You’ve heard the stories about tent cities springing up around major cities throughout the U.S. We’re not quite at that point in Charlottesville, but with 20% of the city below the poverty line, it’s time for some innovative thinking to tackle this problem. Tomorrow night’s Left of Center forum is on that very topic:
The federal government’s definition of poverty for a household of one adult with one child was income below $14,291 in 2007. Yet, according to one estimate, a single mother or father with one child in Charlottesville would need $34,000 a year to be self-sufficient. What can our community do to help all its members become self-sufficient? What can we learn from what other cities have done to address this problem?
Speakers: Buzz Cox, director of Charlottesville’s Department of Social Services; Holly Edwards of Charlottesville City Council; Overton McGehee, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Virginia; and Ed Olsen, a professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
Join me at Rapture tomorrow night at 7:00 PM. Have some drinks, see some friends, and learn about how the recession is affecting those in our town least able to weather these financial doldrums.
“Doldrums?” Egad, what an understatement! :)~