessness, people who do not speak English, indigenous peoples and racial and ethnic minorities.

“An accurate count ensures that resources more justly go where they are needed most. It is also critical for representation I the political process as census information determines electoral maps,” says the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Director of ELCA Advocacy. Before in-person census takers are scheduled to facilitate this once-every-10-years count, let’s encourage everyone we can to complete the census online, by mail or by phone – accessed at 2020census.gov.

The ELCA is an official partner of the 2020 Census. Use these voices of Lutheran leaders, also available on social media @ELCAadvocacy, to help encourage the most accurate count possible.

 

“The Central States Synod encompasses two states (Kansas and Missouri), large metropolitan centers, small towns and rural communities, places where the population is growing with thriving businesses, and wide open spaces where homes are few and far. Our landscape from the Lake of the Ozarks to the plains of western Kansas is quite diverse as are our political views and agendas. But through the church we recognize and dare to proclaim, as Jesus did in the gospels, that we all have value and worth, that everyone counts and is important, that it is our diversity which reflects the image of God in our midst. And because everyone counts, everyone needs to be counted in the upcoming census to get a truer and more accurate picture of who we are.”
– The Rev. Susan Candea, Bishop, ELCA Central States Synod  [PHOTO CREDIT: FB@LRC-Central States Synod]

 

“People of color and indigenous people – we can’t afford the illusion of having the luxury of not engaging in this census, because the system doesn’t work for us. We have to do both: making sure our communities are counted and equitably represented in this census, and working to change systems and structures, elected leaders and representatives until they do work for all of us.”
– The Rev. Albert Starr, Jr., ELCA Director, Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries

 

“Those of us struggling with homelessness and at risk of frequent eviction are often missed in our critical census count. Taking part in the census helps direct critical housing and homeless resources to our communities in the greatest need. From the Emergency Shelter Grants Program to the Special Milk Program for children, these programs depend on a complete and accurate count. In coordination with local census offices, houses of worship, shelters, service providers and others might be the only opportunity many have to take part in the census. Help your ministry, soup kitchen, or service program expand the count which can be completed online, by phone or by mail.”
– Andrew Fuller, ELCA Advocacy Coordinator

 

“Forty-five million versus 13 million. That’s the enormous disparity between the average number of words children with white collar parents who read to them hear by the age of four in contrast to children growing up with less access to books. However, reading and being read to has a significant life-long impact on our children and our society. Access to libraries becomes essential for healthy communities, and yet there are “book deserts” all across our nation. Without voice or vote themselves, kids cannot tell you how much reading matters to them – and they are often overlooked when it comes to census taking. Encourage counting the kids in the 2020 Census.”
– The Rev. Janelle Hooper, ELCA Program Director for Ministry with Children

 

“As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and as a person of faith, I know the importance of being seen, named and cared for by the communities I am part of. One way care for LGBTQIA+ people can increase is for us to be seen and counted across the country. For those from the LGBTQIA+ who are not in danger of losing their employment or housing by sharing their identity in the 2020 Census, I invite you to do so – knowing it will make a way for others to receive care.”
– Aubrey Thonvold, Executive Director, ReconcilingWorks  [PHOTO CREDIT: FB@ReconcilingWorks]

 

“The benefit of the census is deeply personal to our communities. Undercounting is a significant issue among groups which benefit most from anti-poverty programs and from greater representation in decision-making. Like our federally recognized tribes, our unrecognized untreatied undocumented people benefit from the very personal infrastructures that affects our lives, like healthcare, food programs, our education from Head Start and libraries to tribal colleges and Pell Grants being available. Counting matters.”
– Prairie Rose Seminole, ELCA Program Director, American Indian and Alaska Native Ministries  [PHOTO CREDIT: USFWS Mountain-Prairie]

 

For your neighbor and yourself – encourage your community to be counted!

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AiQ State

AiQ: April 4 Video

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UN/National Updates Updates

Why do Lutherans get involved in politics?

How do we do God’s work in public life? What is good government anyway?

To address these questions, our church has drafted a Social Message on Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy. From March 20 to May 20, ELCA members are invited to provide feedback on a draft of the message.

