Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- May 11, 2007 Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
CHURCHES CALLED TO MOTHER'S DAY ACTION FOR HEALTH CARE
(May 11, 2007) Elgin, IL -- The Association of Brethren Caregivers, an agency of the Church of the Brethren, is encouraging congregations and members to support a "Mother's Day Call to Action" of the Children's Defense Fund by contacting their congressional representatives the week of May 6-12 and asking them to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
In 1997, Congress created SCHIP to provide insurance for children whose parents work but cannot afford health insurance of their own. SCHIP comes before Congress again this year to be reauthorized to continue. The Children's Defense Fund is initiating this call to action to encourage elected officials to provide comprehensive health and mental health coverage to every child in America.
"Children are dying in America because they lack health coverage and adequate access to doctors and dentists," states a bulletin insert from the Children's Defense Fund. The insert includes the stories of three children who died in 2007 due to lack of adequate health care. The bulletin also notes that of the nine million children without health insurance, 90 percent are living in working households, and the majority are in two-parent families. (Download the bulletin insert from the ABC website at www.brethren.org/abc/advocacy/kids%20family.html.)
In April, both the Association of Brethren Caregivers and the Church of the Brethren General Board signed up to support the All Healthy Children Act with the Children's Defense Fund.
"Many families in the US today are struggling to provide their children with adequate health care," said Kim Ebersole, director of Family and Older Adult Ministry for the association. "This Mother's Day, when we traditionally honor our mothers, we have the opportunity to 'do for the least of these' (Matthew 25:40). Let us put our faith into action by contacting our senators and representatives and urging them to reauthorize SCHIP. The gift of healthy children, and healthy families, would be a present mothers (and fathers) would cherish."
Contact senators and representative by calling 888-226-0627, visiting www.childrensdefense.org/MothersDayCall, or e-mailing www.childrensdefense.org/MothersDayEmail. The Children's Defense Fund 39-page "Toolkit for Faith Communities" is downloadable from www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=healthy_child_ta keaction#toolkit. Additional resources are at www.brethren.org/abc under advocacy materials for "Cover the Uninsured."
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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