Kids: Rich/Poor

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WEALTH INEQUALITY Rich kid, poor kid: Child-rearing differences stark Socioeconomic divisions create varied paths with long-term consequences The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than ever. Well-off families are ruled by calendars, with children enrolled in ballet, soccer and after-school programs, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. There are usually two parents, who spend a lot of time reading to children and worrying about their anxiety levels and hectic schedules. In poor families, children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family, the survey found. They are more likely to grow up in neighborhoods their parents say aren’t great for raising children, and their parents worry about them getting shot, beaten up or in trouble with the law. The class differences in child rearing are growing, researchers say — a symptom of widening inequality with far-reaching consequences. Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions, especially because education is strongly linked to earnings. Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum, but not necessarily in others. “Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for children’s long-term social, emotional and cognitive development,” said Sean Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University. “And because those influence educational success and later earnings, early childhood experiences cast a lifelong shadow.” The cycle continues: Poorer parents have less time and fewer resources to invest in their children, which leaves children less prepared for school and work, which leads to lower earnings. American parents want similar things for their children, the Pew report and past research has found: for them to be healthy and happy, honest and ethical, caring and compassionate. There is no best parenting style or philosophy, researchers say, and across income groups, 92 percent of parents say they are doing a good job of raising their children. Yet they are doing it quite differently. Higher-income parents see their children as projects in need of careful cultivation, says Annette Lareau, whose groundbreaking research on the topic was published in her book Unequal Childhoods. They try to develop their skills through close supervision and organized activities, and teach children to question authority figures and navigate elite institutions. Working-class parents, meanwhile, believe their children will naturally thrive, and give them far greater independence and time for free play. They are taught to be compliant and deferential to adults. There are benefits to both. Working-class children are happier, more independent, whine less and are closer to family members, Lareau found. Higher-income children are more likely to declare boredom and expect their parents to solve their problems. Yet later on, the affluent children end up in college and en route to the middle class, while working-class children struggle. Middle-class child rearing equips children with the skills to navigate bureaucracies and succeed in schools and workplaces, Lareau said. Social scientists say the differences arise in part because low-income parents have less money to spend on music class or preschool, and less flexible schedules to take children to museums or attend school events. Extracurricular activities epitomize the differences in child rearing in the Pew survey, which was of a nationally representative sample of 1,807 parents. Of families earning more than $75,000 a year, 84 percent say their children have participated in organized sports over the past year, 64 percent have done volunteer work and 62 percent have taken lessons in music, dance or art. Of families earning less than $30,000, 59 percent of children have participated in sports, 37 percent have volunteered and 41 percent have taken classes in the arts. The survey also looked at attitudes and anxieties. Interestingly, parents’ attitudes toward education do not seem to reflect their own educational background as much as a belief in the importance of education for upward mobility. Most American parents say they are not concerned about their children’s grades as long as they work hard. But 50 percent of poor parents say it is extremely important to them that their children earn a college degree, compared with 39 percent of wealthier parents. Parental anxieties reflect their circumstances. High-earning parents are much more likely to say they live in a good neighborhood for raising children. While bullying is parents’ greatest concern overall, nearly half of low-income parents worry their child will get shot, compared with one-fifth of high-income parents. They are more worried about their children being depressed or anxious. Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times

Other people's kids

"The American dream is in crisis. . .because Americans used to care about other people's kids and now they only care about their own kids."

 

Robert Putnam,

Our Kids:  The American Dream in Crisis

Check out related The New Yorker article here

Prayer list. . .

Here's my first prayer list for the first Sunday of 2014:

• Minimum wage adjustment so that people who work can live above poverty line
• Comprehensive immigration reform so that thousands of my neighbors can receive documentation needed to remain in the US "legally"
• Housing for thousands of homeless persons living on Dallas streets on this cold, cold morning
• Aggressive/progressive city policy to incent developers to build needed permanent supportive housing units in our city
• The children who will go back to school tomorrow--that their  educational experience would be adequate for their coming lives
• Churches in Dallas to "connect the dots" between the Christian message and God's love for the world and the poor
• Strength to live life with less talk and more action
• Justice in the US economy and in the Dallas expression of same
• Those left out, left behind and kicked to the side to know their real status in the heart of God
• Mercy, Lord, mercy

Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you count your blessings, I trust that great joy will follow, as well as reflection.

