Hey everyone! Jill here!

This past weekend, we talked about the extreme poverty and homelessness issues that many of the people living in New Orleans face.  The following are some of the statistics that Winnie shared:

CITIZENS LIVING IN POVERTY
Westerville - 5%
New Orleans - 28%
Lower Ninth Ward - 36%

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Westerville - 1.7%
New Orleans - 8.2%
Lower Ninth Ward - 52% (of those over 16) are NOT in the work force

One of the ways that our church helps address this issue is to provide dinner and serve it at the YWCA Family Shelter every other month.  This shelter is the only one of its kind in the United States and the families who live there are lucky enough to have high quality child care for their children while they look for work/save money, a private place to sleep and keep their things and three meals/day.  To provide all of this free of charge, they desperately need individuals and groups, like St. Paul, to help. 

I would like to invite those going to the NYG to go with me and other members of our church on Friday, June 1.  We will meet at the church at 4:00pm (I have room for 7 in my van - if more are interested, we will need another driver) and drive to the shelter.  We will then be able to tour the facility, help prepare/serve dinner and spend time with the families.  Please bring some money for ice cream, as we will stop on the way home and talk about what we saw/experienced.  We should be back by around 8pm (we'll call on our way home with the specific time). 

 It was a humbling experience when Matt and I had the opportunity to serve in April and I hope that you will be able to come, too. If not, they are always in need of people to help provide food; just check out the list in the narthex.  If you have any questions, please let me know.