Category Archives: Spirit Filled Network

Lent Week 4: Congress: Keep Our Homes in Our Hands

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 4 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Keep Our Homes in Our Hands

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 26, 2025

 

We could end homelessness in the U.S. for ten years for a cost of $200 billion. Over those same ten years, we could generate $1.4 trillion with a 2% tax on wealth over $1 billion.

Here’s the math: With that simple 2% tax on all wealth over $1 billion, we could provide housing for every single person in the United States – and we would still have $1.2 trillion left to invest in our communities!

Yet, homelessness is at a record high, and one in three households are “housing cost burdened” — forced to spend disproportionate parts of our income on rent or mortgage payments. This is because some members of Congress choose tax cuts for their ultra-wealthy backers instead of funding programs that would make housing more affordable for all of us.

Take action
  • Call your House Member at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid and SNAP to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors in the budget reconciliation bill.
  • Spread the word. Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family.
  • Write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal. LTEs are one of the most effective tactics for advocacy we have. Join us on Thursday, April 10 at 7:00 PM Eastern / 4:00 PM Pacific at our LTE training to learn some LTE best practices.

Find more LTE and social media guidance in our Lent toolkit.

The ultra-wealthy and the politicians they fund aren’t just blocking housing solutions, they are also actively making housing more unaffordable by allowing investors to buy up houses in our neighborhoods for their own profit, not to inhabit. In the first three months of 2024, investors bought up to 20% of homes in some markets. These investors drive first-time homebuyers out of the market, forcing them to rent from the investor-owners who hike up the cost of rent.

While those wealthy investors buy up our homes and line their pockets with our money, many of our neighbors are left out in the cold. Currently, there are 28 vacant homes for every one person facing homelessness.

Catholic teaching affirms that stable housing is a basic human right for everyone. Together, we will elect leaders who will prevent the ultra-wealthy from controlling our neighborhoods and hoarding our resources, and instead make housing security a reality for all of us.

TAKE ACTION: Call your House member today at 1-888-897-9753 and tell them to protect SNAP and Medicaid and reject tax cuts for billionaires in the budget proposal! Then, use our Lent toolkit to write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

Emily TeKolste, SP, NETWORK bio

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Lent Week 3: Congress: Prioritize Our Health, not Private Profits

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 3 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Protect Our Health, Not Private Profits

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 19, 2025

 

A friend of mine is a primary care doctor who regularly shares stories about insurance executives blocking her ability to care for her patients. For example, they delay her patients’ access to life-saving medications, which puts their health, and perhaps even their lives, at risk. Meanwhile, these insurance executives rake in record-breaking profits for themselves and their wealthy investors.

Catholic Social Teaching affirms that ensuring access to quality health care is essential to respecting the dignity of each person. No matter our race, country of origin, or size of our bank account, we value our health and want affordable health care–for ourselves and our families.

But insurance executives are lining their pockets at the expense of our health and using their profits to fund politicians who will protect their money grabs. It’s no wonder that some members of Congress are working on a bill to slash Medicaid funds–because by gutting government-supported health care, they can force more of us onto private plans and turn a bigger profit. Meanwhile, too many of us are left with huge medical bills and denials of needed medical treatment.

Take action
  • Call your House Member at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid to give tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors in the budget reconciliation bill.
  • Spread the word. Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family.
  • Write a letter to the editor (LTE) calling Congress to reject the budget proposal–make sure to include your Members of Congress (Representative and two Senators) by name!

Find more LTE and social media guidance in our Lent toolkit.

There is a lasting solution: end the private profit motive and ensure that everyone has quality, affordable health care–for less than we’re paying now. This solution is sometimes known as Medicare for All. With Medicare for All, billionaires wouldn’t be able to continue profiting at our expense through the private insurance industry (which is why they pay to put people in office who will block it).

Until we achieve a common-sense program like Medicare for All, our society fills the gaps with Medicaid, which covers more than 71 million people. Right now, a few millionaires in Congress, backed by billionaire donors and the insurance industry, are working to kick people off Medicaid to fund massive tax cuts for themselves and their ultra-wealthy backers.

We are coming together to insist that a handful of billionaires stop profiting off our health care while families struggle to afford the care they need.