Today I will be with our family.

All four of my grandchildren will be with me.

It will be wonderful.

And, it will be better today for my little buddy, Chris or Christian, than it was just a couple of years ago.

Chris and his mom live in our building downtown.  Chris' mom is a devoted provider.  She keeps Chris on the right path.

Last week he showed me his report card--all As with one B.  He had circled the B.

"See that circle?" he asked me.

"Yes, I do. What does it mean?" I replied.

"It means next time I'll have a 100 there!" he exclaimed.

I expect he will.

He told me that  he wants to go to Oklahoma University and play football.  I told him that both were great dreams, but in any case he could go to OU if he worked hard, football or no football.  He smiled.

Chris is my buddy and I am his.

As I thank God for my family today, I'll find some time to thank God for Chris and his family as well.

I'm grateful he is doing well.

He'll have his chance, and that is everything.

Good News for CitySquare AmeriCorps Team!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 

DATE: July 5, 2013

 

CONTACT: Elizabeth Darling, 512-287-2062, liz@onestarfoundation.org

 

OneStar Foundation Announces AmeriCorps Grants to Texas Organizations

 

2,126 AmeriCorps members to meet state and local needs

 

Austin, TX – OneStar Foundation announced today that 22 organizations in Texas have received AmeriCorps*State grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service. 

 

The grants will support 2,126 AmeriCorps members across the state who will serve as in-school, after-school and summertime teachers, tutors and mentors, provide intensive college access and success services, engage in adult and early literacy interventions, participate in early childhood development programs, distribute food to economically disadvantaged children and families, engage children in daily physical activity, assist with case management for the homeless, recruit hundreds of volunteers, and respond to disasters throughout the state.

 

OneStar Foundation will distribute more than $12.3 million in funding to organizations selected in a highly competitive statewide and national process. 

 

“National service is an essential part of the solution to many of the social challenges facing our Texas communities,” said Elizabeth Darling, President/CEO. “These AmeriCorps members will meet pressing local needs and strengthen Texas as they develop civic and leadership skills that can last a lifetime.”

 

The current year’s AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, due to the strong and growing demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources. Demand is also strong from individuals wanting to serve. CNCS received a record-breaking 582,000 AmeriCorps applications in 2011, a dramatic increase from the 360,000 seen in 2009. 

 

"AmeriCorps members are improving the lives of millions of citizens and having a positive and lasting impact on the toughest challenges facing our communities,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “I congratulate these organizations for their strong applications in a highly competitive year. Thanks to the dedicated service of AmeriCorps members, these organizations will increase their reach and impact on meeting local needs.”

 

The grants advance the priorities of the bipartisan 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and focus AmeriCorps resources on six key service areas: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.

 

On a national level, AmeriCorps engages 80,000 Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs. Members serve through more than 14,000 organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation. Among other accomplishments, AmeriCorps members last year mobilized 3.4 million community volunteers, and tutored, mentored or served more than 3.5 million disadvantaged youth.

 

Since 1994, more than 775,000 Americans have provided more than 1 billion hours of service to their communities and country through AmeriCorps. In 2012, 1,964 AmeriCorps members served at 20 programs across the state of Texas in the fields of Education, Economic Opportunity, Healthy Futures, Environmental Stewardship, and Veterans & Military Families. Members provided 2.3 million hours of service and earned $7.4 million in Segal Education Awards to further their own education and repay student loan debt after serving. The 20 AmeriCorps*Texas programs received $12,111,429 in federal AmeriCorps funding, and leveraged an additional $9,766,781 in match funding.

