October 2008 Archives

This is the fourth in a series of posts over the course of 24 hours looking at poverty in Austin as part of Blog Action Day 2008.

Illegal immigration is directly related and connected to global poverty.

Period.

I don't have time to write a note that does this issue justice, but CNN has a story today about a Catholic priest who is putting his money and his mouth in service to this issue.

My wife used to work at Casa Juan Diego in Houston, a house that assisted undocumented individuals—while I was working there for a few days, there were protesters who told me how un-American I was by helping out these folks.

Near Austin, Taylor, TX was in the news regarding a former prison facility that was "converted" into the T. Don Hutto Immigration Detention Center. While the private facility is not very friendly to the media, it claims to house non-Mexican families on non-criminal immigration violations while they await hearings. The talking heads say that it is a family environment and does not feel like a jail or prison. But, how many prisons can be converted into family-friendly housing?

This is the third in a series of posts over the next 24 hours looking at poverty in Austin as part of Blog Action Day 2008.

I'm a bit late for my Noon entry today.

What tools do we take for granted? Our watches, our cell phones—or just any phone, an address.

A friend of mine recently started looking for a new job, a difficult process for anyone in today's economic climate, but he has most things working for him. A high school diploma, senior status at UT-Austin, a car, an address, a phone number with voice mail.

The homeless today face a much tougher time finding a job. If a person walked into a potential employer's office, looking perfectly groomed in a nice suit, but could not list an address or a phone number, would they get the job? Would you hire someone without that information?

Even a PO Box requires you to list a physical address; I honestly don't know if they'll accept a homeless shelter as a residential address.

I have to get back to work, but let's start thinking about how to help get the right tools into the right hands.

This is the second in a series of posts over the next 24 hours looking at poverty in Austin as part of Blog Action Day 2008.

As being a Campus Ministry Intern at the University Catholic Center serving The University of Texas at Austin, I see quite often the poverty that exists on campus, taking a few different forms.

First, many homeless individuals spend their time along Guadalupe Street ("The Drag"), some asking students for their generosity, some just experiencing the day. Some students are generous—giving individuals cash, food, water and more. Other students try to only walk on certain sections of Guadalupe to avoid the usual hangouts in fear of being asked by a "Drag Rat" for some change.

Second, the University is a city in itself with an army of non-student food service employees, janitors and many others that are most likely earning well under the average wage for someone in the city of Austin. Some are the only breadwinner in a household bursting at the seams. Not nearly enough students pay them the time or attention that a person deserves, but looking through them as only a thing that is there to provide them food, clean up their trash off the floor or whatever else. Thankfully, many students do see the dignity of these folks who work extremely hard to meet the students' needs, but still, many don't.

Third and very much related to the above two, is the poverty in spirit that exist in some students. From my position at the UCC, I see many students who realize the world around them, the role they play into it and the role that others—from President Powers down to the hourly temp worker—play into the world. They're full of life, generally happy and what.

Those students are a light to others on campus and I count them among my many blessings.

But, many students are troubled, feel alone, are full of anger and hatred, depressed. While they may be surrounded by more material things than I myself will ever know, they're nevertheless impoverished. For them, they may know realize their poverty, which is the saddest part. While we need some material things to survive (food, shelter, etc), to be fully alive, we need more than just the material.

In so many cases, if we can connect these two types of poverty—the poor in spirit with the poor in material—both sides can come out better and less impoverished than before.

This is the first in a series of posts over the next 24 hours looking at poverty in Austin as part of Blog Action Day 2008.

On the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, today is the memorial for St. Callistus I. Callistus was a third century pope whose life didn't seem to be leading to the Chair of St. Peter.

Callistus was a slave and apparently, not too great of one at that. He was entrusted with money, only to lose it. He was jailed, only let out of prison so he could make the money back.

Yet, after a rocky start, he was freed, befriended the current pope and entered the priesthood. He himself became pope upon election of the clergy of Rome.

One major critique made of him was that he was too merciful to sinners.

Today, we celebrate something who is impoverished in his time who became the16th pontiff of the Church. When he was a slave, did his master see this potential in him? I don't know, but how often do we see the potential in slaves today? True, legally, no one owns another as a slave, but the poor are the slaves of today. They are slaves to a socio-economic reality that looks down upon them for their lot in life—no matter how they came to it. They are slaves to the assistance programs that are offered and their insane rules and regulations.

In Austin, it is hard to go far without having the poor with you. The homeless. The unemployed. The underemployed—the working poor who have jobs, yet do not earn enough to make ends meet. Very often, we ignore them. We pass them with our windows rolled up along the access road to IH-35 or we look through them as they work for us, thinking of them as servants rather than people.

The local topic related to Blog Action Day is putting a face to the poor in Austin. I can't do that for anyone, but it isn't hard to do. Look for the guy on the side of the road. Or the one sleeping on a bench downtown. Look at the middle-aged man who is bussing your table at a restaurant.

They maybe poor, but that isn't the only thing about them. With the right person caring, they might not become the next pope, but maybe they'll be able to surprise you with their potential.