| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2005 March 2 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 8 Number 24 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Small Loans, Big Help |
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Microfinance institutions operate across the majority world, providing poorer people with access to the basic financial services that most of us take for granted, like loans, savings and insurance. Often these services are not available to all but the wealthiest in developing economies. The amounts involved are quite small in western terms, often around £50. But a little -- whether it's for tools, materials or a shop in the marketplace -- can go a long way.
Microfinance makes a difference by supporting new enterprises, creating jobs and helping local economies to thrive. Its wider impact can go much further. UN studies show that microfinance has led to improvements in everything from public health and education to the status of women in the community. A small number of socially motivated banks in the West play an influential role supporting microfinance institutions. Triodos Bank has 38 million euros invested in 40 microfinance banks in developing countries -- in Africa, South America, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. The money has already made a real difference to over 27 million people, providing a practical and sustainable route out of poverty. And Triodos offers microfinance institutions the benefit of 25 years' banking experience as well as its financial backing. Despite having helped millions of people to help themselves to a more independent, prosperous life, microfinance has the potential to do a lot more. Only a fraction of the four billion people that could benefit from microfinance currently have access to basic financial services. That's why the UN General Assembly has designated 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit. Source: Positive News More Info: Year of Microcredit |
| New System Connects Needy to Unclaimed Benefits |
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Each year, millions of individuals and families fail to
receive the money and benefits due to them, so government
benefits lie unclaimed in a pile of more than $35 billion a
year. The new Benefit Bank (TBB) helps to connect people to
these resources.
TBB is an Internet-based, counselor-assisted program that
helps low- and moderate-income individuals and families file
for tax credits and benefits for which they are eligible.
On January 27, TBB was launched in sites throughout the
Greater Philadelphia area. More than 60 social and
community service agencies gathered at Project HOME on
Fairmount Street to celebrate TBB's launch. Sites have also
opened in four Florida counties and in Wichita, KS.
Created by Philadelphia-based Solutions for Progress, TBB
was designed to help people overcome barriers that have
prevented them from taking advantage of programs that can
help strengthen their economic condition, according to
Solutions for Progress CEO Robert Brand, who said, "Some
individuals think they are not eligible for certain
benefits; others get lost in the complex application
process, or they are simply unaware the benefits even exist.
The Benefit Bank provides an easy and efficient way to get
the benefits to those who need them the most."
TBB is the only system available that can process federal tax returns, state tax returns -- with an emphasis on finding tax credits -- and a range of federal and public sponsored health and social service benefits. Individuals sit side-by-side with counselors who help them enter information into an Internet-based system. As the client enters data with the counselor for one form, it automatically transfers that information into another form or benefit. Once the client provides all necessary information, TBB fills out the application or tax return and prints it out on the proper form. It even e-files when possible. TBB is free to all users and free to host organizations. It's available for use in social service agencies, faith-based institutions, community organizations, and private employer sites. Source: National Council of Churches More Info: The Benefit Bank |
| Report Exposes Terrible Truths of Life in Haiti |
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"What is happening in Haiti is wrong, no matter what anyone's politics is," says Philadelphia attorney and former Department of Justice official Thomas Griffin. He's right. The pictures, the words, the statements by those who are both for and against the return of Aristide speak for themselves in the report based on Griffin's November trip there, his most recent of many, to observe and document the human-rights situation.