 

Below is a listing of 2013 AmeriCorps grants in Texas:

• Amarillo ISD, $285,430 to support 55 AmeriCorps Members
• American YouthWorks, $260,000 to support 20 AmeriCorps Members
• AVANCE, Inc. El Paso Chapter, $930,960 to support 74 AmeriCorps Members
• Breakthrough , $330,013 to support 106 AmeriCorps Members
• CitySquare, $1,142,953 to support 304 AmeriCorps Members
• City Year, Inc. , $1,476,300 to support 111 AmeriCorps Members
• College Forward, $965,655 to support 75 AmeriCorps Members
• Communities in Schools of Central Texas, $711,044 to support 96 AmeriCorps Members
• Communities in Schools of the Heart of Texas, $279,168 to support 48 AmeriCorps Members
• Front Steps, $403,000 to support 31 AmeriCorps Members
• Harris County Department of Education, $326,618 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
• Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, $330,592 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
• Project GRAD, $244,353 to support 25 AmeriCorps  Members
• Project Transformation, $477,984 to support 115 AmeriCorps Members
• Reading Partners, $370,500 to support 30 AmeriCorps Members
• SA Youth, $265,421 to support 40 AmeriCorps Members
• Schulenburg Weimar In Focus Together, $282,830 to support 41 AmeriCorps Members
• Teach for America, $950,000 to support 634 AmeriCorps Members
• Travis County Dept. of Health and Human Services and Veterans Service, $301,696 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
• University of North Texas, $466,436 to support 83 AmeriCorps Members
• The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, $265,892 to support 40 AmeriCorps Members
• University of Texas at Austin | Charles A. Dana Center, $1,330,000 to support 106 AmeriCorps Members

###

 

OneStar Foundation is the Governor-designated National Service Commission in Texas and administers the AmeriCorps*State grant program. The Governor-appointed Board members oversee the legal and policy governance of the AmeriCorps*Texas program portfolio. OneStar Foundation connects partners and resources to build a stronger nonprofit sector in Texas. Learn more at onestarfoundation.org.

 

AmeriCorps is a national service program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service each year and administers United We Serve, the President’s call to service.  Individuals can learn about available opportunities and apply online by visiting AmeriCorps.gov.

 

 

 

 

 

Gracie speaks up for CitySquare!

Last week, my Granddaughter, Gracie Toombs made a presentation to her REACH class on CitySquare. 

The assignment involved students studying and researching selected non-profit organizations and reporting to their classmates on what they learned.

 I was lucky enough to be present to hear and capture Gracie's presentation on video.

 Of course, I was proud of her, and grateful for her reporting on CitySquare!


 

Poverty and the children of Dallas

This report appeared in DMagazine's FrontBurner release posted just yesterday.  I've just copied and pasted to share the entire story. Read directly from the original post here.

Dallas Kids Still Abnormally Poor, Census Shows

Posted on December 13th, 2012 11:42am by Bradford Pearson
Filed under Charts, Civics, Crime, Demographics, Gripes, Urbanism

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week show that Dallas County children, on whole, are poorer than not only most other Texas children, but most other children in America’s largest cities.

Close to 30 percent of children in Dallas County between the ages of five and 17 live in poverty, the numbers show, nearly a five percent increase since 2007. The below chart shows the poverty rates for those aged children, in Dallas-area counties:

Source: U.S. Census data

Jump for even more disturbing news, and a few bright spots.

Okay, first with the bright spots. Dallas isn’t the worst county in Texas for child poverty, and it’s not even close. The five counties with the highest child poverty rates in 2011 (I removed Loving County from the list, because it’s the least populous county in the U.S., with only 82 residents.):

Brooks County: 48.1 percent
Hidalgo County: 46.2 percent
Cameron County: 45.5 percent
Starr County: 44.7 percent
Zapata County, Zavala County: 44.3 percent

Those six counties either hug the border or sit one county away from the border. Bleak stuff. Before I get to the bleakest data – the ones that show how poorly Dallas stacks up against the rest of America’s biggest cities — here are the overall poverty rates for the Dallas area. Most counties have oscillated slightly in recent years; Dallas has shot right for the bottom of the bucket.