We want to hear from YOU, your CHURCH, and your SYNOD about this draft social message. What’s missing, what do you find insightful, where could there be greater depth?

Read the message here and leave comments here. Virtual discussions by synod are on the horizon–we’ll keep you posted.

This writing project was requested by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly and authorized in November 2019 by the ELCA Church Council [CC19.11.47w]. It will be considered for adoption at a June meeting of the council.

Social messages are teaching documents of the ELCA focused on particular social topics. They are intended to focus attention and urge action on timely, pressing matters of social concern to church and society. 

To learn more about the social message and the process of its creation, please see the “Frequently Asked Questions” document. 

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AiQ State

AiQ: March 25

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Uncategorized

Third COVID-19 Stimulus Package

ELCA Advocacy Office in Washington, our partners at Lutheran Services in America (LSA), and our ecumenical and interreligious partners are working feverishly to communicate our values in a now-stalled in the U.S. Senate third Covid-19 Stimulus Package. I am writing with two immediate advocacy needs where your personal voices may make a difference.

We are working to amplify priorities for LSA that can be found in their alert below at the end of this email. LSA may be preparing a special communication for you later today to help you to communicate with your members of Congress. Attached are lists of the members of Congress who particularly need to hear from us on their priorities.

Your calls to Senators and your representatives is urgently needed also for our ELCA advocacy for low wealth communities, immigrants, people who are incarcerated and those who are losing income, employment, housing and more. Our longer list of priorities is here. Top line messaging is below. The Capitol Switchboard can connect you to any of your members at 202-224-3121.

ELCA Advocacy asks that you lift up the urgency of responding now along with the following:

  • Thank you for your bi-partisan efforts in passing the previous two Covid-19 packages.
  • Economic stimulus measures should focus first on low-income and vulnerable communities. Such policies also have the strongest economic impact. Any bailouts and emergency assistance for major industries and businesses must be paired with comparable assistance for economically at risk workers and vulnerable individuals.
  • Increase and expand access to nutrition assistance to prevent families and individuals from going hungry. The CDC recommends people stockpile two weeks of food, but families living paycheck-to-paycheck cannot afford to do so. Others may face reduced paychecks because of reduced hours, and school closures will leave children without access to school lunches and breakfasts. Increase SNAP benefit levels and allow flexibility in use, one of the most effective ways to help stimulate the economy and enable stockpiling for self-quarantine.
  • Strengthen, expand and modernize Unemployment Insurance in order to provide higher benefits, account for the changing workforce (such as the gig economy), and cover workers who may lose their jobs or face new caregiving responsibilities due to the virus (such as school closures). Expand unemployment eligibility to include people whose hours have been reduced due to decreased demand, those whose wages come primarily from tips, those who have run out of sick days, and high-risk populations who need to self-quarantine to protect themselves.
  • As is done in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), any additional employment-focused relief or stimulus legislation must expressly apply to employment at tax-exempt organizations by making tax credits and deductions applicable not just to income taxes, but to the taxes nonprofits pay, such as payroll taxes. Further, Congress should also ensure that relief and stimulus legislation designed to assist for-profit businesses in the areas of unemployment insurance, employee retention, and risk insurance must also address the unique challenges and realities that nonprofits face.
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UN/National Updates Updates

COVID-19 Action Alert

Lawmakers are poised to vote on legislation to combat COVID-19. Call today to support the most vulnerable in our communities.

 

ELCA ADVOCACY   ·  MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

Today, the House may revote on a second emergency aid package H.R.6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act which would provide paid sick leave and free coronavirus testing, expand food assistance and unemployment benefits, and require employers to provide additional protections for health care workers as our communities prepare and address the spread of COVID-19.

The package comes as many of our houses of worship, ministries, businesses and communities grapple with challenging circumstances in the wake of the virus. Our commitment to love our neighbor requires that in addition to social distancing and handwashing precautions, we advocate with and on behalf of those who will suffer most from this disruption, that their needs be front center in our national response.

The House bill, though it falls short of response to other emergency needs such as providing direct funding for people struggling with homelessness, would help protect those of us in the greatest need and who are particularly vulnerable to the virus. Now, Congress must quickly consider the funding request and send the bill to the president’s desk.

