A cut of that proportion to Utahns receiving general assistance creates a big gap for about 1,300 who cannot work and are waiting for federal benefits. General assistance bridges that gap for people determined by a doctor to be temporarily unemployable due to injury or disability and helps them financially as well as with job training and employment searches.

General assistance also helps expedite the process of receiving federal disability benefits, which can otherwise take up to two years for approval.

“People on general assistance are often homeless, or at risk of being homeless, and face severe medical problems,” said the Rev. Libby Hunter, longtime member of the Coalition of Religious Communities and deacon at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. “Many have pending applications with Social Security due to multiple disabilities. The stipend is their only resource until a disability determination is made. This program is about keeping the most vulnerable members of our society alive.”

Bill Tibbits, with Crossroads Urban Center, said the reason for the rally was to urge lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee to take public comment on the cuts proposed to general assistance.

“That is especially frustrating about this part of the budget,” Tibbitts said. “It seems like legislators would want to at least hear from a couple people on GA before recommending cuts in funding for the program.”

E-MAIL: jthalman@desnews.com

 Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Revs. Steve Klemz, left, and Joel Nau are calling for the Utah State Legislature to refrain from making cuts to human-needs programs until a new federal stimulus plan is revealed.

See Article in the Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705280330,00.html

On Sunday, February 1st, Linda Hilton from Crossroads Urban Center and the Coalition of Religious Communities (CORC) will be our guest speaker at both worship services. She will also be available after the 11am worship for conversation. Please plan to attend and discuss the current budget cut crisis ongoing with the Utah State Legislature. 

Setting boundaries

Public Forum Letter

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 12/24/2008 07:17:45 PM MST
 

The young couple came looking for shelter, a place to rest for a while; she was pregnant, they were unmarried and afraid, but there was no place for them to stay. We all know couples like this. They come to be counted, hoping to find a life where they will count for something. They come, not great with child, but pregnant with the promise of a new life. What do we do with people like this? “Whatever you did (or did not do) for the least of these, you did (or did not do) for me.”

The problem lies not with “people like these” but with the “innkeepers” who stand safely behind the registration desk, setting the boundaries, counting to see who measures up, assigning rooms, determining who’s in and who’s out. No love lost there. Some “in-keepers” flaunt their power in God’s name or the law’s. They cannot comprehend what Archbishop Desmond Tutu meant when he said, “Love is more demanding than the law.”

In this season of hope, we celebrate the light that shines in the darkness, making room for peace and goodwill. I still cling to that hope, even though the immigration bill SB81 leaves us standing in the dark, safely behind our registration desks, justifying ourselves with simple answers to complex questions, setting boundaries that ignore “the least of these.”

Rev. Steven Klemz

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

Salt Lake City

Stretch your dollar AND support your community!

We all EAT! And we should do it well! However, many of us have seen our grocery bills skyrocket. We are paying so much more for the same foods we’ve been buying for a long time. Complicate that with our desires to eat quality, locally grown, healthy foods, while supporting our local businesses and charitable food pantries like Crossroads. For these reasons and many others, EVERYONE should take part of the Community Food Co-op of Utah headed by the

Crossroads Urban Center.

You can buy quality, healthy food (fresh fruit, vegetables, staple items and frozen meat) for up to 50% off retail. This is possible through collective purchasing. The food is ordered in mass quantities for very low prices. “By participating, you are sustaining a project that makes it possible for anyone to stretch their budgets, eat more healthily, and be more deliberate, thoughtful consumers.” Plus it’s easy! At the beginning of the month, order the shares of food you want. Then, simply pick it up at your designated site within your community toward the end of the month. Order each month or whenever you desire.

“My experience for June was awesome. I printed the form at home, mailed it in, got a reminder phone call, did my pick up in 5 minutes (there is a one hour window on Saturday AMs). The food quality was excellent.” - Marci Hall

Check out the Crossroads Urban Center at www.crossroads-u-c.org for more information. Visit the Zion website for the link. Or call, (801) 746-7878. Community Food Co-op order forms are available in the narthex.

Stating that Lutherans have a long history and significant experience related to health and human services, relief and development, and refugee proteciton and immigration, four Lutheran leaders wrote to the major political party candidates for U.S. President.  In their letter the leaders, including the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), suggested specific policy priorities and urged presidential leadership on a series of topics.  The text of the letter is available at http://archive.elca.org/bishop/messages/candidatesletter.html and copies are available in the church entrance hall.

Humanity and dignity

Public Forum Letter

The Salt lake Tribune 02/02/2008 12:12:34 PM MST

I love Utah. This is a great place to be a pastor. This is the place where religion is the topic of conversation every day. This is the place where public policy is shaped by our core values of family unity and our heritage of hospitality. This is the place where people readily enter the public arena to explore ways that we live out the full meaning of our calling as children of God.
I am grateful to learn that leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have reminded us that “we are talking about human beings” when we address issues with the undocumented immigrant community in Utah (”LDS urge empathy in immigrant legislation,” Tribune, Jan. 24).
This reminder reframes immigration reform, moving from a place of fear to a posture of faith. There are no easy answers, and differences exist among persons within our religious communities. Yet, from our faith perspective, compassion compels us to see the person who has entered this country without authorization not simply as an “illegal alien,” but as a brother or sister made and loved by God.
This is not the case in our national debate, where immigrants are sometimes portrayed as locusts, bacteria or an occupying army. By dehumanizing people and posturing immigration in a climate of fear, some would have us believe that issues can be solved by keeping people out, kicking people out and getting tough with new immigration laws. But as Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminds us, “Love is more demanding than the law.”
As we consider immigration bills in this year’s state Legislature, I hope Utah can be the place where we embrace the humanity and dignity of all people.
   
Rev. Steven A. Klemz Pastor, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Salt Lake City Read more at: http://www.sltrib.com/Opinion/ci_8150598