Economic Dignity | Faith in Action

Compassion and science must lead in safe injection debate

Sierra Snyder — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 20:43:47 +0000

Across Philadelphia, the overdose epidemic is ripping apart families and shattering lives. Marginalized communities suffer the most, perpetuating a cycle of suffering borne of generations of disinvestment and exacerbated by COVID-19. We must take a thoughtful and compassionate approach to addressing this crisis.

First, we must confront a sobering reality: the Black community now bears the brunt of the overdose epidemic. In 2021, more Black Philadelphians died of overdoses than did members of any other group, and fatal overdoses are increasing faster for Black Philadelphians than they are for any other group. In 2022, the City’s number of unintentional overdose deaths was nearly triple the number of homicides.

As a faith leader, I have mourned with the families of overdose victims, and I dream of a day when no more families will have to shoulder that kind of grief. Our faith calls us to respond to the needs of all people, casting aside our fears and prejudices.

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Beth Ann Maier: Our only plan is to turn people out on the street

Sierra Snyder — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 16:23:47 +0000

Vermonters, we have a housing emergency, and it will reach crisis proportions this summer. If that sounds alarmist, it only hints at how alarming it will be for Vermonters experiencing homelessness and the cities, towns and villages of Vermont that will need to respond to people without shelter in their communities.

Despite all the talk about housing being everyone’s No. 1 priority, the only plan offered for the coming year is a massive unhousing of those currently in hotel-based shelter. This program has been funded with federal Covid-emergency dollars that are due to run out this month. The Budget Adjustment Act is set to extend the Vermont funding through May with surplus state funding, but come July, funds to shelter those without housing will need to come from the fiscal year 2024 budget.

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Advocates call for new state assistance for renters

Sierra Snyder — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 19:40:49 +0000

The Vermont State Housing Authority announced last month that the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program will stop taking new applications on October 1st, and the program’s funding is expected to run out in early 2023.

On Monday, the Vermont Interfaith Action held a news conference calling on Governor Phil Scott and Vermont lawmakers to create a new plan for people who need rental assistance. Reverend Beth Ann Maier noted more than 3,000 households will stop receiving rental support within the next three weeks, at a time when many have seen rent increases of 30%.

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Biden’s $10,000 student debt forgiveness plan ignores the economics of race

Sierra Snyder — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 19:21:35 +0000

This week, President Biden made good on his campaign promise to reduce student loan debt, promising to cancel $10,000 in debt for Americans earning less than $125,000 per year and $20,000 for low-income students who received Pell grants. The measure is a step in the right direction, and, as the president and many Democrats celebrated this political accomplishment, so did my own colleagues and acquaintances on social media.

For much of my social circle, however, it wasn’t much of a moment to celebrate. I am a college-educated Black woman, who answered the call to ministry after I had turned 40. This meant going back to graduate school and taking student loans while still helping my children and other family members with their college tuitions.

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Community Voices: Why I slept outside for housing

Sierra Snyder — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 18:39:21 +0000

When I started working on a campaign to educate residents on the $45 million the City of St. Petersburg would receive from the American Rescue Plan in the first half of 2021, I knew that access to affordable housing was a problem for many residents. So I wasn’t surprised when I asked people about how the money should be spent that there was a large consensus around affordable housing.

However, I was surprised to hear people’s stories of $400-$1,000 increases or just flat out non-renewal notices for rent. I heard from people who were willing to do anything to keep a roof over their family’s heads. Perhaps most surprising was what people were willing to do for those in their community. Along the way, I’ve seen friends and leaders of this movement that were not impacted when they got involved suddenly grapple with the reality of housing instability in their lives.

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As pandemic loses some of its urgency, healthcare organizations look to new strategies to reach the vaccine hesitant

Sierra Snyder — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 17:03:13 +0000

As mask mandates end at schools, people return to the office and infections and hospitalization numbers drop, many people have a renewed sense of optimism that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. But while COVID-19 restrictions ease and the country returns to some semblance of normalcy, health professionals stress the importance of continuing vaccination efforts.

In his State of the Union address this month, President Biden said the United States will continue to combat the virus, and stressed the effectiveness of vaccines. “We will never give up on vaccinating more Americans,” he said.

But after more than two years of the pandemic, some people are starting to tune out public health messages about the virus, and health professionals are trying to change their messaging and strategies to continue to reach the vaccine hesitant.

“What we noticed within the community is, honestly, people seem fatigued of hearing about COVID,” said Iliana Barreto, a community organizer with the Granite State Organizing Project who coordinates the group’s vaccine efforts at the Centro Latino de Hospitalidad drop-in center, which provides referrals and other services twice a week at Manchester’s Catholic parish St. Anne-St. Augustin. “It’s been two years, going on three years now, and they just feel like they just want to get over it. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality we’re living.”

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‘We must act now’: Black leaders demand better vaccine access in Sacramento County

Sierra Snyder — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 17:18:53 +0000

Prominent Black leaders in Sacramento are criticizing the county’s vaccine rollout effort, and demanding local health officials do more to improve access for Black residents. In a letter sent Wednesday to county public health officials and elected leaders, the community advocates point out that Black residents have disproportionately borne the brunt of COVID-19, but have also received a low level of information about and access to vaccines thus far. “It is clear that the first phase of the vaccine distribution effort has not been equitably distributed,” the letter stated. “This has to change, and we must act now.”

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Faith in the Valley fund helps local migrant families during pandemic

Sierra Snyder — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 16:41:34 +0000

Some 30 migrant families arrived at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lodi last weekend to receive much-needed financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the last several months, Pastor Nelson Rabell has been helping migrant families throughout the Central Valley weather the pandemic with grant funds through Faith in the Valley’s California Immigrant Resilience Fund.

Rabell said he and the church received $50,000 in grant funds last December, and last Sunday, $500 was distributed to families from Stanislaus County.

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Community organizations criticize local county officials for allegedly mishandling COVID-19 response

Sierra Snyder — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:09:40 +0000

More than 20 nonprofit organizations, including one headed by a church pastor in Fontana, have joined together to express their dissatisfaction with the actions of some Inland Empire political leaders during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The community groups sent out a joint letter which accused the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, Riverside County Supervisors Karen Spiegel and Jeff Hewitt, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco of mishandling the COVID-19 response of their respective jurisdictions.

One of the organizations signing on to the letter was Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE). Samuel Casey is the executive director of COPE and also is the senior pastor and founder of New Life Christian Church in Fontana.

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Merced County to pay eligible residents’ rent, mortgage, utilities with CARES Act funds

Sierra Snyder — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 15:48:30 +0000

The Merced County Board of Supervisors this week unanimously enacted a rental, mortgage and utility assistance program, saying calls by residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t fallen on deaf ears. Supported by federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds, the $1 million program allocates aid for residents with proof of financial pain due to COVID-19. Central Valley Opportunity Center, a regional nonprofit, is contracted to administer the program.

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