Background
- Introduction
- Oxfam in the US
INTRODUCTION
Poverty in the US is as stark and real as poverty in many developing countries. The difference is that ours is a wealthy nation, heightening the injustice that millions of America’s poor endure. Oxfam ‘s US programs focus on that injustice,
Poverty in the US is as stark and real as poverty in many developing countries. The difference is that ours is a wealthy nation, heightening the injustice that millions of America’s poor endure. Oxfam ‘s US programs focus on that injustice, particularly among low-wage farm and meat processing workers in the rural southeast and Gulf Coast families in Mississippi and Louisiana still struggling to rebuild lives and communities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Toiling under dangerous conditions, workers in our nation’s meat-processing plants and on our farms are among the lowest paid laborers in the country. Many of them are immigrants who fled their own country’s poverty to earn a living but are now in low-wage jobs with no benefits or security and little opportunity for advancement. An increasingly competitive global market is pushing wages lower and eroding all worker rights. In the southeast, Oxfam and its local partners are seeking to reform the system so that those who produce our food can be assured of their rights to decent work and improved conditions in their communities.
On the Gulf Coast, soon after Hurricane Katrina hit, it became clear that the disaster would overwhelm local, state, and federal authorities. Oxfam stepped in to help. Our initial response has now grown into a $12 million program focusing on affordable housing and good jobs for semi-skilled workers. Oxfam’s goal on the Gulf Coast is to help local citizens become active in securing their rights and leading the recovery of their communities.