Call your Representative today at 1-888-897-9753 to ensure that Congress does not cut our Medicaid to give tax-breaks to the ultra-wealthy and to pay for deporting our neighbors.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

Emily TeKolste, SP, NETWORK bio

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Lent Week 2: Tax Billionaires and Feed Our People

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 2 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Congress: Tax Billionaires and Feed Our People

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 12, 2025

 

As a child, I remember receiving the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl at church just before Lent. I was urged to donate my spare change or the money I saved from not buying a bag of chips after school so that hungry children in other countries could eat.

In 2021, David Beasley of the United Nations’ World Food Programme presented Elon Musk with a plan to address critical world hunger for $6.6 billion, about two percent of Musk’s wealth at the time. Musk had issued a challenge offering to pay that amount of money if someone presented a plan, but then refused to follow through. Two percent of my wealth is probably close to what I gave CRS as a child. It didn’t make much of a dent in world hunger, but Elon Musk could have fully ended critical world hunger at that moment.

It is a policy failure that the whims of one person can determine whether the world’s 8 billion people have access to food, or not.

In 2021, no billionaire stepped up to fund the UN World Food Programme’s proposal. Today, Congress is trying to cut our communities’ access to food to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Families who are already struggling to put food on the table will be even hungrier.

Take action

Call your House Member and tell them to reject cuts to SNAP and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. 

Join us as we continue promoting our Lenten campaign, “Giving Up Billionaires for Lent.” Save the image that I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family. And check out our Lent toolkit for more ways to share our campaign on social media and write letters to the editor (LTEs).

We must reject these cuts and act to ensure that the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share, so our communities can have what we need.

With just a two percent tax on all wealth over $1 billion, we could end hunger and homelessness, provide universal paid family and medical leave, and offer tuition-free community college in our country. We could also end hunger around the world—and still have money left over!

Take action with us today by calling your Member of Congress and asking them to reject cuts to SNAP and protect our access to food.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Giving Up Billionaires for Lent

Lent 2025: Giving Up Billionaires


Welcome to week 1 of our Lenten series, “Giving Up Billionaires,” as we call on Congress to give up billionaires so our communities can have what we need to thrive. Click here for the rest of our Lenten reflections and actions.

Why Catholicism Calls Us to Give Up Billionaires

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
March 5, 2025

 

This year, we’re giving up billionaires for Lent. It’s not like giving up a sweet indulgence like chocolate. When we say we’re giving up billionaires, we mean we are working toward a future where no one is allowed to hoard excessive wealth and power–so that we can live in a world that looks more like the Kingdom of God.

This Lent, we are urging Congress to reject tax cuts for billionaires and to protect programs that provide critical services like access to food and health care in our communities. We’ll be doing this by calling Congress, writing letters to the editor, posting on social media, and sharing about the campaign with others in our lives. 

Let’s put “billionaire-ism” into perspective

Billionaires in the United States hold nearly $7 trillion in total wealth. If you earned $100,000 per year, paid no taxes, and had no living expenses, it would take you 10 years to save $1 million. In 10,000 years you could save $1 billion. It would take you 10,000,000 years to save $1 trillion.

It’s not just that it is wrong that billionaires exist while so many of their fellow Americans face homelessness or don’t know where their next meal is coming from: the existence of billionaires is why so many of us don’t have stable housing or food. Our economic system concentrates resources that should be for everyone into the hands of a tiny group of people. This is a policy failure and a moral failure.

Take action

Join us in spreading the word about giving up billionaires for Lent! Save the “imagine where we can go” image I’ve placed below to your computer or phone and share it on social media and in emails to friends and family. And, consider writing a letter to the editor (LTE) of your local newspaper about why Congress must give up billionaires.

NETWORK has more shareable content, sample social media posts, and LTE guidance for you in our Lent Toolkit.

Catholicism teaches: tax billionaires! 

Catholic Social Teaching offers a principle called the “Universal Destination of Goods.” The Catholic Church has long taught that the fruit of creation was given to us by God, and that private property exists to protect access to the fruits of creation for all people. When private ownership fails to do that, “Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good” (Catechism, 2406). It is long past time that Congress makes billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.

Giving up billionaires this Lent and beyond 

So this year, we’re giving up billionaires for Lent. Beyond Lent, we’re committed to coming together to elect leaders who will make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes so that we can live in a world that looks more like the Kingdom of God: where everyone has clean water to drink, healthy food to eat, a safe place to live, and time to spend with our loved ones.

