New Poverty USA and PobrezaUSA Websites Help Catholics Encounter, Learn and Act to Address Poverty

WASHINGTON—Catholics can encounter, learn and act to address poverty in the United States through two new websites from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). PovertyUSA.org and its Spanish mirror site, PobrezaUSA.org, were launched today, the last day of Poverty Awareness Month (January). The mobile-friendly sites offer tools and resources to help Catholics put faith in action by working to address poverty. Resources include an interactive map with state and county level poverty statistics, learning activities about poverty, prayer materials, and multimedia. The sites also feature stories of hope about how communities are working to address poverty locally, and an interactive map to find community organizations funded by the U.S. bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

"As disciples of Christ, we are invited to encounter those in our communities who experience poverty," said Bishop David P. Talley of Alexandria, chair of the CCHD Subcommittee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. "Poverty in the United States is a reality. We must work together to put faith in action to work towards policies in our local communities, and nationally, that can help address it."

Nearly 41 million people live in poverty in the United States, including 15 million children. The poverty threshold is $24,600 for a family of four and $12,200 for a single person.

Catholics can join the conversation about poverty in our communities on social media at www.facebook.com/povertyusa and twitter.com/endpovertyusa.

PovertyUSA.org and PobrezaUSA.org are an initiative of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the domestic anti-poverty program of the USCCB that works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate indecisions that affect their lives, families and communities, and by helping Catholics encounter, learn and act to address the causes of poverty.

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Keywords: Poverty USA, PobrezaUSA, website, Facebook, Twitter, poverty, statistics, map, resources, stories, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, CCHD

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Media Contact:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200