Poverty Initiative Statement on Haiti Crisis
We, the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, offer our prayers and support for our sisters and brothers in Haiti. We invite you to join us in offering prayers and support for those who have died, those who have been injured, those who are still trapped in the debris, those who are missing, and those who are still searching for loved ones in the earthquake and its aftermath
Almost one year ago, the Poverty Initiative was deeply honored to send a delegation of students, staff, alumni, and faculty members of Union Theological Seminary to partner with the Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti in offering an educational and vocational enrichment program January 16-30, 2009. During our time in Haiti, we were also able to spend time with Partners in Health, Maisson de Naissance and Beyond Borders. While there, we recognized a shared plight and fight of poverty that is becoming a growing reality around the globe. In this great time of need, we will continue to stand with our sisters and brothers in Haiti.
This most recent earthquake is not the first natural disaster to affect Haiti in recent years (four storms battered the country between mid-August and mid-September 2008, causing destruction from which the country had not yet fully recovered) and that these disasters will take years from which to recover. For more information about the situation in Haiti and opportunities to donate to relief efforts, see:
Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti
The Episcopal News Service states that “Haiti is by far the poorest and least-developed country in the western hemisphere, with more than half of its people living on less than $1 per day, and 80% living on less than $2 per day. One-third of its children are malnourished and 500,000 cannot go to school. The unemployment rate is estimated to be 60 percent.”
The Poverty Initiative is committed to building a global movement to end poverty.
A New and Unsettling Force: Reigniting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign - the Poverty Initiative's newest original publication is 