In times of struggle, many without adequate resources look to congregations to respond to their urgent needs. Lutheran advocates can make an important difference in calling for support for people most often forgotten in times of crisis.

Call your lawmakers today at the Capitol Switchboard – (202) 224-3121 – and ask to speak to your members of Congress. Have the names of your representative and senator ready (lookup tool at govtrack.us) to be accurately directed, and tell your lawmaker to pass the emergency aid as soon as possible – and to ensure that the most vulnerable of us are protected.

Note – Lawmakers have started discussion of a third possible supplemental package that would address the economic effects of the corona virus. ELCA Advocacy is monitoring the situation and will share updates as developments progress.

To learn more:

ELCA Resources for COVID-19: https://elca.org/publichealth

Blog: ELCA advocacy in time of COVID-19 pandemic

Blog: Virus fears and viral fears: Standing with, not targeting, people
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UN/National Updates

Census 2020: Get Counted

California is vulnerable to an undercount:

  • 29 million Californians belong to one or more groups that have been historically undercounted
  • This number is equivalent to 72% of the state’s nearly 40 million residents
  • Hard-to-reach people include renters, young men, children, African-Americans and Latinos

If there’s an undercount of the state population, California may lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as billions of dollars in federal funding for school lunches, Medi-Cal, block grants for affordable housing, and other programs with funding streams based on population.

Sources:
The Following was First Posted on February 24, 2020 by ELCA Advocacy.

Our communities are significantly shaped by census data, and Census 2020 will update these numbers for the first time in 10 years. The ELCA is an official partner of the 2020 Census to encourage the most accurate count possible.

“Funding for over 100 federal programs, many of which combat poverty and hunger and support people in need, are distributed based on population,” says the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Director of ELCA Advocacy. “An accurate count ensures that resources more justly go where they are needed most. It is also critical for representation in the political process as census information determines electoral maps.”

Undercounting is a significant issue among groups which benefit most from anti-poverty programs and from greater representation in decision-making. “Hard to count” individuals in census experience include persons residing in rural areas, young children, LGBTQIA persons, people experiencing homelessness, people who do not speak English, indigenous peoples and racial and ethnic minorities. The Census aims to count everyone regardless of immigration status, and as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, there will not be a question about citizenship status on the 2020 Census.

People underrepresented in previous census counts are not strangers. They are part of our congregations and communities. As we work toward a just world where all are fed, for your neighbor and yourself – encourage your community to be counted!

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Children's Issues

End Child Poverty Advocacy Day

KCRA Coverage of the End Child Poverty rally with legislators present. For Spanish coverage, click here.

LOPP-CA joins other coalitions and advocacy groups for just under 20 lobby days a year to support justice in the public sphere. On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, we joined the End Child Poverty Campaign and many others to advocate for CalEITC expansion, the child tax credit, increased childcare slots for eligible children, and fair compensation for early childhood educators and workers.

 

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UN/National Updates Updates

2020 ELCA ADVOCACY FEDERAL POLICY PRIORITIES

In the ELCA we believe that, through baptism, God is calling us into the world to serve together. We are a church that views governments as helpful ways God is active in our world and that is energized by lively engagement in our faith and public life. When we, as ELCA members, lift our voices together to influence policies that advance the common good, we further God’s work in our world.

Shaped by the ELCA’s social teaching documents and the experiences of its congregations, ministries and partners, we advocate to end world hunger and stands up for policies that create opportunities to overcome poverty, promote peace and dignity, preserve God’s creation and promote racial justice.

You will find ELCA faith-based advocates meeting with policy makers, taking joint action with values-sharing issue partners, writing letters, making public comments, talking with neighbors, asking questions in town hall meetings — listening, learning, educating and visibly and skillfully asserting policy considerations guided by faith foundations.

In addition to faith-based advocacy organized by local congregations and synods, by Lutheran state public policy offices and by Lutheran Office for World Community representation to the United Nations, ELCA Advocacy is active in Washington, D.C. Following are policy priorities on the national horizon for 2020.

