Virginia is seeking solutions for the eradication of poverty — starting with opinions from Central Virginia and 22 other communities across the state.
Central Virginia Community College on Saturday will host the Act on Poverty conversations from 10 a.m. to noon. The event is free and open to the public, and participants each will have two minutes to pitch their proposals to reduce poverty.
“What we are hoping is to get some ideas and thoughts from a cross-section of people in the Central Virginia area,” said James Mundy, president of the Lynchburg Community Action Group, which will facilitate the event.
Simultaneously, the same conversation will be held at 22 other community colleges across the state. Organized by the newly formed state Poverty Reduction Taskforce, the discussions will zero in on areas that influence poverty, such as workforce training and education.
CVCC’s Dianne Sykes, who helped arrange the program locally, said the recommendations that come from the event then will be forwarded to task force officials. Those who cannot attend may send their ideas to poverty@governor.virginia.gov.
Mundy hopes the end result will be legislation for consideration by the General Assembly.
“Poverty is big in the state as a whole but certainly in the Lynchburg area,” he said. “We’re not the hardest hit, but the economy conditions as they are … the last year to 18 months has been devastating for some people.”
Sykes said the college has prepared for 100 participants and hopes to draw a good audience.
Mundy said that anyone is welcome to attend, listen and express his or her own proposals.
He wanted to stress “the importance of people coming out and sharing their thoughts and ideas” and not assuming that someone else would make the same point.
“Because the one idea that you don’t catch,” he said, “may be the one that really works.”
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