Over the next few weeks of Lent, look out for weekly emails from me about our “Giving Up Billionaires” campaign, which culminate with our Easter call to tax billionaires out of existence, so that all of us can share in the fruits of creation!

 

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator. To read more, check out her column in Global Sisters Report, “The existence of billionaires is immoral.”

Take Action After the January 2025 First 100 Days Strategy and Action Webinar

The First 100 Days

Strategy & action for the 2nd Trump Administration and the 119th Congress

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Join with Advocates! Visit your Representative’s local (district) office.

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Make a visit to the district office of your Member of Congress with NETWORK materials.

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How to Visit Your Representatives Local Office

During the House January Recess (Jan. 27-31), NETWORK advocates across the country are visiting their Representatives’ in-district offices to share information about NETWORK and our 2025 Legislative Priorities. You don’t have to be a policy expert to participate. This is a quick, relationship-building activity that is focused on values. We hope you will join us!  

Making the most of your visit to your Representative’s in-district office
Whether your Representative is brand-new to Congress or has been serving your district for 20 years, it’s important for you to build a relationship with the staff in their in-district offices and tell them about NETWORK and our policy priorities. In-district staff are members of your community, and getting to know them and demonstrating that you care about your district is your first step to building or strengthening your relationship with your Member of Congress.  

While this visit is not a formal lobby visit, it is an effective way to introduce yourself and NETWORK to the in-district staff—and increase your chances of getting a meeting with your Representative the next time they’re home.  Here are some tips for having a successful visit:  

  • Confirm the office’s location and hours. Depending on the size of your district, your Representative may have one or several offices, and their addresses and phone numbers will be listed on their official house.gov website. Call ahead to confirm the location and find out what days and times you can visit. If you’re going in a group, make sure that everyone knows what time you’re visiting the office.  

Important Note: While we are hoping for the visits to take place during January Recess, we also recognize that newly elected officials may not have all their in- district offices set up yet. If your local office isn’t open yet, please maintain communication and visit as soon as you’re able. It’s crucial for new Members of Congress to meet you and learn about NETWORK!  

  • Connect with other local advocates: There is power in numbers! If other NETWORK advocates from your district sign-up to participate, we will do our best to get you all connected. We also encourage you to think about who in your personal network you could invite to join you in your advocacy! 
  • Prepare your materials. In addition to the About NETWORK handout and NETWORK’s 2025 Legislative Priorities, you will also want to include a brief cover letter and make it clear that these materials are for the Representative and the District Director. In your letter, be sure to name that you’re a constituent and what town/neighborhood you live in, and include affiliations such as your parish or community, ministry or workplace, or where you volunteer. 
  • Prepare for your conversation. While this will most likely not be a long meeting, it’s important to think about what you will say. You will of course want to introduce yourself, NETWORK, and our 2025 Legislative Agenda; and if you’re going with a group, make sure that everyone briefly introduces themselves, and you can divide up what you are going to say. Remember: as this is a relationship-building meeting, it’s important to keep the tone friendly and respectful. This is not a time to debate policy. Also, please stick to the policies outlined on NETWORK’s 2025 Legislative Priorities; our Government Relations team has done the analysis, and we know that these are the first issues that the House is going to tackle through the budget reconciliation process. We also want to make sure that the staff understand who NETWORK is and what we work on.  

This is also a time to gather important information about the office and your Representative.  Here are some things you should learn during your visit:  