Source: U.S. Census data

Now onto the part of the show where we compare Dallas to its similar cities, the fine folks in the other most-populous cities. Seems kids are doing a whole lot better in them than in Dallas, for the most part. These are based on county numbers for 2011:

New York (Bronx County: 41 percent; New York County: 28.8 percent; Queens County: 22.2 percent; Kings County: 33.3 percent; Richmond County: 16 percent)
Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): 38.6 percent
Dallas (Dallas County): 28.3 percent
Houston (Harris County): 27.5 percent
Chicago (Cook County): 26 percent
Los Angeles (Los Angeles County): 25.1 percent
San Antonio (Bexar County): 24.2 percent
Phoenix (Maricopa County): 23.4 percent
San Diego (San Diego County): 18.4 percent
San Jose (Santa Clara County): 12.1 percent

C’mon people, we can’t be worse than Houston. You can explore every county in America, back to 1989, here.

Kids and trees. . .

What is it about kids and trees? 

You know, climbing trees almost instinctively? 

And, what is it about little brothers trying to come behind big brothers no matter what the subject or assignment?

What is it about kids anyway? 

Sadly, some inner city neighborhoods make it very difficult for children to play outside or to climb in the trees. 

Homes stand abandoned.

Community code standards regulating health and safety go unenforced.

Criminal activity seems out of control. 

In some cases regular, dependable nutrition presents very real health challenges to children and their parents. 

Still, kids try to climb trees!  Little brothers and sisters try their best to keep up with their older siblings. 

I have this theory that the more kids you observe climbing trees the healthier the neighborhood! 

[Pictured here at the top, Owen and little brother, Henry!  Amazing boys, if I do say so myself!]

"Toxic Stress," children and poverty

We've known it for years here at CitySquare.  Our young children live in a noisy, stress-filled world, even chaotic at times.  We are now learning what this means in very practical and often frightening terms.  The article from Nicholas Kristof that follows challenges me.  What it calls for, in my view, is a national covenant, something much more serious than a media campagin.  Rather, we need to step up, sign up and show up when it comes to providing for the well-being of our children.  That means all of us:  rich and poor, educated nad undereducated, parents and teachers, ministers and politicians, right and left and all the in between!  We've got to do better. 

Read on and see if you don't agree. LJ

A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
January 7, 2012

PERHAPS the most widespread peril children face isn’t guns, swimming pools or speeding cars. Rather, scientists are suggesting that it may be “toxic stress” early in life, or even before birth.

This month, the American Academy of Pediatrics is issuing a landmark warning that this toxic stress can harm children for life. I’m as skeptical as anyone of headlines from new medical studies (Coffee is good for you! Coffee is bad for you!), but that’s not what this is.

Rather, this is a “policy statement” from the premier association of pediatricians, based on two decades of scientific research. This has revolutionary implications for medicine and for how we can more effectively chip away at poverty and crime.

Toxic stress might arise from parental abuse of alcohol or drugs. It could occur in a home where children are threatened and beaten. It might derive from chronic neglect — a child cries without being cuddled. Affection seems to defuse toxic stress — keep those hugs and lullabies coming! — suggesting that the stress emerges when a child senses persistent threats but no protector.

Cues of a hostile or indifferent environment flood an infant, or even a fetus, with stress hormones like cortisol in ways that can disrupt the body’s metabolism or the architecture of the brain.

The upshot is that children are sometimes permanently undermined. Even many years later, as adults, they are more likely to suffer heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other physical ailments. They are also more likely to struggle in school, have short tempers and tangle with the law.

The crucial period seems to be from conception through early childhood. After that, the brain is less pliable and has trouble being remolded.

“You can modify behavior later, but you can’t rewire disrupted brain circuits,” notes Jack P. Shonkoff, a Harvard pediatrician who has been a leader in this field. “We’re beginning to get a pretty compelling biological model of why kids who have experienced adversity have trouble learning.”

This new research addresses an uncomfortable truth: Poverty is difficult to overcome partly because of self-destructive behaviors. Children from poor homes often shine, but others may skip school, abuse narcotics, break the law, and have trouble settling down in a marriage and a job. Then their children may replicate this pattern.

Liberals sometimes ignore these self-destructive pathologies. Conservatives sometimes rely on them to blame poverty on the poor.

The research suggests that the roots of impairment and underachievement are biologically embedded, but preventable. “This is the biology of social class disparities,” Dr. Shonkoff said. “Early experiences are literally built into our bodies.”

