1 - Humans are sacred.
SOFESA believes that every person is worthy of respect simply by virtue of being a human being. People do not lose the right to being treated with respect because of their race, disability, poverty, age, lack of success or behavior, let alone gain the right to be treated with greater respect because of what they own or accomplish. SOFESA affirms that all human beings are equal in their dignity and right to life.
SOFESA believes that every person, from the moment of conception to natural death has an inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with the dignity that is ours as human beings. SOFESA sees the sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a just and good society.
Given that every human being is entitled to respect and dignity merely because she/he exists, it follows that there is a radical equality among all human beings.
SOFESA believes that every person, from the moment of conception to natural death has an inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with the dignity that is ours as human beings. SOFESA sees the sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a just and good society.
Given that every human being is entitled to respect and dignity merely because she/he exists, it follows that there is a radical equality among all human beings.
2 - Relationships are vital.
SOFESA believes that the human person is not only sacred, but also social. We cannot consider a person simply as an isolated individual but as part of a rich tapestry of relationships. When making decisions we must consider how that decision impacts that person’s connections with family, friends and the wider community.
SOFESA believes that people have a right to shape their own lives and the society in which they live. They should participate in decision-making processes which impact on their lives and cannot be considered the passive recipients of other people’s decisions. We each have a responsibility to be shapers of the kind of world in which we wish to live.
SOFESA believes in relationships - that we truly are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that ‘loving our neighbor’ is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress but it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual.
SOFESA believes that people have a right to shape their own lives and the society in which they live. They should participate in decision-making processes which impact on their lives and cannot be considered the passive recipients of other people’s decisions. We each have a responsibility to be shapers of the kind of world in which we wish to live.
SOFESA believes in relationships - that we truly are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that ‘loving our neighbor’ is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress but it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual.
3 - You're the answer.
SOFESA believes that subsidiarity is important in healing homelessness. Subsidiarity is an organizing principle which dictates issues should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Applying the principle of subsidiarity means to clearly determine the right amount of help or support that is needed to accomplish a task or to meet an obligation: Not “too much” (taking over and doing it for the other: thereby creating learned helplessness or overdependence) and not “too little” (standing back and watching people thrash about, thereby increasing frustration and hopelessness). It might be better summarized as ‘no bigger than necessary, no smaller than appropriate’.
SOFESA believes that we are stewards of creation; that everyone of us is responsible for the other. We have a responsibility to care for the world’s goods as stewards and trustees, not primarily, let alone merely, as consumers. As people working toward making these principles a reality, good stewardship also means making careful and responsible decisions with the resources entrusted to us.
SOFESA believes that a community is genuinely healthy when every single person is flourishing. This is not the utilitarian formula of the greatest good for the greatest number, but the moral formula of the greatest good for all simply on the basis that they are human beings and therefore inherently worthy of good things.
SOFESA believes that in a world with deep divisions between rich and poor, powerful and powerless, we must remind ourselves that the most marginalized members of society are at a severe disadvantage. While every person’s needs are important, we must consider first how the lives of the most vulnerable people are impacted or enhanced by the decisions we make as individuals and as a broader community.
SOFESA believes that we are stewards of creation; that everyone of us is responsible for the other. We have a responsibility to care for the world’s goods as stewards and trustees, not primarily, let alone merely, as consumers. As people working toward making these principles a reality, good stewardship also means making careful and responsible decisions with the resources entrusted to us.
SOFESA believes that a community is genuinely healthy when every single person is flourishing. This is not the utilitarian formula of the greatest good for the greatest number, but the moral formula of the greatest good for all simply on the basis that they are human beings and therefore inherently worthy of good things.
SOFESA believes that in a world with deep divisions between rich and poor, powerful and powerless, we must remind ourselves that the most marginalized members of society are at a severe disadvantage. While every person’s needs are important, we must consider first how the lives of the most vulnerable people are impacted or enhanced by the decisions we make as individuals and as a broader community.
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All material appearing on the SOFESA website (“content”) is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and is the property of SOFESA or the party credited as the provider of the content. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content over any network, including a local area network, sell or offer it for sale, or use such content to construct any kind of database. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other notice from copies of the content on SOFESA’s website. Copying or storing any content except as provided above is expressly prohibited without prior written permission of SOFESA or the copyright holder identified in the individual content’s copyright notice. For permission to use the content on the SOFESA’s website, please contact [email protected].