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NEON to discuss ways to cut child poverty
The Advocate
November 3, 2007
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By James Lomuscio
Special Correspondent
Norwalk – NEON officials and staff are meeting in an all day brainstorming session
Tuesday to find ways to help reduce child poverty in Norwalk by 50 percent over
the next seven years.
“NEON will essentially be closed on Tuesday, Election Day, for this all-day staff
meeting,” said Joseph Mann, executive director of the city’s anti-poverty agency.
Mann held a news conference yesterday about the event to be held at the
Continental Manor. “We will develop strategies to take on the issue of poverty,” he
said.
The state in 2004 set a goal of reducing child poverty 50 percent by 2014.
According to a Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now report, the overall poverty rate
in Norwalk jumped from 5.2 percent in 1990 to 7.2 percent in 2005. The rates in
neighboring municipalities are lower; Westport’s rate is 2.6 percent; Weston’s is 1.9
percent; Wilton’s is 2.9 percent; New Canaan’s is 2.5 percent; and Darien’s is 2
percent.
The report also cites the 2000 census, showing 1,784 children living in poverty, a
number Mann and others say has since grown. And those figures don’t take into
account families on the cusp of poverty, Mann said.
Mann said 2007 federal guidelines set the poverty level at an household income of
$20,650 for a family of four. Those families that earn more – “even just one dollar
more” – aren’t counted in the poverty rate but experience the effects of poverty
from a lack of food to a lack of educational opportunities.
“How to define poverty is tough,” Mann said during the news conference.
At Tuesday’s meeting, staff at the 42-year old agency will look at ways families can
escape poverty from job training to accessing credit to tax refunds.
“We get people here who have never written a check in their lives,” Mann said of the
agency.
“Sometimes, people envision people in poverty as those who don’t want to work,”
said Chaquita Stephenson, NEON’s director of development and public relations.
“The fact of the matter is many of them are working hard and can’t make it.”
Even with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, working couples are struggling in
Norwalk, Mann said.
With minimum wage, you would have to have two people working 100 hours a
week in order to afford an apartment in Norwalk,” he said.
Juanita Ball, NEON’s director of energy and housing services, said high housing costs
often force a low-income family to choose among paying the rent, the heating bill or
buying groceries.
Stephenson said she plans to focus on getting corporate sponsors to supplement
federal subsidies, as well as developing job training programs.
“That’s where we come in as professionals to guide them,” said Morris Mendes, a
NEON employment specialist.
The agency’s role will involve community outreach, Mendes said.
“We’re excited about this whole thing,” said Mary Mann, a NEON development
coordinator, about the upcoming staff workshop. “I’ve been with NEON for many
years, and poverty has always been an issue.”
The Advocate
November 3, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By James Lomuscio
Special Correspondent
Norwalk – NEON officials and staff are meeting in an all day brainstorming session
Tuesday to find ways to help reduce child poverty in Norwalk by 50 percent over
the next seven years.
“NEON will essentially be closed on Tuesday, Election Day, for this all-day staff
meeting,” said Joseph Mann, executive director of the city’s anti-poverty agency.
Mann held a news conference yesterday about the event to be held at the
Continental Manor. “We will develop strategies to take on the issue of poverty,” he
said.
The state in 2004 set a goal of reducing child poverty 50 percent by 2014.
According to a Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now report, the overall poverty rate
in Norwalk jumped from 5.2 percent in 1990 to 7.2 percent in 2005. The rates in
neighboring municipalities are lower; Westport’s rate is 2.6 percent; Weston’s is 1.9
percent; Wilton’s is 2.9 percent; New Canaan’s is 2.5 percent; and Darien’s is 2
percent.
The report also cites the 2000 census, showing 1,784 children living in poverty, a
number Mann and others say has since grown. And those figures don’t take into
account families on the cusp of poverty, Mann said.
Mann said 2007 federal guidelines set the poverty level at an household income of
$20,650 for a family of four. Those families that earn more – “even just one dollar
more” – aren’t counted in the poverty rate but experience the effects of poverty
from a lack of food to a lack of educational opportunities.
“How to define poverty is tough,” Mann said during the news conference.
At Tuesday’s meeting, staff at the 42-year old agency will look at ways families can
escape poverty from job training to accessing credit to tax refunds.
“We get people here who have never written a check in their lives,” Mann said of the
agency.
“Sometimes, people envision people in poverty as those who don’t want to work,”
said Chaquita Stephenson, NEON’s director of development and public relations.
“The fact of the matter is many of them are working hard and can’t make it.”
Even with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, working couples are struggling in
Norwalk, Mann said.
With minimum wage, you would have to have two people working 100 hours a
week in order to afford an apartment in Norwalk,” he said.
Juanita Ball, NEON’s director of energy and housing services, said high housing costs
often force a low-income family to choose among paying the rent, the heating bill or
buying groceries.
Stephenson said she plans to focus on getting corporate sponsors to supplement
federal subsidies, as well as developing job training programs.
“That’s where we come in as professionals to guide them,” said Morris Mendes, a
NEON employment specialist.
The agency’s role will involve community outreach, Mendes said.
“We’re excited about this whole thing,” said Mary Mann, a NEON development
coordinator, about the upcoming staff workshop. “I’ve been with NEON for many
years, and poverty has always been an issue.”
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