LOPPW Is…
Part of the ELCA Advocacy Network, & State
Public Policy Office.
A partner of ELCA World Hunger: Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kYt9Pnm
GPQ
LOPPW – An Advocacy Ministry
What does it mean to be an advocate?
Being an advocate
is speaking up for a person, a creature or a
cause. Martin Luther spoke up for people who
were treated unfairly and for people who didn’t
have enough to eat.
What makes you want to advocate?
Advocacy is
• Becoming aware of people’s struggles and
roots of problems; educating others – holding
forums
• Strategizing about solutions
• Writing letters to the editor; writing letters to
and calling legislators and visiting legislators
and their staff
• Connecting with other groups such as LOPPW
What does advocacy have to do with
my faith?
Food Security
exists when all people, at all times, have
physical, social and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets
their dietary needs and food preferences for an
active and healthy life
Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations)
Levels of Food Security
• High food security — no problems, or anxiety about
consistently accessing adequate food
• Marginal food security — problems at times, or anxiety
about, accessing adequate food, but the quality, variety,
and quantity of food intake is not substantially reduced
• Low food security — quality, variety, and desirability of diet
is reduced, but the quantity of food intake and normal
eating patterns are not substantially disrupted
• Very low food security — At times during the year, eating
patterns of one or more household members is disrupted
and food intake reduced because the household money
and other resources for food
Briefly about a Lengthy Subject
In the U.S. hunger is not caused by scarcity of
food but rather the continued prevalence of
poverty. Both issues must be addressed in our
continued efforts to seek justice.
What causes poverty? Leads to questions about
PUBLIC POLICIES (power, persistent inequality,
corporate and governmental accountability and
agricultural policies).
Child Poverty in WI and MI
• Child poverty rate is
still below the
national average
(18% vs. 23%):
• Wisconsin’s rate has
grown faster than the
national rate over the
decade
• The child poverty
rate in Michigan is
25% in lower
Michigan and just
over 21% in the UP.
When do we say a youth is homeless?
The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children and youth as individuals
who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence. The term
includes children and youth who are:
• sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,
economic hardship, or similar reasons;
• living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds;
• living in emergency or transitional shelters
• abandoned in hospitals;
• awaiting foster-care placement;
• living in a primary night-time residence not used as a regular
sleeping accommodation;
• living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings;
• migratory children living in any of the circumstances described
How many children and youth are
homeless in Wisconsin and Michigan?
• At the end of the 2010-11 school year, 13,364
students were identified as being homeless in
Wisconsin public schools. Homeless identification
has nearly tripled in Wisconsin over the eight years
that identification has been required by the USDE.
• Michigan - In Michigan there are approximately
38,636 homeless youth.
Why Advocacy
The change in one state policy can impact more
people than all church programs in the state.
Parable of the Lost Sheep
Advocacy versus Lobbying
LOPPW Priorities
• Addressing the problem of Sex Trafficking – Safe Harbor Bill
• Engaging the Challenges of Homelessness – Minimum wage
connected to youth homeless with families.
• Calling for Prison Reform for Youth Offenders – Bill that
would have youth 17 years old tried as juviniles
• Confronting the Reality of Children in Poverty - Federally we will
advocate for the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act in 2015.
• Addressing Statewide Poverty issues as they arise – We will
support the Vote Yes on BadgerCare November 4th campaign.
• Supporting the ELCA’s advocacy efforts
ELCA Washington D.C. Office
• We work through political channels on behalf of the
following biblical values: peacemaking, hospitality to
strangers, care for creation, and concern for people
living in poverty and struggling with hunger and
disease.
• For more information on ELCA Advocacy visit
at www.ELCA.org/advocacy
Facebook: ELCA Advocacy
Twitter: ELCA advocacy
• ELCA World Hunger
• ELCA Justice for Women
• Lutheran Social Services
State Public Policy Offices
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Arizona – Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Arizona
California – California Lutheran Advocacy Ministry
Colorado – Colorado Lutheran Advocacy
Illinois – Lutheran Advocacy of Illinois
Iowa – Social Justice Advocacy Lutheran Services in Iowa
Minnesota – Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota
Nevada – Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN)
New Jersey – Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in NJ
New Mexico – Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico
Pennsylvania – Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania (LAMPA)
Virginia – Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Washington – Faith Action Network
Wisconsin – Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW)
Using our Voice to Confront Poverty
It is not about supporting any political party, but
about our values as a Lutheran community,
saved by grace and freed to act out of that
grace.
Quiz
Two-part quiz: In which decade was hunger
almost eliminated in the U.S.? And which
president launched and bolstered programs to
make it so?
Richard Nixon in the 1970s
• Expanded food stamp, elderly feeding, and
school breakfast programs.
Biblical Themes
Resource from Advocacy Manual
More than a few isolated passages in scripture
addressing hunger and poverty. We have
consistent warnings against perverting justice
and need to care for our neighbor, stranger, the
oppressed and to have a prophetic voice.
www.loppw.org
• Advocacy Ministry – A Manual for Pastors and
Lay Leaders a compilation of very fine already
existing faith-based advocacy materials, some of
which are not easy to find, with new additions
from the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in
Wisconsin. LOPPW organized the manual for
clergy and lay leaders to use in their
congregations.
• “that we may speak…our ministry of Action
ELCA step-by-step guide to help congregations
choose an issue and begin a ministry of advocacy
We are not alone
When Jesus prepared to leave this world in
his human form he said to his disciples in
St. John 14:16:
“God will give you another Advocate,
to be with you forever.”