Ecumenical Poverty Initiative is proud to announce that we have endorsed the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. In state capitols and Washington, D.C., policies that promote systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation are threatening our democracy and decaying our national morality. We refuse to be silent in the face […]
Major Ecumenical Bodies Raise Concerns About House Republicans Poverty Plan
Leaders of faith-based organizations are responding to the plan released by House Speaker Paul Ryan and the House Republican Poverty, Opportunity and Upward Mobility Task Force with appreciation for the effort made to alleviate poverty but with deep concerns about the negative impacts some of the plan’s policy recommendations would have on the nation’s […]
EPI Co-Sponsors Senate Hearing on CFPB’s Proposed Payday Lending Rule
The Ecumenical Poverty Initiative was a co-sponsor of a briefing for Senate staff on small-dollar loans, including payday, auto title, deposit advance products, and installment loans. Rev. Sekinah Hamlin, EPI’s director, was one of the speakers at the briefing, which was held on Monday, June 13 in the Dirksen Senate Building. EPI is urging […]
EPI Calls on CFPB to Strengthen Payday Lending Rule
Washington, D.C., June 14, 2016—The Ecumenical Poverty Initiative (EPI) has applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) release of a rule that would govern payday lending and curtail predatory practices that have resulted in a vicious cycle of debt for low-income borrowers. In a briefing for Senate staffers yesterday about the proposed rule, EPI […]
A Gift for Low-Wage Capitol Workers
EPI Director Rev. Sekinah Hamlin and Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness Director Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson co-authored asking for justice for Capitol workers and an hourly wage of $15, fair working conditions and the right to engage in collective bargaining. Click here to read the op-ed.
Remembering The Unpopular MLK Jr.
Today will be largely dedicated to remembering the popular Martin Luther King Jr., the one that everyone supports as a national hero. This revisionist history is unfortunate, because it obscures the deeper vision of King, a vision that remains unpopular to this day. First, to the polling data from Gallup: From 1963-1965, King was, at […]
Frequent Flyers Move the Hearts of Congress.
Many have already begun to experience the harsh impacts of the foolish Budget Sequester that set in motion indiscriminate slashes to government funding on Friday, March 1, 2013. Budget experts said it would be very difficult to reverse the sequester, and most did not have insight into how to help the 600,000 women and young […]
How Wealth Inequality Hurts Churches
Have you seen the video on wealth inequality that went viral this week? The video is based on a study by Harvard Business professor Michael Norton. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here. Millions have been passing it around and dropping their jaws when they see the dramatic difference between the average […]
Faithful Alternatives to Sequestration – A Message to Congress
This message was sent to Congress today on behalf of the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs. It is with great concern over the effects of the sequester that I write to you today. These budget cuts will harm real people; they are not an academic exercise and this is no laboratory for testing […]
Please Sign Religious Leaders’ Pastoral Letter to President and Congress
On Friday, if Congress allows the Sequester to set in, children and families living in poverty will be among those most hurt. There is a need for people of faith, particularly clergy and religious leaders, to bring a moral and compassionate voice of reason to Washington. That’s why yesterday morning, more than 100 religious leaders […]