Civic engagement

Anticipating the 2020 U.S. presidential election and supporting the church’s #ELCAvotes initiative, ELCA Advocacy will continue to prioritize policy and practice that increases both government inclusion of and civic participation in our communities.

  Domestic Policy

Child nutrition programs — Restore, protect and adequately fund school and community-based feeding programs as part of the federal safety net, and oppose efforts to convert nutrition assistance programs to block grants to states which would over time diminish free and reduced-fee meal benefits.

Criminal justice reform — End mass incarceration, promote fairer sentencing and support restorative reentry programs in our communities through federal and state funding and reforms.

Civil and human rights — Safeguard and promote protections for vulnerable populations, including communities who face barriers, unjust treatment or inequalities on the basis of racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, sexual orientation or class identity.

  • GO TOs — Find more in ELCA social teaching resources, including the social policy resolution “Advocating for Child Nutrition,” the social message “Human Rights” and the social statement The Church and Criminal Justice.
Domestic Policy: Housing

Budget concerns — Foster bipartisan cooperation and public support for budgeting of federal programs that fund affordable housing and assist people who are homeless.

Shelter and housing reforms — Ensure that the experience of churches and faith-based ministries informs federal reforms and public rule revisions that affect low-income housing programs.

Natural disaster impact — Support federal disaster aid resources and equitable access to recovery programs that assist communities before and after natural disasters.

  • GO TOs — Find more in ELCA social teaching resources, including the social message “Homelessness: A Renewal of Commitment” and the social statement Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All.
Environment Policy

Mitigation, Adaptation and Resiliency — Support legislation and policies that address the global impact of greenhouse gas emissions, incorporating the principles of participation, solidarity, sufficiency and sustainability. Impacts and related policy considerations are multifaceted, including food security threats, agricultural challenges, increased health issues, national security and the forced migration of thousands.

Sustainability — Encourage and advocate for important legislation to protect frontline communities and vulnerable populations that disproportionately experience the negative impacts of environmental degradation, including climate-related changes that exacerbate existing racial, economic, ecological and social injustices.

Creation care strengths of ELCA — Amplify ELCA experiential, educational and creation-care value resources, expressing faithful hope for the future, at this time of pressing and wide-ranging environmental concerns.

  • GO TOs — Find more in ELCA social teaching resources, including the social statements Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice; Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All; and Genetics, Faith and Responsibility.
International Policy

Federal budget considerations — Advocate for robust support for international antipoverty, humanitarian and global health funding (i.e. HIV/AIDS, malaria), as well as funding for conflict prevention and peace-building programs.

Gender Justice — Strengthen U.S. government capacity to prevent gender-based violence, promote girls’ education, protect women and girls during humanitarian crises, and support the economic and health care needs of women and girls globally.

Peace and Diplomacy — Promote human rights and strengthen conflict prevention and peace-building activities around the world, including bilateral and multilateral initiatives.

Migration Policy

Plight of children, women and men fleeing the Northern Triangle of Central America — Raise awareness of the challenges and humanitarian stories on the United States’ southern border.

Human rights of migrants — Restore, protect and promote the human rights of those fleeing violence, poverty, environmental degradation or food insecurity, to name a few causes, and urge the relevant governments and ad hoc institutions to protect migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as established under international law, by denouncing policies and practices that exacerbate the risks and discrimination these populations face.

Militarization of foreign aid — Organize against the allocation of funds to militarize the U.S. southern border and the development of practices that compromise the human rights of migrants.

Path to citizenship — Support policy that reinforces Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

  • GO-TOs — Find more in ELCA social teaching resources, including the social messages “Immigration,” “Human Rights” and “Gender-based Violence.”
How can you get involved?

Become part of the ELCA Advocacy network at ELCA.org/advocacy/signup! You will receive monthly updates on policy activity and be invited to take action at moments when your voice and experience will have an impact.

Find resources for your advocacy efforts at ELCA.org/resources/advocacy and a community with which to engage on social media at @ELCAadvocacy. Together we endeavor to live into our baptismal covenant to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

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Local Events

Brunch and Silent Auction in Southwest California Synod

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register at https://tinyurl.com/faith-politics