The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, based in Chicago, works for economic justice for low-income people. Contact president John M. Bouma.

The Institute for Policy Research is at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. James Rosenbaum chairs the Poverty, Race and Inequality Program.

Brenda Branson founded Focus Ministries after experiencing domestic abuse. Read a September/October 2004 Q&A from Christianity Today. Contact her in Elmhurst, Ill.

The Rev. Chuck Dahm is a Dominican priest and directs the Domestic Violence Outreach program for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is the author of Parish Ministry in a Hispanic Community, which includes a section on violence and machismo.

Central United Methodist Church in Skokie, Ill., has taken worshippers on a walk through the Stations of the Cross as part of their Good Friday observance.

Richard Kieckhefer is chairman of the religion department at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and can discuss the history of miracles, magic and sainthood.

Paul Plenge Parker is chairman of the theology department at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., and has written about miracles and healing.

Wendy Cotter is a Sister of St. Joseph and an associate professor of Scripture at the department of theology at Loyola University in Chicago. She has written about miracles in the Greco-Roman world and in the New Testament.

The Christian Community Development Association, the largest Christian community development group in the country, works to reduce poverty. It’s based in Chicago. Contact interim CEO Ava Steaffens.