Brenda Girton-Mitchell, associate general secretary for justice and advocacy for National Council of Churches of Christ is the guest on the Shaping Families program this week. Girton-Mitchell was raised by a divorced mother with seven children in a setting where she was an adult before she realized they could have qualified for welfare, but her mother never applied.

Girton-Mitchell attributes her passion for working with people to create affordable and safe housing to that upbringing. “We could have a look-up attitude, even if we were economically in a low place, that that didn’t determine our character,” recalled Girton-Mitchell. She appeared in the documentary produced earlier by Third Way Media on poverty housing.

Shaping Families is now in its fifth month of broadcasts and airs on twelve stations. It is produced by Third Way Media, a division of Mennonite Mission Network.