Why Faith Leaders & Congregations Must Lead the Rebirth of Poor Communities

Most poor people on Long Island live in neighborhoods where many other people are poor.  Sociologists call this “concentrated poverty”.  On Long Island, pockets of concentrated poverty tend to be within communities that have the highest numbers of African Americans, Latino Americans, and other people of color.  This pattern of segregation and poverty   _communities with 70% working and middle class homeowners and  30% poor people  amidst larger communities of affluence and extreme wealth_  is what makes Long Island one of the most segregated regions in the United States of America.

Poor communities have a low proportion of business investment, a lack of banking services, few full-service supermarkets and/or places to purchase fresh produce, and in the current economic crisis, the highest numbers of home foreclosures and the highest unemployment.  Racists may believe that people are poor because they are black, brown or red.  In the richest country in the world, however, people and communities are poor because human, social, and financial capital is not managed and invested to create wealth for the benefit of these people and communities.

Another characteristic of communities with concentrated poverty is the high proportion of places of worship.  One such community in Nassau has a population of over 10,000 people and over 50 congregations.  While most of these congregations are small (under 40 members), and a number of them do not own the properties they worship in, these faith communities are perhaps the most important institutions in the region.  They have longevity, they provide services and spiritual guidance, they have experienced and effective leadership, and collectively they raise tens of millions of dollars each year to pay their staffs, operate their buildings and pursue the divine calling to mission and ministry.

We are living in a unique time for faith leaders and congregations on Long Island and everywhere in this country where patterns of segregation and poverty exist.  After decades of proposed solutions to eliminating poverty in our communities, government has proven itself to be impotent.  In the ongoing cycles of economic expansion, depression and recession since the birth of our country, the free market has proven itself to be unwilling, unable and often hostile to the notion of uplifting these communities.   As the only leaders and organizations with a historical commitment to the poor, faith leaders and congregations must see the rebirth of their communities as not something to be done in addition to ministry, or something that only the” big churches” do,  but as an essential element of mission and ministry.  Housing, economic and community development is social justice ministry.  Faith leaders and congregations must lead the rebirth of poor communities on Long Island and across the country.  

In my next post, I will explore reasons that the emerging green economy is perhaps the greatest opportunity today for the revitalization of poor communities, and why faith leaders and congregations can lead their communities to opportunity and investment in “green”.