‘Act on Poverty’ Community Meetings Planned for Saturday
From staff reports
It's been a long drawn-out war that residents of the hills and hollers of Appalachia have fought for hundreds of years - the War on Poverty.
This weekend's event on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College allows local folks to let state government understand their ideas and suggestions on how to improve the lives of those living below the poverty level.
On Saturday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to noon, Virginians will have a unique opportunity to pitch their solutions for reducing poverty in their locality and statewide.
Act on Poverty community meetings will be held this weekend around the state as part of Governor Tim Kaine's taskforce to fight poverty in the Old Dominion, and part of that fight is coming to three community colleges in the coalfields.
Locals will have an opportunity to participate in one of the largest-ever, simultaneous conversations devoted to the issue of poverty reduction when MECC hosts an Act of Poverty meeting scheduled for Saturday, July 18 across the Commonwealth.
"The idea is if you had the governor's ear for two minutes what suggestions would you tell him in order to alleviate poverty in our area," explained Jeannie Mullins, Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences, that serves Scott County.
The Virginia Community College System, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Community Action Partnership and the Virginia Department of Social Services are partnering to host and facilitate the conversations, which are free and open to the public; advance registration is not required.
Attendees are encouraged to recommend specific strategies for the Commonwealth's Poverty Reduction Taskforce, and local and state officials to consider. Representatives from the Virginia Cooperative Extension will facilitate the Act on Poverty conversation at MECC. Similar conversations will be held at all of the other community colleges across the state including Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon and Southwest Virginia Community College in Cedar Bluff.
"This will be one of the largest conversations devoted to reducing poverty in our communities that Virginia has ever had," said Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Co-Chair of the Taskforce, Marilyn B. Tavenner. "The public has recommendations that need to be heard. That's why we're encouraging elected officials to attend, listen to constituent ideas and share their own."
Community feedback is the next step for information gathering by the Poverty Reduction Taskforce , which held the "Rethinking Poverty: Exploring Economic Opportunity for All Virginians" summit on May 7, 2009. The Act on Poverty event will provide the general public a chance to recommend solutions - especially community-based approaches - for reducing Virginia's poverty rate.
Current data show approximately 739,000 people, nearly 10 percent of all Virginians, live below the federal poverty line, including 232,600, or 12.9 percent, of Virginia's children. As of 2007, the federal poverty line was $10,210 in annual income for an individual or $20,650 for a family of four.
While Virginia's statewide poverty rates are among the 10 lowest in the nation, certain regions are affected much more dramatically than others, with Southwest and Southside Virginia each having rates over 17 percent.
"I'm from Southside Virginia," said Secretary Tavenner. "Poverty for a family there is just as difficult as it is for a family in Northern Virginia, but those areas of the state are very different. Every community has its own strengths and economic challenges. The attitudes and people in Virginia are diverse, and the taskforce will benefit from casting a wide net for ideas."
Virginia Extension Service is facilitating the meetings across the state. Mullins and Susan Herndon of the Wise County Cooperative Extension Service will participate in Saturday's meetings.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this," said Karen Gehrt, Extension's associate director for family and consumer sciences. "Our family and consumer sciences agents and family nutrition program assistants are in everyday contact with many of the most economically vulnerable people in their communities. It's important that they attend, and our community leaders be there to hear them, and provide solutions of their own."
The Virginia Department of Social Services has been actively involved in the Act on Poverty initiative.
"We couldn't have better partners to help us make this conversation possible," said Anthony Conyers, Jr., commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. "Virginia Cooperative Extension has a long-standing commitment to issues that have a real impact on the community, and poverty is certainly one of the most deeply felt. We're eager to hear solutions from the public, and community leaders, on ways we can expand economic opportunities for all residents."
Those who are unable to attend the meeting at MECC may still submit recommendations by email to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by mail to: Virginia Dept. of Social Services, c/o Public Affairs, 7 North Eighth St., Richmond, Va. 23219.
Poverty Taskforce members, and assigned working groups, include:
Co-Chairs - Marilyn Tavenner, Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Robert Grey, Attorney;
Asset Development - Jeff Anderson, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Richard Grattan, Wachovia Bank, Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan, Marsha Shuler, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and T.K. Somanath, Better Housing Coalition;
Individual and Community Resilience - Dr. Erik Beecroft, Virginia Department of Social Services, Anthony Conyers Jr., Virginia Department of Social Services, Trisha Ferrell, United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, Jill Hanken, Virginia Poverty Law Center, Michelle Larkin, State Board of Social Services, Jim Schuyler, Virginia Community Action Partnership and Senator John Watkins;
Workforce Training and Education - Peter Blake, Virginia Community College System, Katherine Busser, Capital One- United Way, Brian Davis, Workforce Systems, Office of the Governor, Delegate David L. Englin, Lyn Hammond, Secretary of Commerce & Trade, Scott Hippert, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, John Morgan, Voices for Virginia's Children and Roberta Schlicher, Virginia Department of Education.
For more information, visit: http://www.hhr.virginia.gov/povertysummit/