The implication is that the most cost-effective window to bring about change isn’t high school or even kindergarten — although much greater efforts are needed in schools as well — but in the early years of life, or even before birth.

“Protecting young children from adversity is a promising, science-based strategy to address many of the most persistent and costly problems facing contemporary society, including limited educational achievement, diminished economic productivity, criminality, and disparities in health,” the pediatrics academy said in its policy statement.

One successful example of early intervention is home visitation by childcare experts, like those from the Nurse-Family Partnership. This organization sends nurses to visit poor, vulnerable women who are pregnant for the first time. The nurse warns against smoking and alcohol and drug abuse, and later encourages breast-feeding and good nutrition, while coaxing mothers to cuddle their children and read to them. This program continues until the child is 2.

At age 6, studies have found, these children are only one-third as likely to have behavioral or intellectual problems as others who weren’t enrolled. At age 15, the children are less than half as likely to have been arrested.

Evidence of the importance of early experiences has been mounting like snowflakes in a blizzard. For example, several studies examined Dutch men and women who had been in utero during a brief famine at the end of World War II. Decades later, those “famine babies” had more trouble concentrating and more heart disease than those born before or after.

Other scholars examined children who had been badly neglected in Romanian orphanages. Those who spent more time in the orphanages had shorter telomeres, a change in chromosomes that’s a marker of accelerated aging. Their brain scans also looked different.

The science is still accumulating. But a compelling message from biology is that if we want to chip away at poverty and improve educational and health outcomes, we have to start earlier. For many children, damage has been suffered before the first day of school.

As Frederick Douglass noted, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

A tribute to a dog. . .

Prepare to shed a tear here!

This video sent me off down a long memory lane with my own children and, now, my grandchildren.  It also set me to thinking about pets and children from extremely low-income families.  There are a number of dogs in our building here in Downtown Dallas, home to over 250 low-income folks. 

Watch.  Consider.  Enjoy!



[Note: I posted this before learning of the passing of our family's beloved Griffey on Friday. He was an amazing dog. R.I.P., Griffey. We'll never forget you. With much love, Granddad]

Humor me. . .

Humor me, I'm an aging grandfather! Pictured below you'll find real treasure. 

Gracie cheers on one of her school's football clubs.

Owen mixes it up on the soccer field.

Henry clowns and makes everyone smile.

Wyatt scores a touchdown after a long run during a flag football game.

Pure treasure, I tell you, pure treasure!

God, bless the children; these and all the rest.  Priceless, priceless. 

Brotherhood--basis of community

Big brother enjoys a meal in relative peace:

Little brother wonders about his place at the table:

Little brother makes his expectations clear:

Big brother responds with kindness and concern:

Harmony and community prevail:

[Lessons observed while watching grandchildren!]

The Perfect Teacher

Gracie Bea Toombs is my 9-year-old granddaughter.  She is a very special little girl.  Of course, you'd expect me to say that, but it is true.  Gracie is about to complete the 3rd grade at White Rock Elementary School.  She loves school, even more her teacher, Ms. Cornett.   Not long ago, Gracie wrote the following tribute in honor of her teacher as the school year draws to a close.  I think you'll like it, and I think you'll see what I mean about Gracie.

The Perfect Teacher

There are many kinds of teachers.  Some tall.  Some small.  Some teachers just speak matter of fact like.  Some teachers just teach the way textbooks tell them to.  But the best teacher's lessons don't come from a textbook.   Her lessons come from her heart.  If you were uneasy, mad or sad, the perfect teacher comforts you.  She loves each and every child for who he or she is. 

This year, I am one of the 21 fortunate third graders who are in her class.  I like all teachers, but this year she has stood out to me.  She opened up her heart to every student in my class.  She has taught us so much this year.  Sure, she's taught us reading and math.  But that's not the most important thing.  She has taught us about protests in the middle east and the struggle in Japan and how it effects us.  For black history month she had us memorize speeches about segregation and women's rights.  While the other classes were just reading from textbooks, we were there at those freedom marches and protests.  For earth day we helped the world by making new paper from recycled paper.  We also planted sprouts while all the other classes colored bookmarks.  We gave water to people in Africa through thewaterproject.com. 