  • The names and emails of the District Director and Scheduler. This is key for scheduling future lobby visits! 
  • How you sign up for your Representative’s newsletter 
  • If your Representative is having any public events for constituents, such as town halls, virtual or in-person, in the next few months 
  • Be flexible during your visit. As this is not a formally scheduled lobby visit, you will most likely not know who you are going to meet when you go to the office. Since the House is on recess, you may actually get a few minutes to chat with your Representative. However, it’s more likely that you’ll speak with a District Director or someone in constituent services. Remember that not everyone in an in-district office deals with policy, so you may have to adjust how much you speak about NETWORK’s 2025 Legislative Agenda. Regardless of who you meet with, this is still an important first step to building a relationship with your Representative. 
  • Finishing touch and follow-up. If they’re available, be sure to get business cards for the District Director and Scheduler. Also, sign up for the Representative’s newsletter. And—just like you would for a lobby visit—a day or two after your visit, email the District Director and attach the About NETWORK and the 2025 Legislative Priorities documents to the email. If you met with them, of course thank them for their time. If you didn’t, simply let them know that you dropped by the office and that you’re looking forward to meeting with them in the future.   
  • Follow-up with NETWORK. As you know, we here at NETWORK love to see you in action. Please send us photos of you visiting the office, and, if it’s appropriate, include the person that you met with—especially if you do get a few moments with your Representative! About a week after January Recess, we will be sending out a report-back form so that we can collect information. Please take time to fill out the form!  
2025 Legislative Priorities - District Office Leave-Behind
About NETWORK - District Office Leave-Behind

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Welcome, Y.A.L.L.

Welcome, Y.A.L.L.

Young Advocates Leadership Lab Promotes Political Engagement on College Campuses

Jane Sutter
September 5, 2024

Baylee Fingerhut, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, is one of ten students in NETWORK’s new Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.) Y.A.L.L. serves as a training space for faithful young adults to build the skills needed to be advocates for justice in the world today. Photo: Min. Christian Watkins.

When Baylee Fingerhut, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, read about a new program seeking college students to become advocates for social justice, she was intrigued.

“I thought how amazing it would be to be a part of that, not just something that would help me grow my professional skills and help me network but to be part of something so impactful, like this inaugural group of youth leaders who want to go out and advocate and make a change,” she says.

Fingerhut is part of the first cohort of ten students in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab. Y.A.L.L. is a leadership and advocacy skills development program for college students, serving as a training space for faithful young adults to build the skills needed to be advocates for justice.

Building Up Y.A.L.L.

 

Over the years, NETWORK has offered training for college students, but Y.A.L.L. offers a new, deeper level of engagement with young justice seekers. It’s a natural outgrowth of NETWORK’s vision to mobilize a diverse national movement of justice-seekers.

For Fingerhut, a public policy major, the opportunity to participate in Y.A.L.L. has given her the opportunity to both advocate for others and “do the grassroots, boots-on-the-ground work” such as registering fellow students to vote and having conversations with students about why their vote matters, she says.

Choosing the ten students for the inaugural class of Y.A.L.L. was a competitive process as 60 students applied, according to Chelsea Puckett, NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Outreach and Education Specialist, who acts as the convenor and staff liaison for the program.

Recruitment involved outreach to Catholic Sisters, advocates, and colleges where NETWORK had a relationship, as well as utilizing online tools for making professional connections with college students.

“We wanted to build a cohort of people to adhere to NETWORK’s mission of working for justice and equity for all people,” Puckett says.

Diversity of all kinds was an important factor. Not all the students are Catholic, but as part of the interview process, students were asked how their values, faith, or morals drive their advocacy work.

“We wanted to be inclusive of all different belief systems and backgrounds,” Puckett says.

Y.A.L.L. runs in two 13-week phases. The first phase took place from March into May, followed by a summer hiatus. The second phase will run from August into November. Each student commits to five hours per week and receives a competitive stipend.

Engaging With College Students

Katie Crump, left, and Anna Kopsick of the University of Dayton pose with the 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, the central resource of NETWORK’s voter education campaign. Crump, class of 2025, is a member of NETWORK’s Y.A.L.L. cohort.

With Y.A.L.L.’s focus in 2024 being voter education and mobilization, in the spring, students hosted voter registration drives on their campuses, staffing tables in prominent campus locations, such as outside a student center or inside a cafeteria. They used the opportunity to introduce the 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, NETWORK’s multi-issue voter education resource, to their peers.

At Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Y.A.L.L. leader Kaila Crouch and Puckett helped students check online to see if they were registered to vote.

“It’s something you don’t really think about until, unfortunately, it might be too late,” Crouch says. She notes that students who registered to vote at the Y.A.L.L. table seemed relieved and made comments such as, “Wow. I’m happy this is checked off on my list of things to do.”

Crouch, who will return to campus in the fall to study for an MBA, and Puckett also visited a leadership and development class of senior students to discuss multi-issue voting.

