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NEON launches fight to reduce poverty
The Hour
November 3, 2007
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By Jill Bodach
Hour Staff Writer
If you want to see the face of poverty, you don’t have to look very far. “Every day we
see what poverty is and what it does,” said Joseph Mann, executive director of
Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now. “On Tuesdays when we give out food, our
lobby is filled with people who can’t afford to put food on their tables, who don’t
know where their next meal is coming from.” The 2005 American Community
Survey estimates that there are 6,918 people in Norwalk living in poverty and
1,784 of them are children. “That is unacceptable in an area of such wealth,” Mann
said. As a community action agency, NEON’s goal during its 42 years in existence
has been to help people in poverty move forward with their lives. The agency is now
rededicating itself to that mission and aligning itself with a state bill, Public Act 04-
238, whose goal is to reduce child poverty 50 percent by 2014. “This fight has been
going on since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Declaration on the War of
Poverty in 1964,” said Larry Langhorn, director of Alternative to Incarceration
Center at NEON. “We aren’t reinventing the wheel; we’re just seeing where it went
wrong.” NEON is, however, reinventing itself. NEON is launching a new strategic
plan called “Making a Case for Change … Engaging the Community to End Poverty.”
The goal of the plan is to find new ways to reach out to those in poverty and,
ultimately, to end poverty by addressing some of the contributing factors.
“Previously we’ve run a lot of really good programs here, but programs don’t move
people out of poverty,” Mann said. That is because poverty is multi-faceted, he said.
People who are in poverty rarely are there just for one reason. Many need help
paying their electric bills, purchasing food and accessing health care, among other
issues. The strategic plan is based on a community needs assessment that identified
the top 10 areas of need in Norwalk that citizens must have access to: health
care/dental care; child and youth services; employment; energy assistance;
affordable housing; transportation; drug prevention; teen pregnancy prevention;
English as a Second Language; and eldercare. “When people come through our
doors we want to be able to put them with a case worker who can find out, okay,
they came here for help with their electricity bill, but what else do they need?”
Mann said. This will only work if all NEON staff members work together, so to that
end, NEON will hold its first all-day staff meeting of its 233 employees on Tuesday
to develop povertyreduction plans. Some preliminary plans are to focus on job
training for adults, education for children and financial planning. NEON also wants
to extend its emergency assistance programs for people who are above the poverty
line but still can’t make ends meet. “If the cut-off for energy assistance is an income
of $23,500 for a family of four and a family earns $23,501, does that mean they don’t
need the help?” Mann said. “Of course not, but they aren’t technically ‘in poverty’ by
the government’s standards so there are no programs to help them.” NEON hopes to
do this by increasing its partnerships with other community service agencies. “We
all need to work together to reach our goal,” Mann said. To be successful in its
poverty- elimination mission NEON will also have to re-educate the rest of the
community about poverty, which may prove to be the most difficult task. “I think
some people still have the perception that people are in poverty because they are
lazy and are just sitting home collecting welfare, but that’s not the case,” said
Chiquita Stephenson, director of development and public relations for NEON.
“Poverty is people who are working, sometimes more than one job, who still can’t
make it. They aren’t looking for a handout. They are looking for a chance to move
forward.”
Jill Bodach is a features and general assignment reporter. She may be reached at
(203) 354-1046 or jbodach@thehour.com.
The Hour
November 3, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jill Bodach
Hour Staff Writer
If you want to see the face of poverty, you don’t have to look very far. “Every day we
see what poverty is and what it does,” said Joseph Mann, executive director of
Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now. “On Tuesdays when we give out food, our
lobby is filled with people who can’t afford to put food on their tables, who don’t
know where their next meal is coming from.” The 2005 American Community
Survey estimates that there are 6,918 people in Norwalk living in poverty and
1,784 of them are children. “That is unacceptable in an area of such wealth,” Mann
said. As a community action agency, NEON’s goal during its 42 years in existence
has been to help people in poverty move forward with their lives. The agency is now
rededicating itself to that mission and aligning itself with a state bill, Public Act 04-
238, whose goal is to reduce child poverty 50 percent by 2014. “This fight has been
going on since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Declaration on the War of
Poverty in 1964,” said Larry Langhorn, director of Alternative to Incarceration
Center at NEON. “We aren’t reinventing the wheel; we’re just seeing where it went
wrong.” NEON is, however, reinventing itself. NEON is launching a new strategic
plan called “Making a Case for Change … Engaging the Community to End Poverty.”
The goal of the plan is to find new ways to reach out to those in poverty and,
ultimately, to end poverty by addressing some of the contributing factors.
“Previously we’ve run a lot of really good programs here, but programs don’t move
people out of poverty,” Mann said. That is because poverty is multi-faceted, he said.
People who are in poverty rarely are there just for one reason. Many need help
paying their electric bills, purchasing food and accessing health care, among other
issues. The strategic plan is based on a community needs assessment that identified
the top 10 areas of need in Norwalk that citizens must have access to: health
care/dental care; child and youth services; employment; energy assistance;
affordable housing; transportation; drug prevention; teen pregnancy prevention;
English as a Second Language; and eldercare. “When people come through our
doors we want to be able to put them with a case worker who can find out, okay,
they came here for help with their electricity bill, but what else do they need?”
Mann said. This will only work if all NEON staff members work together, so to that
end, NEON will hold its first all-day staff meeting of its 233 employees on Tuesday
to develop povertyreduction plans. Some preliminary plans are to focus on job
training for adults, education for children and financial planning. NEON also wants
to extend its emergency assistance programs for people who are above the poverty
line but still can’t make ends meet. “If the cut-off for energy assistance is an income
of $23,500 for a family of four and a family earns $23,501, does that mean they don’t
need the help?” Mann said. “Of course not, but they aren’t technically ‘in poverty’ by
the government’s standards so there are no programs to help them.” NEON hopes to
do this by increasing its partnerships with other community service agencies. “We
all need to work together to reach our goal,” Mann said. To be successful in its
poverty- elimination mission NEON will also have to re-educate the rest of the
community about poverty, which may prove to be the most difficult task. “I think
some people still have the perception that people are in poverty because they are
lazy and are just sitting home collecting welfare, but that’s not the case,” said
Chiquita Stephenson, director of development and public relations for NEON.
“Poverty is people who are working, sometimes more than one job, who still can’t
make it. They aren’t looking for a handout. They are looking for a chance to move
forward.”
Jill Bodach is a features and general assignment reporter. She may be reached at
(203) 354-1046 or jbodach@thehour.com.
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| Making The Case For Change... Engaging The Community To End Poverty |
