National Urban League Gift Challenge

Matching Gift Challenge Increased to $25,000

Dear Kirk, Pearl did everything right. She owned her own home. She supported her family. Yet she was about to become another statistic in the housing crisis headline. You can help hard-working people like Pearl regain control of their lives. Make a special holiday gift to National Urban League today – our Board of Trustees has upped the ante and will now match your gift up to $25,000, but only until 12/31. A single mother from Greenville, South Carolina, Pearl had always worked hard to make ends meet. Then, her health changed. Bills from doctors started piling up, and then she fell behind in her monthly mortgage payments. Suddenly, Pearl and her son were facing foreclosure. "I was devastated," Pearl recalls. "I felt hopeless." Thanks to friends like you, we were there to help. The Urban League of the Upstate paid one month of Pearl's mortgage through its Foreclosure Prevention and Education Program – and negotiated a new payment plan with the bank. "They were great to me," says Pearl today. "It gave me the energy to get up and go out and do what I needed to do to make sure I kept my home." You and I know that responding to the recession isn't about compiling cold statistics. It's about assisting real, hard-working families whose dreams are being crushed by circumstances far beyond their control. Your donation – which will be doubled for a very limited time – will empower more individuals and families with the resources they need to find good jobs, affordable housing and healthcare, and educational opportunities. I can't think of a better gift to our urban neighbors who are struggling this holiday season. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday, Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban League Match Deadline: 12/31 Please don't miss this opportunity to make your gift go twice as far. Too many Americans like Pearl are still struggling to get back on their feet.

P.S. No Americans have been hit harder by this economic climate than African Americans and other urban minorities. Help us revive shattered lives and rebuild devastated neighborhoods – your support will have double the impact, but only until 12/31.

To Be Equal Pearl isn't the only person feeling the effects of glaring health care disparities. While mainstream America is just now approaching the so-called "fiscal cliff," African Americans and other urban minorities have been staring at the abyss for decades, pushed to the brink in large part by the health disparities that waste precious lives and cost millions of dollars. In response to this crisis, on December 5th the National Urban League Policy Institute released a sobering report: The State of Urban Health: Eliminating Health Disparities to Save Lives and Cut Costs.