POWER Mission:
POWER uses our belief in God’s goodness and compassion for the suffering to organize and empower the people of Philadelphia, Southeastern, and Central Pennsylvania to live and work together so that God’s presence is known on every block, that people work together to transform the conditions of their neighborhood, and that life flourishes for all.
Shining a light on broken systems:
POWER has come together to lift up a new prophetic voice and bear witness to the fact that these systems no longer work for too many families in too many neighborhoods. Systems that allow for 30% unemployment in some of our communities, particularly our communities of color; wherein nearly 50% of our children can’t read or perform math, or graduate on time, and that appear to continually be in crisis; systems that allow one of our brothers or sisters to be murdered nearly every day; systems that allow more than 100,000 city residents to go without health insurance, and that allow a tenth of our properties to lie vacant or abandoned or foreclosed – these are broken systems.
And while this brokenness hurts all Pennsylvanians, POWER recognizes and seeks to address the fact that it is the poor, communities of color and working families of all kinds who suffer the brunt of declining opportunities and dysfunctional systems. POWER commits to call attention to this brokenness, to advance concrete policy changes to reform these systems and to work with public and private sector leaders to bring the necessary resources to bear to turn these systems, and our city, around.
Broader Values:
- POWER believes in the potential for transformation of Pennsylvania – its people, its neighborhoods, its institutions, its politics. POWER congregations accept the responsibility that as people of faith, we must exercise our power to help lead this transformation.
- We believe that power is neutral, that it can be (and is) used for either bad or good purposes. POWER believes that people should have a say in the policy decisions that shape their lives and therefore should not shy away from the exercise of power to promote justice and advance the common good.
- POWER believes that one essential way to build and exercise power for the good of the community is to build a strong, broad-based, disciplined and democratic organization.
- POWER trusts in democracy, believes that ordinary people know best what their families and communities need, and will work to make sure their voices are at the center of political life.
- One of our basic principles is “never do for others what they can do for themselves.” We believe that with training, support and organization, regular people can be leaders in the movement to transform systems in their communities and their city.
- POWER is explicitly non-partisan and seeks to hold accountable, and build strategic partnerships with, institutions and decision-makers regardless of their political persuasion or label, in order to promote justice for the marginalized and advance a common good agenda.
- POWER believes that government can play a vital role in improving society, but that civic leaders and organizations need to have the power to shape policy and hold public officials accountable.
- POWER believes that family is a value that motivates participation in public life and that across economic levels most American families share common concerns for good schools, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, high quality health care, civil rights and civic participation.
- POWER values, and intentionally capitalizes on, the racial, ethnic and religious diversity that has shaped Pennsylvanian and American society at large.
- POWER believes that faith can bring us together more than it can divide us and that our varied faith traditions call on us to act to make our communities and our nation better places to live.