Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

Harmon Dent’s congregation “adopted” an apartment building in Beaumont, Texas, and started handing out gift baskets, food, and other treats to the disadvantaged children living there.

Dent, the pastor, also leads church members in donating money and time to a regional food bank that serves about 12,000 households every month through an eight-county network of nonprofits.

There’s more. Rev, as he’s known, introduces kids to trades through the local labor council, helps disaster victims to rebuild, and assists Beaumont police on high-stress calls.

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough for the longtime union and social justice activist to fight chronic hunger, hurricanes, and homelessness these days. He also has to battle the callousness of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, who have the power to help but prefer to inflict additional hardships on the people they ostensibly represent.

“They don’t care,” summed up Dent, citing the recent spending bill—passed entirely by Republicans, then signed by a gleeful Trump —that slashes

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