Y.A.L.L. participant Imani McClammy, majoring in political science at Barry University in Miami, Fla., enjoyed teaching fellow students about multi-issue voting, quoting a line she learned from Puckett: “We’re multi-issue voters because we live multi-issue lives.” She told students how true that is. “I care about housing, I care about education, I care about minimum wage. These are all things that impact our lives.”

Imani McClammy, class of 2026, Barry University, Miami

Participating in the Y.A.L.L. program has been revelatory, several participants say. Theresa Lindberg, a freshman majoring in English literature and Spanish at Mt. Mary University in Milwaukee, Wis., says she discovered in talking with students that “some people just are not going to be interested in voting.”

McClammy says she believes the biggest challenge on her campus is explaining to students why voting matters. When she hears students say, “I don’t like politics,” she tries to explain: “Your life is full of political issues, even if you don’t think so.” McClammy researches laws or potential legislation to use as examples of what affects students’ lives, and she encourages them to find out what legislation the candidates support.

Puckett says the on-campus experience has been revealing. “Students are busy people,” she notes. “To hear what issues matter to them based on what they’re studying or their lived experiences was really insightful as we continue this work with young people.”

Breaking Through the Noise

Chelsea Puckett of NETWORK assists a student during an on-campus voter registration event at the University of Mount Mary in Milwaukee. Y.A.L.L. events on campuses will focus on voter awareness and engagement.

A key part of the Y.A.L.L. initiative is the weekly virtual trainings offered to the participants and conducted mostly by NETWORK staff. For the spring effort, students participated in a variety of workshops, including how to conduct a voter registration drive, multi-issue voting, breaking through the election noise, deep canvassing and door knocking, and appropriate use of social media.

One key training was on how to have difficult conversations with fellow students who have different viewpoints. The Y.A.L.L. participants did roleplay to practice, Puckett says.

Lindberg says those exercises were valuable “because we live in such a polarized country.” McClammy agreed. “Doing that workshop helped me more in having those difficult conversations and always finding a way to tie it back to Y.A.L.L.’s mission—being multi-issue voters.”

Y.A.L.L. participants also spent time in the spring laying the groundwork for campus initiatives in the fall. This included forming partnerships with appropriate student groups, campus ministries, and political science professors. The core mission for the fall will be get-out-the-vote efforts, so students are planning voter registration drives at orientation events for freshmen and transfer students. They’ll also knock on doors in student housing and off-campus apartments.

Ishara Baez, a student in the class of 2025 at the University of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx, NY, is among the ten students participating in NETWORK’s Y.A.L.L. program.

Y.A.L.L. students will inquire if students have a plan to vote and if they have a way to get to the polls. For those hesitant to get involved in the democratic process, students will use their conversational skills to try to convince them to do so.

Puckett notes that NETWORK’s involvement on campuses has been met with a warm welcome. “We plan for these to be sustainable relationships over many, many years,” she says. A new cohort will be selected for 2025, Puckett says.

Fingerhut, at St. Joseph’s University, says she already had some background in Catholic social justice, having learned about it in classes, but she had never seen a tie-in with politics. Participating in Y.A.L.L. has been “transformative to see it come to life on a stage such as a federal election.”

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.) here. 

 

Jane Sutter is a freelance journalist based in Rochester, N.Y., and is part of the NETWORK Advocates team in New York State.

This story was published in the Quarter 3 2024 issue of Connection.

 

Presidential Debate Bingo!

2024 Presidential Debate Bingo!

Use NETWORK’s BINGO card to follow along the Presidential Debate on September 10

September 5, 2024

Who doesn’t like a good game of bingo while watching a debate?!

Presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will have their first debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 10 at 9:00 PM EDT on ABC. You can also watch the debate on Disney+ and Hulu.

Join NETWORK, our partners, and advocates across the country in watching the debate and playing BINGO along the way! While most bingo cards contain numbered squares, NETWORK’s nonpartisan bingo card features policies and actions that will bring us toward a future where everyone thrives, no exceptions. As you watch the debate, mark off any squares on your bingo card that you hear a candidate mention!  

Download and print out the 2024 Presidential Debate Bingo Card.

The 2024 election poses a critical choice to our country: will we choose a future where everyone thrives? You can use the bingo card to help you track what the candidates have to say on the issues, and discern how your vote will protect and expand a flourishing, multiracial, multi-faith democracy for all.

