missio

In continuing the last post….

• Washington, DC has the third-smallest households in the country. First and second smallest? Seattle and a surprising Cincinatti, OH, respectively.
• This surprised me: DC has the smallest proportion of married couples and the highest proportion of singles living alone out of 23 major US cities.
• The city I love actually lost married couples throughout the 90s.
• The city is not surprisingly stable, with one in four of the people living there now arriving in the last five years.
• The city is the second-most educated city in America, behind Seattle. 39% of DCitizens have their BA or BS.
• The fifth-largest proportion of college students is in the DC area.
• There are a decent number of jobs, as unemployment is surprisingly lower than major US cities.
• One in four children live in a family where there is no working parent.
• Poverty is steadily increasing, especially for children.
• The wealth division is steadily increasing; the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer.
• One-third of DC’s families with children live at or below the poverty line.
• Half of all housing units in DC are multifamily buildings, second only to NYC.

What does this mean? DC’s children need our help. DC’s families need our help. DC is a very lonely city. Depression is high. People need to feel loved. There needs to be a college ministry. The teaching has to be informative and intelligent, but at a level to be comprehended. DCitizens aren’t uneducated, just lonely and confused. It’s ok, though. Jesus is there.