She has taught us life skills:  kindness, love, peace, organization, and self-estemm.  But those aren't the most important things she did for us.  She has told us to stand up to injustice, that we could be anything we wanted, and that we can change the world.

But it is not us.  It's her.  The other classes may say they learn more than us, but you can go up to any one of them and ask them about protests in the middle east, or the struggle in Japan or about changing lives in Africa or about life skills or about standing up for what we believe in, and trust me, they won't know as much as WE do. 

Sometimes it only takes ONE TEACHER to change the world world.  And that teacher is my third grade teacher, Miss Cornett.

Family. . .generations

As I grow older, I'm constantly reminded that I am now at "the head of the line" in terms of my place in the natural generational flow of my family.  When did I become the patriarch? 

Over the weekend Brenda and I spent three days with two of our grandchildren while their parents got a away for some renewal time. 

We had a blast! 

More, we enjoyed some very special one-on-one time together with each of the kids, Gracie (9) and Wyatt (7).  As they grow up, we find ourselves doing more of a "boy thing," "girl thing" division of time and activity. 

The conversations, the questions, their delight at some old stories of our families, meals together, shopping, fishing, playing catch, working on art, styling hair, pretending to be secret agent type spys. . .what a time! 

Working to ensure that as many children as possible make such vital connections to parents and grandparents is an important part of what we are about where I work.  That said, I have my own responsibilities along these lines as a grandfather. 

"What do you do, Granddad?' Wyatt asked me over an ice cream cone late on Sunday afternoon. 

He really wanted to understand, so I told him. 

I felt like I was conversing with a dear and trusted friend. 

And, of course, I was. 

The children. . .

The recently agreed upon federal budget that resulted in funding cuts of almost $40 billion included a $504 million cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Taking a closer look at the WIC website, I identified the program mission:  "WIC provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk."

A program description reads:  "WIC food packages and nutrition education are the chief means by which WIC affects the dietary quality and habits of participants."

WIC has worked hard to make the program incredibly efficient, while also upgrading the dietary quality of the food provided low-income mothers and children.  Here's a description of recent gains in the quality of nutritive food products distributed: 

"New food packages are now being provided to WIC participants in all States. On December 6, 2007, an interim rule revising the WIC food packages was published in the Federal Register. The new food packages align with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and infant feeding practice guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The food packages better promote and support the establishment of successful, long-term breastfeeding, provide WIC participants with a wider variety of foods including fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and provide WIC State agencies greater flexibility in prescribing food packages to accommodate the cultural food preferences of WIC participants."

For years we've referred women with infants to WIC for the nutritious food products needed by their little ones.  Women earning at or below 185% of the federal poverty level have been eligible for the program.  To put that in real terms, a mother with one child could earn up to $338 weekly gross and qualify for WIC food products. 

Clearly, infant nutrition or the lack thereof drives a number of important social and , ultimately, economic and public health outcomes, including obesity, brain development and function, learning capacity, family stability, and overall well-being and health. 

Aren't are children worth the cost?  Isn't the investment one that will serve us all very well over the long haul?

A very special Christmas story

Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children's Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.


Mrs. Edelman's Child Watch Column also appears each week on The Huffington Post and Change.org.

I "lifted" the following story from Edelman's column.  She reports on a very special Christmas Eve sermon delivered at the Riverside Church in New Yorik City by her friend William Sloan Coffin, Jr.  Her Christmas story provides all the direction we need to craft a better community as we begin our first steps toward next Christmas, don't you think? 
______________________________

. . . it was Christmas Eve and the pews at New York City’s Riverside Church were packed. The Christmas pageant was underway and had come to the point at which the innkeeper was to turn away Mary and Joseph with the resounding line, “There’s no room at the inn!” The innkeeper was played by Tim, an earnest youth of the congregation who had Down Syndrome. Only one line to remember: “There’s no room at the inn!” He had practiced it again and again with his parents and the pageant director and seemed to have mastered it.


