This week Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. 

The American Rescue Plan was signed by President Biden on Thursday. The bill injects hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy and many provisions specifically target people in poverty. The bill provides:

·        $1,400 direct payments to individuals making up to $75,000

·        Extends and expands unemployment insurance providing an extra $300 a week in federal benefits through September 6th, 2021

·        Expands the Child Tax Credit raising the maximum credit from $2,000 to $3,000 per child and $3,600 for children under the age of 6 for one year

·        Raises the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers from $450 to $1,500, and expands the program to now include younger adults aged 19-24 who are not full-time students, and those 65 and over

·        $510 million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, with $110 million of those funds dedicated to responding to humanitarian challenges on the border 

·        $50 billion for small businesses, including $7 billion for the Payment Protection Program

·        $25 billion for small and mid-sized restaurants

Catholic Charities USA President and CEO, Sister Donna Markham OP, PhD, said, "The American Rescue Plan provides important and necessary relief to those who continue to suffer as a result of this pandemic." You can read the full statement here.

Americans filed 712,000 new unemployment claims for the week ending on March 6th. New claims have remained under 800,000 for a third consecutive week. Yet, claims are still well above the Great Recession high of 665,000. Nearly 20 million Americans were still claiming some benefit across all programs as of February 20th.

It was reported on March 10th that the U.S. had at least 58,530 new coronavirus cases and 1,477 new coronavirus deaths. The number of cases is down 16% from the average two weeks prior and deaths have decreased by 30% from two weeks ago. Since the start of the pandemic, roughly one year ago, 29,247,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus. The CDC reported that 62.5 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 32.9 million who have been fully vaccinated. Healthcare providers are currently administering on average 2.17 million doses per day.  Although signs are promising, people should remain vigilant in their use of a mask and social distancing. To learn more about how you can get the vaccine please contact your state health department for more information on its plan for COVID-19 vaccination.

Faith and the Common Good 

It is an unlikely and sad anniversary to mark, but we have now reached a year of quarantining and shut down due to COVID-19.  Most importantly, we must also remember the more than 530,000 Americas lost this past year.  We mourn them with their families, and we honor all of our essential workers.  We also remember scores of individuals have lost jobs and large parts of their income.  We thank the staff and volunteers at the Catholic Charities agencies who have continued to provide services during this year to serve those most in need. 

Prayer for a Pandemic

May we who are merely inconvenienced

remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors

remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home

remember those who must choose

between preserving their health or making their rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children

when their schools close

remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips

remember those that have no place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money

in the tumult of the economic market

remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home

remember those who have no home.

During this time

when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,

let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God

to our neighbors.

Amen.

Trivia 

Marcia Fudge was confirmed as the second African-American woman Secretary of HUD, who was the first African-American woman?

Please send your answers to [email protected]

On March 5th, the trivia question was, "Which woman famously attacked the Catholic "just-war" theory with pacifist views and supported draft-card burning?"

Dennis C. McNulty was the first to identify Dorothy Day as the woman who attacked the Catholic "just-war" theory. 

Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic Christian without abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known political radical in the American Catholic Church.

In 1917, she was imprisoned as a member of suffragist Alice Paul's nonviolent Silent Sentinels. In 1933, Day worked closely with fellow activist and De LaSalle brother, Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker Movement providing direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf. She practiced civil disobedience for which she was arrested even at the age of 75.   As part of the Catholic Worker Movement, Day co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper and served as its editor from 1933 until her death in 1980.

Pope Benedict XVI used her conversion story as an example of how to "journey towards faith ... in a secularized environment."  When Pope Francis addressed the United States Congress, he listed Dorothy Day in a list of four exemplary Americans.  A hero of the Catholic left, it was Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, who hailed her as "the saint for our times." At their November 2012 meeting, the U.S. bishops unanimously supported her cause, and the Vatican accepted the recommendation, naming her "Servant of God." 

Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!

You can also access advocacy opportunities through our advocacy and policy page.

Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.

If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here.

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