Don’t forget to let us know on social media if you score a BINGO! Post a photo of your bingo card and tag us at @network_lobby on Instagram or @NETWORKLobby on Facebook, and use hashtags like #MultiIssueVoter or #VoteOurFuture.

Download and print out the 2024 Presidential Debate Bingo Card.

Learn more about the issues and freedoms at stake this election with NETWORK’s Equally Sacred Checklist.

After you watch the debate… 

Vote Our Future logoMake a plan to VOTE! Head to NETWORK’s Be a Voter page to check your voter registration status, find your voting information, make a voting plan, and tell your family and friends to vote, too!

 

 

What’s the Real Reason for High Grocery Prices?

What’s the Real Reason for High Grocery Prices? 

Food prices are unaffordable! What’s going on, and what can we do?

Check out our food prices one-pager here!

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
August 30, 2024

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP, is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator.

No matter how old we are, where we live, or what’s in our wallets, every one of us has a right to be free from hunger. It’s a matter of our dignity. Grounded in the teaching and tradition of Catholic Social Justice, NETWORK believes that all of us—especially our children and elderly—have an essential right to good, basic nutrition.

As we all have noticed, grocery prices have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. But even after the crisis of the pandemic has subsided, and even as inflation has dropped off in recent months, grocery prices remain high. With food prices up roughly 20% in the last two years, too many of us are struggling to feed ourselves and our families.

Why are our grocery prices so high?

We hear all sorts of explanations for food inflation, but none of them explain why big food corporations keep raising their prices.

So, what is actually behind the continuing rise in food prices? The simple fact is that a few big agribusiness executives are lining their pockets at our expense. Economists estimate that, by mid-2022, 53% of the increase in food prices was the direct result of corporate profiteering. Workers’ wage increases accounted for less than 8%.

While we’re struggling to feed our families…

      • Big corporations made $2.5 trillion in profits in 2021 alone, their most profitable year since 1950—and corporate food executives still raised prices.
        • Tyson Foods made profits of $11 billion, up 48% from 2021.
        • Cargill, a huge commodities corporation, posted $5 billion in 2021 profits.
        • General Mills posted profit increases of 97% in early 2022, as it increased its prices by 53%.
        • PepsiCo raised prices for drinks and snacks by 17%, while its profits grew by 20%.
        • Coca-Cola’s corporate profits grew by 14%.
      • At the same time, food industry CEO salaries became even more bloated, averaging $22 million in 2022—almost 1,000 times the average food worker’s earnings.
      • All this time, a few mega-corporations controlled the food industry, all but eliminating real competition, and driving out smaller businesses.
        • Cargill and three other firms control 70% of the world’s food market.
        • Just four supermarket chains control 65% of the nation’s food retailers.

But you won’t hear big food executives and the politicians they buy mention these realities. Some Republican lawmakers like to blame inflation on the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies — even though those policies help us afford our groceries. They blame the tax, unemployment, and rental assistance lifelines that got struggling families through the pandemic, and they blame new programs that build well-paying jobs, safely fix our roads and bridges, and give us clean air and energy. They blame these programs to distract us — because they would rather keep corporate profits high than fund the things that actually help us feed our families. They know it, and we know it!

What can we do?

The president alone cannot control inflation. President Biden has no authority to unilaterally issue orders to lower food prices, and a few lawmakers in Congress have blocked meaningful Congressional action.

Advocates at NETWORK’s “Care Not Cuts” rally in Long Island last year. From left to right: Fr Frank Pizzarelli, Sr. Tesa Fitzgerald, Angel Reyes, Serena Martin-Liguori, Monique Fitzgerald

But we can demand better! Together, we will ensure that Congress supports affordable, nutritious food for us and our communities.

As a multi-issue voter, you can ask your elected officials and the candidates on your ballot:

1. Will they ensure that freedom from hunger is an essential right for all of us by fully funding food assistance programs, including:

  • The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including its Thrifty Food Plan that protects SNAP benefits from rising food inflation? 
  • School lunches, elderly meals, soup kitchens, and food banks? 
  • The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which offers basic nutrition for pregnant people, new parents, and babies?