So Tim stood at the altar, bathrobe costume firmly belted over his broad stomach, as Mary and Joseph made their way down the center aisle. They approached him, said their lines as rehearsed, and waited for his reply. Tim’s parents, the pageant director, and the whole congregation almost leaned forward as if willing him to remember his line.

“There’s no room at the inn!” Tim boomed out, just as rehearsed. But then, as Mary and Joseph turned on cue to travel further, Tim suddenly yelled “Wait!” They turned back, startled, and looked at him in surprise.

“You can stay at my house!” he called.

Well, Tim had so effectively preached the Christmas Eve message at Riverside Church that Bill Coffin strode to the pulpit, said “Amen,” and sat down. It was the best sermon he never preached.

When will we individually and collectively as congregations, as communities, and as a nation resolve to stop saying to our children, “There’s no room at the inn”? When will we, like Tim, start saying, “You can stay at my house”? As the recession’s dangerous effects linger, when will we say to poor, hungry, and homeless children, “Wait! We’ll make a place for you at America’s table”? How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, “We will help you escape poverty”? “We’ll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again”?

Why I get up every morning. . .

One of our interns from the Perkins School of Theology at SMU recently passed along this story.

The talented seminarian offers the little girls who live in our housing at CityWalk at Akard a dance class.

One day last week, during a break in the class, she overheard a 10-year-old girl tell another girl, "This Christmas will be much better than last year when we were in the shelter."

No need to say anything else.

Children. . .all children. . .are amazing--we can't afford to lose even one

Tweet from Cornel West

Cornel West (@CornelWest)

9/21/10 10:50 AM

"We've allowed the souls of our young people to grow emptier, our schools have become a disgrace, & our communities shattered."

Children and poverty--a growth issue

Our friends over at Voice of Hope in West Dallas published the following essay by Mark Shriver, "Our Future Dims as Childhood Poverty Jumps."  The message is beyond disturbing to say the least. 

 I applaud the fine work being done by our partners at Voice of Hope.

We're all in this fight together.

USA Today reported this week that the national poverty crisis now affects 1 out of 5 children in the United States, up from 1 out of 6 just four years ago. This astonishing figure is a sober reminder that the recession isn't just stretching our safety net, but it's also threatening the success of the next generation of Americans.

Indeed, childhood poverty in the United States ignites a devastating chain of consequences that leads to equally devastating places:

• Four-year-old kids living in poverty are 18 months behind their peers. These gaps in early childhood persist throughout a child's youth, with clear and established links to the high school dropout rate, teenage pregnancy and unemployment.

• Only a little over 15 percent of fourth graders from poor homes are reading at levels considered proficient by the U.S. Department of Education. According to a recent study from the Casey Foundation, the clearest sign a child will drop out of high school is subpar reading scores in elementary school. Almost half of all high school dropouts are on government assistance and a high school dropout is eight times more likely to be incarcerated.

• Half of kids living in rural areas -- where poverty is at extraordinary levels -- are obese or overweight, compared to one third nationally. The obesity crisis puts kids at risk for "adult" diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, stunting their productivity and straining an already exhausted health care system.

We can have a debate about the best and most effective ways of eliminating poverty but there's no better place to start than the by protecting the next generation. Doing so means reversing the effects of poverty through smart interventions and innovative programs.

There are many highly effective steps we can take to blunt poverty's permanent effects on young kids. Here are three:

• Invest in public-private partnerships that are proven to make a real difference in a toddler's development. The Early Learning Challenge Fund would provide billions of dollars in grants to innovative early education programs and save billions over the long term through a better educated and more productive America.

• After-school programs can give kids reading below grade level the extra boost they need to catch up with their peers. There are three bills in Congress that would increase after-school programs for kids struggling to read. These programs work--Save the Children's after-school program almost doubled the number of kids reading at grade level at some schools in the most remote, low-income parts of the nation

• We can combat the twin childhood hunger and obesity crises by increasing access to healthier school lunches. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 would provide healthier meals to hundreds of thousands more kids than the current school lunch program does.

In the midst of this economic downturn, we may not be able to end poverty for all kids. Still, that's no reason why businesses, families, non-profits, and, yes, government can't work together so that kids being raised by struggling parents get a fair chance in life.