[Shelter Care Ministries press release]  The Episcopal deacon who runs a Rockford, Illinois, housing program for homeless families will embark April 1 on a 756-mile march to Washington D.C. to answer a call from God to draw attention to the plight of the poverty-stricken.

At an Ash Wednesday news conference, Shelter Care Ministries launched “Hear Our Cry: Marching for America’s Poor” — a quest to carry the stories of society’s neediest adults and children to the nation’s capital. Leading the journey is a rather unlikely candidate: the Rev. Lou Ness, a 65-year-old grandmother with a chronic bone marrow disease.

“I don’t know why God chose me, but I do know that the impoverish families we serve – and many others across the country – need a voice,” said Ness, executive director of Shelter Care, which operates programs for homeless families, the mentally ill and the unemployed. “I will walk for all who bear the stain of poverty — for when one of us suffers, we all suffer. How we treat the least among us is a reflection of who we are.”

Board President Pamela Hillenbrand said Shelter Care is convinced that despite political rhetoric about income inequality and the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, the failure of Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits and its recent gutting of the farm bill demonstrate a clear disconnect.

“We hope this march pumps up the volume of the national conversation,” Hillenbrand said. “As people of faith and as Americans, we share a proud tradition of marching for justice.”

Shelter Care issued an open invitation for anyone who supports the cause to join Ness for all or part of the Hear Our Cry march, which departs at 8:30 a.m. April 1. The itinerary, available online at www.shelter-care.org, calls for daily treks of 10 to 15 miles and nightly stays at churches, synagogues and temples in six states.

Ness will deliver to Congress the handwritten stories of people served by Shelter Care and other letters she collects from the homeless and hungry she meets during her travels.