The trip included interviews with past and present government officials, police officers, former soldiers, UN peacekeepers and gang leaders. Griffin and Irwin Stotzky, director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights and the University of Miami Law School, issued the 51-page report in January. [Life-Net Radio listeners heard a preview January 5.] The UN, which has several thousand troops in Haiti, has done little to end horrific violence and may actually be exacerbating it. While Lavalas supporters are not entirely innocent, this report suggests, rather convincingly, that there is an ongoing campaign to use the police, along with hired street gangs and former soldiers, to hunt down and kill members of Lavalas, particularly in the city's slums. Said Griffin, "There is a feeling of a truly repressive war against the poor." The most powerful sections of the report are those that tell individual stories. Griffin followed the police on a raid in the Bel Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince on Nov. 18. When the police pulled out, Griffin found bodies littering the street, including that of a middle-aged woman the police left to die. Another victim, Inep Henri, 35, had been shot in the head, but his family did not want to take him to the hospital, for fear of the police. Griffin and his team convinced the family it was necessary or Henri would die. The Red Cross refused to send an ambulance, so Griffin's team arranged a pickup truck to carry Henri out of Bel Air. They had to pretend Henri was dead in order to get through a police checkpoint. Two hours after Henri arrived at the city's general hospital, Griffin's team found him, as the report notes, "still alive on a cot, but having received no treatment. Investigators convinced doctors to examine him. One doctor got up, slapped Inep in the head to see if he was awake, then pinched his upper arm for a reaction. Inep was still alive. The doctor went back behind his desk to sit." As Griffin learned, doctors would only treat Henri if his family paid in advance. Henri died the next day, never having been treated. "While checking on Inep Henri ... investigators also observed a boy lying on his back, naked and exposed on a cot in the middle of the emergency room," the report states. "He was shivering in a pool of his own blood, eyes closed. When he moved, blood splashed onto the floor." The boy, Ginel Valbraun, 12, said he had been shot by police. The report includes pictures of a gaping wound on his right thigh. "Doctors refused to treat him because he had no money," the report states, adding that investigators paid to get the child medical attention. "Investigators last saw him on Nov. 21, still alive, but still naked and in a soaked, old bandage." [Mr. Griffin is offering to bring a free slide-show (PowerPoint) presentation, based on the report, to any group in the Camden-Philadelphia area who wants to see it. If you're a member of any group who would benefit from a slide documentary that slams the mind like an intense thriller and catches the viewer in a life-net of compassion, use the e-mail address below to book a date.] Source: Miami Herald Report: Haiti Human Rights Investigation To Book a Slide Show: Thomas M. Griffin, Esq. (E-mail) |
| Affordable Healthcare Network to Expand |
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Over 1.3 million New Jerseyans have no health insurance. Thousands of others have limited coverage, and an untold number of undocumented immigrants are not counted in official numbers. New Jersey has 67 Centers for Primary Care, funded partly by the US Dept. of Health & Human Services, that offer healthcare services to thousands of
individuals across the state -- to 234,110 last year.
Ten new Centers will be opened next year. The new centers will offer comprehensive primary health care and dental services in urban and rural neighborhoods across the state. They will provide services to 30,000 additional residents and generate over 80,000 patient visits. Centers for Primary Health Care provide affordable health care in medically underserved areas, both urban and rural. They are the backbone of America's primary health care safety net.
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| The Deceitfulness of Riches |
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"The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful."
(Matt. 13:22 NIV)
How are riches deceitful? (The word really means a delusion.) Riches promise more than they can deliver. They promise security, happiness, and satisfaction in life, but they fail to provide any of these things. Does this mean God is against wealth? No! He just doesn't want you to be deceived by it. Or to trust in it. It will surely disappoint you. "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy." (1 Tim. 6:17 NKJV) According to Jesus, life does not consist of the abundance of one's possessions. You should believe Him. He knows. "And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not [even] when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." (Lk. 12:15 NASB) Watch out! Don't let money deceive you. Having wealth -- a bunch of stuff -- will not give you a satisfying, fulfilling life. Not for long, at least. Rather, it's your inward attitude, and doing God's will, that determines whether you will enjoy happiness in life. If having more money was the answer, why do rich people commit suicide? "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" (Heb. 13:5 NIV) Source: Church For All |
| 20 Years Means More Than 20 Million Pounds of Food |
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The faces of poverty and hunger in South Jersey have changed over the last 20 years. They belong to grandparents caring for grandchildren, single fathers holding down more than one job but still not having money to buy enough food for their children, and people who are homebound with little income and no family support.