2. Will they stop rewarding the executives of mega-corporations and their wealthy shareholders at the expense of ordinary workers and their families by:

  • Reversing excessive Trump administration’s 2017 tax bill benefits for big corporations?
  • Imposing needed measures to curb excessive CEO and executive compensation packages for profiteering companies?
  • Making the tax system fair for workers and their families, with stronger tax credits for children, childcare, and earned income?

3. Will they push the Federal Trade Commission to put the brakes on the monopolization in big agribusiness and protect small farmers and sellers?

Vote Our Future logoAnd then, of course, VOTE! Head to NETWORK’s Be a Voter page to check your voter registration status, find your voting information, make a voting plan, and tell your family and friends to vote, too!

Together, we will make Freedom from Hunger a reality for all of us, no exceptions! We will ensure that our nation’s food industry isn’t about feeding corporate profits, but about feeding our communities.

See NETWORK’s Food Prices One-Pager Here:
YALL Food Prices One-Pager FINAL
Sources

Head to these links to learn more about the real reasons for rising food costs:

https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2023/january/complex-supply-chains-bottlenecks-and-inflation

https://time.com/6139127/u-s-food-prices-monopoly/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inflation-is-cooling-the-gop-wants-you-to-remember-its-up-179-since-biden-took-office-152408852.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/us/politics/republicans-inflation-federal-reserve-powell.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/politics/inflation-gop-fact-check/index.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2022/05/10/how-windfall-profits-have-supercharged-food-inflation/

 

 

The Many Over the Money

The Many Over the Money

NETWORK’s Non-Partisan Voter Education Series Shows the Power of People Uniting

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP
August 15, 2024

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP, center, visits St. Gertrude Catholic Church in Chicago for a NETWORK election year training on April 14. Also pictured, left to right, are Vic and Mary Doucette from NETWORK’s Chicago team, Ken Brucks, and Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM. Sr. Emily is NETWORK’s Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator.

From Indiana to California, from New Jersey to Texas, NETWORK Advocates across the nation want to build a world where everyone thrives, no exceptions. And they’re showing up. My colleagues and I have been privileged to work with wonderful advocates — NETWORK mainstays and new faces alike — who have attended online and in-person trainings to build skills and explore a variety of ways they can talk about the issues that matter to them and help their neighbors participate in our democracy this election.

We know we’re facing some big obstacles: a few ultrawealthy people are pouring big money into organizations trying to divide us over issues like immigration and rights for people in the LGBTQ+ community. They know that when we’re working against each other, we can’t see the ways they’re working to get big tax breaks for themselves and their ultra-wealthy friends — leaving the rest of us with few resources and struggling communities.

This election year, we’re coming together from across the country and across our many differences of race, age, and gender to build the skills we need to unite our nation around our shared values.

In April and May, the NETWORK team hosted two rounds of a four-week online training series. We talked about the many issues that matter to us when we consider candidates. We explored ways to talk about our issues that can help others see them as important — both in interpersonal conversations and in the ways that we contribute to the public narratives in our nation. Lastly, we explored other ways to get involved — everything from serving as poll workers to hosting ballot research parties.

We’ve also been hosting in-person trainings. These three-hour interactive workshops cover some of the content from the online trainings and give participants opportunities to practice and strengthen their skills even further.

Attendees have been thrilled by the skill-building opportunities and energized by the hope of being in community. Alice from California said, “Your sessions give direct, usable, doable actions for anyone who wants it. When we apply the information, results happen.” Sr. Mary Jo from Wisconsin said, “I wanted more hope in regards to this election. You provided it. Thank you.”

Vote Our Future logo

The Vote Our Future logo of NETWORK’s 2024 voter education campaign

Participants practiced talking about our visions for a future in which everyone thrives and learned about the policies that are helping us get there — recent victories like the largest investment in climate change prevention in U.S. history through the Inflation Reduction Act and the largest cut in child poverty in over 50 years through the American Rescue Plan.

They learned skills like deep listening and storytelling that help reshape people’s perspectives in one-on-one conversations and transformative narrative-building through the Race Class Narrative framework. Finally, they explored ways to get going on the ground, and many have signed up to be poll workers, committed to hosting voter registration drives, and much more.

