PRIORITIES FOR 2024

COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP

Steering Committee Co-Chairs: George Hodge and Cathy Kimble

AGENDA  Tuesday December 10, 2024

Opening prayer and welcome- George

Project reports

·         Poverty Simulation in (January?) 2025 (Ruth)

·         Pilgrimage to Atlanta GA and Selma/Montgomery AL in (date?) (Mary Reca)

·         Pilgrimage to Greensboro NC in February (22?) 2025 (Cathy)

·         Sacred Ground sessions for 2025 (Chris)

·         Immigration- panel discussion (Laura)

New Business

Announcements- share upcoming events that may be of interest to our members.

·         Link to beautiful photos from the Habitat dedication (Flower Place, Knightdale) on October 24th.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/habitatwake/albums/72177720321487094/

·         Pilgrimage to St. Mark’s Wilson, Saturday, January 11, 2025, 10:00 AM – 3:30 PM (Registration begins at 9:30) St. Mark’s, Wilson     Register here

Of Interest: Pilgrimage to St. Mark’s Wilson

Saturday, January 11, 2025

10:00 AM – 3:30 PM (Registration begins at 9:30)

St. Mark’s, Wilson

Register here

There is nothing quite so sacred or moving as walking on the path and in the footsteps of those whom history has not treated with dignity and grace. As an important part of our mission strategies, we have a huge opportunity to educate ourselves about what has happened in this Diocese and in North Carolina concerning race and the lack of social justice.

We will journey to St. Mark’s to learn more about their history and explore Wilson’s African American history, Freeman Round House and African American History Museum and the Tobacco Factory. Our day will end with a closing Eucharist.

Registration is required - $15 is payable at registration. There is space for 60 participants.

Lunch will be provided. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to St. Mark’s, Wilson. 

Contacts: Jenny Beaumont, Missioner for Adult and Life-long Formation, jenny.beaumont@episdionc.org.

Journey to Justice Ministry engages our parish in education, conversation, and action, to further the understanding of the roots of injustices within our society and discern how the Gospel calls us to respond.

Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) at St. Michael’s

On January 23, 2024, 80 people, including St. Michael’s clergy and the CEO of The Green Chair Project, participated in a Poverty Simulation cohosted by St. Michael’s and The Green Chair Project. Everyone was cast either as a member of a low-income family or a community service provider. Each family biography detailed the personal challenges as well as specific financial constraints. The structure of four “15-minute weeks” instantly created stress as the head of the household—perhaps a single grandparent raising two children—had a number of crucial tasks to accomplish. If the grandmother has a job she must be “at work” for 8 minutes, leaving only 7 minutes to take the bus to the bank, to go to the grocery store, to attend to health appointments for a child. There was never enough time.

By the end of the evening, participants understood on a visceral level the heroic energy it takes to cope with the challenges and the psychological impacts of poverty, especially on children.  Participants learned that 5,143 North Carolina children experienced homelessness in the 2022-23 school year, up from 2,174 in the 2015-16 school year. The Green Chair Project reports that 1 out of 30 Wake County students do not have a bed of their own.

The poverty threshold is $30,000 for a family of four; 92,000 residents of Wake County (8% of the population) live in poverty, while 13% of people in North Carolina live in poverty. 17% of North Carolina children live in poverty.

The federal minimum wage, last raised in 2009, is $7.25. A worker earning minimum wage earns $1,257 a month; the median Raleigh rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,499.

Poverty data from Wake County, HUD, and The Green Chair Project.

Bill Duff runs the Pawn shop. Sally Norton recruits workers. Lining up for work.

RESOURCES AND PAST EVENTS