"They don't know they have resources," said Bedzaida Mendez, executive director of the Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ). Mendez, who has worked at the food bank for 17 years, said mothers with newborns and single parents with small children have a wealth of programs open to them, but others who are needy don't fit into such neat categories. "Those are the ones that have visible programs. We help those who are not so visible," she said. The FBSJ, which serves residents of Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties, is in its 20th year of feeding people. Through more than 200 nonprofit member agencies, Mendez said, it disperses food to individuals and families, groups, and soup kitchens. The organization, part of America's Second Harvest, opened in November 1985 with 25 agencies dedicated to hungry people. Today, it operates on an annual budget of $900,000, with financing from private sources, foundations, corporations, fund-raisers, and the United Way. Food donations from businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants and farms are stored in a 45,000-square-foot warehouse and office complex in Pennsauken. Through nearly two decades, the FBSJ has distributed more than 20 million pounds of meat and nonperishable items, including canned goods, pasta, and rice. Mendez said 60% of the food is given out in densely populated Camden City. As for Camden County, agency records show that 61,547 of the more than 500,000 residents live below the poverty level. In Burlington County, 20,300 people out of 432,121 live in poverty. In Gloucester County, 16,079 of 259,347. In Salem County, 5,115 out of 64,534. Mendez said a June 6 gathering in Washington would help unify the many agencies behind one common goal. She said, "We need ... a single voice instead of a hundred little agencies. "We need to tap into resources and use them wisely and better educate people. Everybody wants to be captains and there are no soldiers." She said people in need also must be more aware of federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, and be watchful that existing programs to fight hunger are not left on the cutting board. The FBSJ is surveying clients in the four counties it serves. The survey includes questions about personal needs, financial status, and knowledge of programs available. "It will dictate our direction. We're going to see where we are and take it one day at a time," said Mendez. "We want to make sure we're making a difference." Source: Philadelphia Inquirer More Info: Food Bank of South Jersey |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extras |
| New Apartments to Accomodate Emerging Adults |
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While affordable housing designated for seniors on fixed incomes is not uncommon, such housing for young adults, also often on fixed incomes, is. That's why a $600,000 grant from the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority to build affordable apartments for young adults in Camden is a good investment.
The nonprofit Center for Family Services will use the money to help convert three run-down, empty rowhomes on Benson Street in the Cooper Landing neighborhood into 17 affordable apartments for 18- to 21-year-old Camden residents. The apartments should be ready in December for the first tenants to move in. Those interested in renting one of the apartments must work or be enrolled in a vocational training program or a college, said Eileen Henderson, vice president of the center. Tenants must agree to stay for at least a year. Rents will be based on ability to pay. Full-time workers will need to pay 30% of their income and part-time workers less, Henderson said. Among the tenants the center will seek are those 18 and older who are coming out of the state's foster care program and need help finding their own place to live. Henderson said Family Services is not yet accepting applications for tenants -- that will begin in the fall. Hopefully, when these apartments are finished, they will help improve the Cooper Landing neighborhood by beautifying buildings that are currently eyesores. More importantly, we hope they help young Camden adults struggling to get their feet on the ground get started in life. Source: Courier-Post (Camden) More Info: Center for Family Services |
| Chinese Fire Back at US on Human Rights |
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China has accused Washington of serious human rights violations, saying the abuse of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers exposed "the dark side" of US policy. Beijing was responding to the US' annual assessment of human rights around the world by assessing the US.
The Chinese report said racism was entrenched in the US and dismissed its electoral system as a contest of money. "It is quite ironic that... the United States once again posed as the 'world human rights police,'" it said. "The atrocity of US troops abusing Iraqi PoWs exposed the infringement of human rights of foreign nationals by the United States," the State Council report said, referring to documentary evidence that American soldiers systematically abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "People have to probe the human rights record behind the State of Liberty in the United States," it said. The report also highlighted the individual case of a Chinese woman called Zhao Yan, who was beaten and attacked with pepper spray by a US border guard during a visit to the Niagara Falls. It cited census figures as saying that US poverty figures had risen for three consecutive years and said Americans were threatened by "rampant violent crime". The US report had blamed Beijing for the killing and torture of dissidents. Source: BBC |
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