As NETWORK has always done, we approach this election year with hope and welcome. From Nuns on the Bus to the 2022 Pope Francis Voter Tour to everyday conversations with policymakers in Congress, NETWORK staff and NETWORK advocates are transforming our politics by boldly declaring that all people deserve to have what they need to thrive. And we can get there when we go together — when we overcome the attempts to divide us by race, gender, and creed — and declare that all people are made in the image and likeness of God, who came that we “may have life and have it more abundantly.”

Like Alice and Sr. Mary Jo, we know that hope is an active virtue, and when we take action together, the many can defeat the money.

This is how we show up for each other, creating a world where nobody goes hungry, where people have access to safe and reliable shelter, good-paying jobs, and the ability to contribute to their communities. Together, we will vote our future so that everyone thrives — no exceptions!

This story was published in the Quarter 3 2024 issue of Connection.

 

Want to join in the action? Are you in the Louisville, KY area?  Register today for “Informed, Engaged, and Committed: NETWORK’s 2024 Election Year Training,” happening Saturday, Aug. 24, 8:30 am – 12 pm EDT, at Epiphany Catholic Church in Louisville. See you there!

 

Embracing the Great ‘Y’ALL’

Embracing the Great ‘Y’ALL’

Justice Demands a Future—and a Politics—That Includes Everyone

Mary J. Novak
August 8, 2024

Mary J. Novak is NETWORK’s Executive Director.

James Joyce famously described the Catholic Church as “Here comes everybody!” It’s a joyfully loud and messy image for a universal people of faith making their way through history toward the kin-dom of God. At World Youth Day in Portugal last year, Pope Francis echoed this sentiment when he described the church as being for “¡todos todos todos!” — “everyone, everyone, everyone!”

At NETWORK, we embrace this inclusive vision, not only for the church but for all of society. In our voter education efforts, for instance, we call on people to “Vote our Future” to embrace a vision of a future for everyone, where all people — no matter their race, country of origin, or socioeconomic background — have what they need to flourish and participate in our society.

While the beauty of Catholic Social Teaching provides a helpful light as we navigate toward a more just and equitable tomorrow, unfortunately, not all faith leaders devote their witness to promoting these values. The message many people receive in the pews is that they need to defend themselves against cultural “threats,” usually posed by greater acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in our society.

Sadly, some politicians stand to gain from people of faith, believing they have to defend an exclusionary worldview, whether against the LGBTQ+ community or immigrants and other marginalized people, in order to be faithful. It amounts to a brazen bet that people will do the wrong thing if it benefits them.

But not all faith leaders allow themselves to be cynically co-opted. Pope Francis, for instance, made a powerful statement about the role of faith in a complex, changing world when, on December 18 of last year, he approved a blessing for same-sex couples. While many noted that this did not change Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality, the point is that the pope modeled how to engage in affirmative acceptance and inclusion, rooted in human dignity, rather than treating human beings as threats.

This is especially urgent in the U.S., where the dominant position of the church has been to rebuff every legal protection for LGBTQ+ people as a threat to religious freedom. So much action on behalf of solidarity and the common good could be unleashed in the world if people of faith no longer feared for their identity or saw themselves as culturally under siege.

A group that understands this on a very deep level is young adults. While many have given up on the church because they see its teachings as endorsing intolerance, others have stayed and connected the dots of care for creation, care for immigrants, care for the whole human family, and the witness of faith. And so NETWORK, seeking to support and grow this energy, has engaged a cohort of college students this year to participate in our new Young Advocates Leadership Lab — or Y.A.L.L.

Like “Here comes everybody” and “¡todos todos todos!” Y.A.L.L. promotes an inclusive vision of faith at work in the public square. Y.A.L.L. leaders will engage in peer civic education on their campuses through activities such as voter registration drives and deep canvassing. These young leaders will also collaborate on NETWORK’s social media outreach to young Catholics. In an election year that has already proven so volatile, these young leaders are rays of hope for the future of U.S. democracy — and for the role of faith in preserving it.

Whether we worship in San Francisco, Detroit, or the Rio Grande Valley, Catholics have everything to lose if we silence our moral witness and buy into appeals to fear and scapegoating at the expense of solidarity and democracy.  The foundation of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, pluralistic democratic society should be an appreciation for how all people are interconnected, with our well-being and fates intertwined. In this challenging moment in history, people of faith have an opportunity to draw on these values and build our society anew.

This story was published in the Quarter 3 2024 issue of Connection.