wfn.org | 2002 Offering of Letters targets welfare legislation

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Feb. 28, 2002        News media contact: Joretta Purdue7(202)
546-87227Washington     10-21-71B{080}

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - This year's Offering of Letters campaign will urge the
U.S. Congress to assist low-income families through new welfare legislation.
The annual letter-writing drive is sponsored by the anti-hunger organization
Bread for the World and other religious groups.

Congress must reauthorize federal welfare law by Sept. 30 to have the
program currently known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
continue.

"TANF is not only a safety net," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of
Bread for the World. "It should also be a foundation upon which low-income
people work to lift themselves from poverty to a better life."

The Offering of Letters campaign, "Working from Poverty to Promise," asks
Congress to focus on improvements in the welfare law that will help families
move from assistance to self-sufficiency. Specifically, the letter writers
are urging Congress to:

7	target TANF toward poverty reduction;
7	allow adults to seek the education and training they need to move
successfully into the work force;
7	provide critical support, such as transportation and child care
assistance, to working poor families;
7	ease the time limits families face, especially during recessions;
and
7	ensure sufficient federal funding to meet the program's needs.

TANF was created with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a welfare reform law, in 1996. Five years
later, welfare caseloads were down 62 percent from 1994, but by last
September, caseloads in 33 states were increasing as the economy slowed. And
40 percent of the 2.5 million families that no longer receive cash
assistance have been unable to find work. The average wage for a working
TANF recipient is $6.75 per hour, leaving millions of families below the
poverty line.

"Once again, we are pleased to partner with Bread for the World for the 2002
Offering of Letters," said Paul Dirdak, chief executive of the United
Methodist Committee on Relief, the international relief and development
agency of the United Methodist Church.

"We care for our neighbors in need both here and around the globe," he said.
"We feel Jesus' love for us day by day and respond to that abundance by
caring for all God's children."

Although unemployment was at 4 percent in 2000, a 30-year low, the U.S.
Census Bureau reported that 11.3 percent of the people in the United States
lived in poverty that year.

The Census Bureau also notes that most of the 31.1 million people living in
poverty are white, though poverty rates for African-Americans (22.1 percent
in poverty) and Hispanics (21.2 percent) in the United States are three
times higher than the rate for whites (7.5 percent).

For more information on participating in the Offering of Letters, people may
consult the Bread for the World Web site at www.bread.org or contact the
organization at (800) 82-BREAD. An Offering of Letters Kit, including a
handbook and a 10-minute video, is available for $7 plus shipping from Bread
for the World, 50 F St. NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001. Shipping
charges are $3 for any order up to $25.

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United Methodist News Service
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