Low income residents and immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C. area are getting help from a local non-profit, supported in part by the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People. ONE DC is working to improve social and economic equity by organizing, training and educating housing residents in Shaw and the District.
Wesley Woo spent years on the staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) During this time, he developed a keen interest in the work of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP), but because he was on staff, he could not serve on the committee.
While sorting through the papers of her late cousin Matilda Cartledge, Rebecca McClure found a couple of sentences in her recently-deceased relative’s handwriting that she says reflect Cartledge’s values. The unattributed sentences, which are a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt’s second inaugural address, read: ‘The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide for those who have too little.’
An international task force from the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) recently returned from a visit to Belize, where it met with a number of groups that have received funding to become more self-sustaining.
Baltimore based United Workers Association (UWA) is a human rights organization led by low-wage workers fighting to secure human rights for all—including freedom from poverty. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor has an area of great economic wealth and prosperity due to tourism, but it is surrounded by severe poverty throughout the inner city. The businesses in and around the Harbor employ workers whose wages have been systematically kept low and their working conditions, poor.
For two weeks, a delegation from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) visited 10 villages in the countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia. The villages are participants in the West Africa Initiative (WAI), a partnership of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Hunger Program and Self-Development of People.
Each year, on a Sunday during Lent, Presbyterians take a day to celebrate the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP). For nearly 50 years SDOP has helped poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged communities by establishing partnerships within those communities to address issues such as mass incarceration, labor and worker rights, clean water and natural resources, youth empowerment, and ending the exploitation of immigrants.
A Sierra Leone resident recently said that the drive from Kenema to the Liberian border is like riding six hours inside of a concrete mixer. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegates visiting the region agreed with this assessment after making the trip on the all-dirt road.
While violence and fear continue to pervade war-torn Syria, Presbyterians across the United States are helping those displaced by the conflict rebuild their lives. Since the war began in 2011, at least 13.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes and seek safety in Lebanon, Jordan, Europe and the United States. The United Nations estimates 400,000 others have been killed in the conflict.
Matthew 14 tells the story of Jesus and His disciples seeking a place of rest after a long day of teaching, preaching and healing. But the crowds continued to follow. When He is asked about what to do, He turns to the 12 and tells them to feed the crowd.