The Dallas Morning News

FAITH-BASED ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMS WORK

by Ron Sider

 

"Poverty at 20-Year Low" shouted recent big headlines trumpeting a 1.1 million decline in the numbers of people living below the poverty level.

Should we celebrate? Of course. Any decline means less agony.

But not much. The richest nation in history still has by far the highest poverty level of any industrialized nation. 34.5 million of our people try to live at or below the poverty level of $16,660 for a family of four. In fact, 40 percent (13.8 million) must figure out how to survive on only half that. Almost one fifth of all our children live in poverty.

Is that really the best that the richest nation on earth can afford after a decade of economic growth and very low unemployment? Most of us have benefited from our expanding economy. The richest 20 percent saw their incomes jump 39 percent from 1974-1996.

But what happened to the bottom 20 percent? They lost 10 percent in real dollars in those years. (Only in the last couple years have the bottom 20 percentbegun to benefit slightly from the booming economy.)

What is worth celebrating is the emergence of a new holistic vision that transcends old debates between liberals and conservatives. By embracing a much expanded role for civil society in general and faith-based organizations in particular without neglecting government's essential responsibility, this new vision offers an historic opportunity for dramatically reducing poverty in this nation.

In the 1960's, liberals thought that the primary if not the only causes of poverty were structural racism and economic injustice. A decade or so of good government programs would solve the problem. Some programs worked, some didn't, but by the early 1980s, as conservatives eagerly pointed out, poverty levels remained stubbornly high.

Conservatives blamed welfare programs and wrong personal choices about drugs, marriage and family. Cutting economic incentives, however, also failed to reduce poverty. By the early 1990s, unacceptably high poverty rates, especially in our cities, led policy elites to look desperately
for something that would work.

Slowly evidence began to surface that faith-based organizations frequently enjoy astonishing success even in the poorest neighborhoods. Chicago's Lawndale Community Church (LCC) provides a striking model. Thirty years ago, Lawndale was one of the nations twenty poorest communities. Almost no one went to college and infant mortality rates approached Third-World levels. Today, LCC's annual $10 million community ministries include a huge health clinic, a large college-prep program, and a multi-million dollar low-income housing program and a huge health clinic. The College preparatory program has produced more than 100 college graduates, 50 of whom have returned to work in the community. The Lawndale Community Clinic has been so successful that infant mortality rates have dropped by 60 percent in Lawndale.

Why does LCC work so well? Because it ministers to both the material and spiritual needs of persons at the same time. (In light of the biblical teaching of the Torah and Jesus that "one does not live by bread alone," it shouldn't surprise us that treating all of the problem instead of just half of it works better.)

Thousands of holistic ministries like Lawndale Community Church exist below the radar screen in all our cities. We need to expand their numbers and capacity if we want to dramatically reduce poverty. Does that mean we should slash government spending on the poor? By no means. Places like Lawndale Community Church receive most of their funds from various government agencies. If the 325,000 religious congregations in the U.S. took over just the five major government anti-poverty programs, each congregation would have to add $612,000 to its annual budget.

Government must guarantee that all who work responsibly receive a living wage, that every American enjoys affordable access to health insurance; that the schools work for everyone including the poor even if that means testing educational vouchers.

Government programs, however, cannot heal broken spirits and restore wholesome families. Only a greatly strengthened civil society in general and faith-based organizations in particular can do that.

We need a new holistic vision and a new partnership between religious institutions and government if we want to end the scandal of widespread poverty in the richest nation in history. That such a vision is emerging is cause for genuine celebration.

(Ronald J. Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action, a leader in Call to Renewal and author of a just released book, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America, Baker, 1999)

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