Interfaith vigil at Rhode Island State House lays out goals to fight poverty

PROVIDENCE — Hundreds of activists, many of whom were clergy, gathered in the State House rotunda Tuesday afternoon, taking a moment to recover from the rain that pelted them as they marched in from the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Then, the long full sound of the shofar blowing in from the second-floor balcony called everybody’s attention to the business at hand.

“Traditionally, the shofar sounded out as a message of warning,” said Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser, of Temple Sinai, in welcoming remarks. “Today, it inspires us to respond to the threat that poverty poses to us all.”

During their Fighting Poverty with Faith Vigil, the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty laid out what goals they were hoping to achieve.

Its 2019 legislative agenda includes efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, stop allowing landlords to refuse to rent to people using Section 8 vouchers and other state and federal supports, legal guarantees of equal pay no matter an individual’s gender, race or sexual orientation and creating a mechanism to allow undocumented residents of the state to obtain driver’s licenses.

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190108/interfaith-vigil-at-ri-state-house-lays-out-goals-to-fight-poverty