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| Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, Inc. Making The Case For Change... Engaging The Community To End Poverty |
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NEON leader urges unified strategy to end poverty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By STEVE KOBAK
Hour Staff Writer
NORWALK — Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON) President Joseph
Mann conveyed the need for unity among government, businesses and non-
profits in the fight to end poverty at NEON's legislative business breakfast
Monday.
"We know that we can't do this alone," said Mann. "Part of this is a rallying cry
to convene the community and let us all go forth together to make a
difference."
NEON, a non-profit dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency for the
impoverished, estimates 6,918 individuals in Norwalk live in poverty and
claims it helps 1,173 families with its various social programs.
Mann touted the agency's position in the community and its ability to "start
from within" when addressing local issues.
"Our employees are in the community and, frankly, some of them are in
poverty," said Mann. "Some of them don't perhaps earn enough to be out of
poverty. So, we have to start right within."
The NEON president illustrated the need for the non-profit's programs by
relaying the programs' wide reach. The organization serves youths with after-
school programs as well as families with energy and heat assistance
programs.
"Every single day, we see folks who are struggling to figure out how they are
going to feed their kids that evening," Mann said.
Mann claims the organization already helped 2,000 people this year with its
energy assistance program.
Utilizing state and federal data on poverty, NEON's strategic plan addresses
the elements that contribute to poverty as well as the services that help ease
the burden. The plan looks at all issues surrounding poverty, from education
to crime, and relates programs the organization provides with respect to each
issue.
The strategic plan also looks at what the organization can do to improve its
image and spread its message to the community. Mann said the legislative
breakfast was one of the many public relations programs NEON will use to
educate the community about its mission.
The organization presented five "high-impact areas" it wished to address with
its strategic plan, including providing the community with tools to help end
poverty and helping its clients become self-sufficient.
"It's the same mission that we've always had but now we're really focused on
engaging the community and making sure the whole community recognizes
it's our problem," Mann said.
NEON wrapped its plan around the state's mission to reduce child policy by
50 percent by the year 2014.
Mayor Richard Moccia praised Mann's work in reorganizing NEON. The non-
profit approved changes to its bylaws in November and used the revised
bylaws to trim its board from 33 members to 18.
"What Joe Mann and NEON bring to the city is the reinvigoration of NEON, the
reorganization," Moccia said.
Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele relayed the government's reasoning behind investing
in non-profit community agencies like NEON, citing a correlation between the
increase in the prison population and the lack of access to the educational
programs that NEON provides.
"In many of these situations, these were individuals that could have possibly
been saved if we had programs such as NEON in place," Fedele said.
In light of Gov. M. Jodi Rell's new criminal justice policies, the lieutenant
governor spoke of the need for programs that help parolees readjust to
society like NEON's re-entry programs.
Fedele also spoke of the need for community organizations who provide
mentor programs and educational support for economically disadvantaged
children.
"The workforce of tomorrow is the child that they are mentoring today," he said.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called NEON "the most distinguished
grass-roots, community-based organization in the state" and championed
their ability to bring important persons from different sectors of the community
together for the same cause in an interview prior to his speech.
"[NEON] has fought relentlessly for working men and women who simply
want a fair share," he said during his speech at Monday's legislative
breakfast. "It is a profoundly important organization."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By STEVE KOBAK
Hour Staff Writer
NORWALK — Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON) President Joseph
Mann conveyed the need for unity among government, businesses and non-
profits in the fight to end poverty at NEON's legislative business breakfast
Monday.
"We know that we can't do this alone," said Mann. "Part of this is a rallying cry
to convene the community and let us all go forth together to make a
difference."
NEON, a non-profit dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency for the
impoverished, estimates 6,918 individuals in Norwalk live in poverty and
claims it helps 1,173 families with its various social programs.
Mann touted the agency's position in the community and its ability to "start
from within" when addressing local issues.
"Our employees are in the community and, frankly, some of them are in
poverty," said Mann. "Some of them don't perhaps earn enough to be out of
poverty. So, we have to start right within."
The NEON president illustrated the need for the non-profit's programs by
relaying the programs' wide reach. The organization serves youths with after-
school programs as well as families with energy and heat assistance
programs.
"Every single day, we see folks who are struggling to figure out how they are
going to feed their kids that evening," Mann said.
Mann claims the organization already helped 2,000 people this year with its
energy assistance program.
Utilizing state and federal data on poverty, NEON's strategic plan addresses
the elements that contribute to poverty as well as the services that help ease
the burden. The plan looks at all issues surrounding poverty, from education
to crime, and relates programs the organization provides with respect to each
issue.
The strategic plan also looks at what the organization can do to improve its
image and spread its message to the community. Mann said the legislative
breakfast was one of the many public relations programs NEON will use to
educate the community about its mission.
The organization presented five "high-impact areas" it wished to address with
its strategic plan, including providing the community with tools to help end
poverty and helping its clients become self-sufficient.
"It's the same mission that we've always had but now we're really focused on
engaging the community and making sure the whole community recognizes
it's our problem," Mann said.
NEON wrapped its plan around the state's mission to reduce child policy by
50 percent by the year 2014.
Mayor Richard Moccia praised Mann's work in reorganizing NEON. The non-
profit approved changes to its bylaws in November and used the revised
bylaws to trim its board from 33 members to 18.
"What Joe Mann and NEON bring to the city is the reinvigoration of NEON, the
reorganization," Moccia said.
Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele relayed the government's reasoning behind investing
in non-profit community agencies like NEON, citing a correlation between the
increase in the prison population and the lack of access to the educational
programs that NEON provides.
"In many of these situations, these were individuals that could have possibly
been saved if we had programs such as NEON in place," Fedele said.
In light of Gov. M. Jodi Rell's new criminal justice policies, the lieutenant
governor spoke of the need for programs that help parolees readjust to
society like NEON's re-entry programs.
Fedele also spoke of the need for community organizations who provide
mentor programs and educational support for economically disadvantaged
children.
"The workforce of tomorrow is the child that they are mentoring today," he said.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called NEON "the most distinguished
grass-roots, community-based organization in the state" and championed
their ability to bring important persons from different sectors of the community
together for the same cause in an interview prior to his speech.
"[NEON] has fought relentlessly for working men and women who simply
want a fair share," he said during his speech at Monday's legislative
breakfast. "It is a profoundly important organization."
