In a Pivotal State, Ways to Serve our Neighbor in an Election Year
ELCA Young Adults support civic engagement at the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in February in Houston, Texas. Participants include (from left to right) Savannah Jorgensen, Brooke Helfers, Erin Brown, Autumn Byars, Tomo Duke, Naomi Mbise, Frances Dobbs, Kayla Zopfi, Quentin Bernhard, William Milner. On Feb. 29, Gov.
PA Advocates Can Celebrate National School Breakfast Week With a Win and a Challenge
LAMPa hunger advocates and students can celebrate National School Breakfast Week (March 4-8) with a win and a challenge this year. In December, universal free school breakfast, which had been implemented during the pandemic, was made permanent with enactment in the Pennsylvania School Code. For years, LAMPa has been
LAMPa’s Period Poverty Postcard Campaign
Join LAMPa in supporting measures to end period poverty in Pennsylvania, beginning March 8, International Women’s Day!* Period poverty – the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products – has gained more and more attention in recent years, though the issue is nothing new. For generations, those who experience menstruation
LAMPa Presence at ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering
Pennsylvania synod hunger leaders, LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale and ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow Quentin Bernhard joined fellow hunger leaders from around the country and world at the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering, Feb, 1-4 in Houston, Texas. The gathering celebrated 50 years of ELCA World Hunger and included service-learning site
Recommendations in Response to State of Black Pennsylvania Report, Listening Tour
A year after the release of his State of Black Pennsylvania report and subsequent state-wide listening tour, Sen. Art Haywood (Montgomery, Philadelphia) has responded with a set of policy recommendations. The State of Black Pennsylvania report was released in February 2023, aiming to give a complete picture of the
New Policy Brief on Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Homelessness
The "State-Level Brief Update - A Call for Action: Participation of Young Children Experiencing Homelessness and Young Children in Foster Care in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania" was released by the Pennsylvania Head Start State Collaboration Office (PA HSSCO) and HopePHL in February. The brief update "highlights key state-level
LAMPa’s Response to Governor Shapiro’s 2024 Budget Address
LAMPa finds much to applaud in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $48.3 billion budget proposal unveiled yesterday, especially in priority areas of housing, health care, safe communities, household financial stability and education equity. Although nutrition programs would see some significant increases and innovations, hunger advocates fear they do not go far enough
Housing Alliance Releases Interactive Report on Post-Pandemic Evictions
LAMPa's coalition partners, the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, released an interactive web report on the rise of eviction filings in Pennsylvania post-pandemic. As people of faith, we grieve the ways in which so many of our neighbors are turned out of their homes and are called to work for policies
ELCA Task Force Releases Draft of Social Statement on Civic Life and Faith
The ELCA is developing a social statement on civic life and faith, the relationship of church and state, and related matters, as called for by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. A draft version of the social statement is now available for study and discussion. Social statements are the ELCA’s
Lois Griffiths: A Life Lived for Others
“Always remember OP.” That was Lois Griffiths’ mother’s code for “other people.” From a young age growing up in Harrisburg, she has taken her mother’s words to heart, and has lived a life directing not only her actions toward “OP,” but centering the needs and experiences of others in
