Development Blogs.com

from The Record EagleThe Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry has kept his promise.When asked about plans following his retirement as president of the United Church of Christ in 2000, Sherry vowed to make poverty his big issue.Sherry, a Tamaqua native and one-time Kenhorst pastor, is doing just that. As national coordinator of Let Justice Roll, a coalition of some 90 faith and community groups, he was the leadoff speaker on a recent teleconference sponsored by Washington-based Faith in Public Life.Of the various speakers advocating action on different social-ministry issues, Sherry is the only one who can already point to significant progress.The Senate followed the House lead a week ago in approving a hike in the minimum wage; action by the committee reconciling the two versions is the next...

from KDKA(KDKA) PITTSBURGH A local group has come up with a unique way to educate the public about what it's like to be poor so they can help find solutions to this growing problem.The group, Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners, is sponsoring a series of "poverty simulations" to give people a new perspective on the daily struggles that the working poor can face."The purpose of our simulation is to educate people about the issues facing the working poor," explains PSVP's Terry Beggy. "It's called a poverty simulation and you go through about a month in the life of an individual who is surviving poverty."Tim Aldinger has a good job with the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board. Though he's never been poor, he wanted to take part in the project to better understand the challenges some of...