In November, seven Guatemalan young adults embarked on a four-day adventure that will have a lasting impact on their lives. I had the privilege of accompanying the group, alongside Pastors Emerson Morales and Mardoqueo Perez of Jesus es El Camino church in Guatemala City. The Guatemala Partnership of New Castle Presbytery funded this trip.
Contrary to popular belief, the growing rate of incarcerated women has been twice as high compared to their male counterparts. In addition to their increasing population, women have a higher mortality rate. Despite these alarming statistics, women still receive the same services that were originally designed to serve men. These services are void of structure for gender-based violence such as issues surrounding assault recovery, financial literacy, custody and the intersectionality of race.
Last November, when they gathered in a park near downtown Detroit, folks from the Dexter-Linwood Cordon neighborhood could see spring. They could see a butterfly garden, kids getting lost in a black-eyed Susan maze, people relaxing in a gazebo and gathering fresh vegetables in a garden. They could see a new season filled with hope for a Detroit block that had seen better days.
In a world beset by disaster, hunger, and oppression, One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is dedicated to aiding the millions of people who lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. Never has this been more prescient than in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The early 1970s was a similar time of harsh political polarization, with issues of race and poverty a prominent part of our conversations and a Church wondering how to address them.
A Washington activist with ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has received an honor from Essence magazine that puts her in company with former first lady Michelle Obama, gymnast Simone Biles and other “movers and shakers,” such as filmmaker Ava Marie DuVernay.
With its September meeting in Atlanta, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) aims to get to know the Georgia capital and its surrounding communities better with a series of workshops and meetings.
Across the United States, one of the major struggles for people with criminal convictions is finding work. For many employers, having a criminal record ends the conversation with a prospective employee.
After funding a pair of initiatives that helped ex-offenders in Lansing, Michigan, return to the workforce, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has funded a program that is helping those people take their work to the next level.
The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has approved grants totaling $155,000 to fund 10 self-help projects in the United States and abroad.
If Luis Ramos Salgado had tried to ride the storm out in his home, he wouldn’t be able to walk down his street on this sunny morning.
“I’d be dead,” he says through a translator, standing in the kitchen of the only home he’s ever known in San Juan’s Caño Martín Peña area.
