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CTE Chief: Poverty Weighs Down Progress

Panel Part of Effort to Begin Statewide Dialogue on Issue

by Loretta Waldman

The Advocate

April 30, 2000

Poverty is not only a social problem, it's a work force problem, according to a panel of experts speaking on the issue yesterday at the University of Connecticut's Stamford branch.

Without an increased commitment to education, computer literacy, and development of affordable housing, the state and region face a critical shortage of skilled workers that could derail prosperity, they said.

"Work force development will bring more people out of poverty," said Phillip McKain, President and Chief Executive Officer of CTE, the anti-poverty agency of Stamford, Greenwich, and Darien and conference sponsor. "Southwestern Connecticut will continue to grow but will be restrained by a shortage of labor."

The presentation was attended by business, religious, civic and social service groups. It was meant to spark discussion that organizers hope will lead to an agenda that can be presented to policymakers and elected officials. "Dialogue on Poverty 2000" is a national effort involving 435 community action agencies.

Yesterday's gathering included smaller group discussions. About 80 people participated, including low-income residents.

A statewide dialogue is scheduled June 9 in Hartford, and a final report will be presented at the 2000 National Association of Community Action Agencies annual meeting in Washington, DC in September.

"We won't solve problems today, but we do hope to start a dialogue and raise consciousness in the community about these issues," McKain said.

Citing a report by a regional planning association, McKain estimated 37 percent of the state's families earn less than $46,000 a year, the amount considered necessary to live without subsidies. A family income of $58,980 a year is considered self-sufficient in the Stamford-Norwalk area -- the highest of the four regions in the index.

The traditional notion of the poor being welfare recipients is outmoded, McKain said.

"This is a sizable working poor population not receiving the basic skills they need to meet the needs of the changing work force," he said. "We need to have an aggressive policy to address this gap."

Access to computers is a pre-condition to participating in the new economy and can no longer be considered a luxury, said Chris Bruhl, Executive Director of SACIA, The Business Council, who spoke about the so-called "Digital Divide."

"It's the most fundamental economic change the world has seen in centuries," he said. "This is the absolute predeterminate of success. It cuts geography, education, race and ethnicity, and disability."

The Rev. Richard Schuster, Executive Director of St. Luke's Life Work's, a social service agency that runs Stamford's emergency shelter for women and children, said there needs to be a sense of urgency in the area about the lack of housing that costs no more than 30 percent of a family's income.

"We have an affordable housing crisis," he said.

The Stamford-Norwalk area is the third most expensive rental market in the nation, according to a recent study by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a research and advocacy group in Washington, DC.

An individual earning minimum wage would have to work three full-time jobs, or 130 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the area, according to the report. A two-bedroom apartment requires 159 hours a week, the report said.

"The poor can't live in the places where they work, and transportation doesn't get them to work from where they live," Schuster said. "Because of all this, the family's quality of life is diminished. If people are put in this situation, who helps the children with their homework?"

Children make up the majority of the state's poor. Those living in poverty increased by 66 percent between 1992 and 1998, according to Shelley Geballe, President of Connecticut Voices for Children, an advocacy group in New Haven.

Connecticut has the highest per-capita income in the nation, yet has the highest increase in the number of working poor families, she said.

Recommendations by the panel included the creation of tax credits or rebates for families earning $35,000 a year or less and a luxury tax on homes costing $1 million or more to be used for rent subsidies for the poor.

The quality of public education from kindergarten through 12th grade needs to be examined, Bruhl said, as well as the educational attainment levels of minority students and their exposure to career options.

Fewer minority households have computers and access to the Internet, but the divide is a function of education, not race, Bruhl said. Seventy percent of households with a bachelor's degree or higher have computers, he said, and those with college degrees are likely to have access to the Internet at work.

"Of all the factors that would ensure an end to poverty, the inability to participate in the new economy is the most profound," he said.

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CTE Will Sponsor Dialogue on Poverty

by Loretta Waldman

The Advocate

April 28, 2000

Though some homes in Fairfield County sell for more than $1 million and luxury cars abound, poverty still exists.

That disparity and what can be done to address it will be the focus of a communitywide dialogue 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow at the University of Connecticut Stamford branch.

Sponsored by CTE -- the anti-poverty agency that serves Stamford, Greenwich, and Darien -- Dialogue on Poverty 2000 is part of a nationwide discussion involving 435 community action agencies.

The goal is to bring together business, political, civic, and religious leaders and low-income residents to develop and help implement local, state, and national agendas.

Participants will explore the social and economic dynamics that lead to poverty, the impact poverty has on individuals, families and communities, and possible actions, strategies, and policies to address it.

Reports from the 435 agencies will be used to develop a national policy on poverty, said Marie Hawe, Vice President of Development and Marketing at CTE. A final report will be presented at the 2000 National Association of Community Action Agencies annual meeting and forwarded to the next President of the United States, Congress, the nation's 50 governors, and state and local lawmakers, clergy, labor, and nonprofit groups, she said.

Speakers at the Stamford event will include Shelley Geballe, President of Connecticut Voices for Children in New Haven. The Rev. Richard Schuster, Executive Director of St. Luke's Life Works, which operates the city's emergency shelter for women and children, will discuss affordable housing for the area's working poor.

Phillip McKain, President and CEO of Chief Executive Officer of CTE will speak about workforce development. Another speaker will address the technology gap between low-income residents and their affluent neighbors.

"Faces of Poverty in the Midst of Plenty," a 10-minute video by K. Wise Whitehead, will be presented. A statewide dialogue will be held June 9 in Hartford, Hawe said.

Agencies cooperating in the Stamford dialogue include UConn, The Child Care Center, The Council of Churches and Synagogues, the Stamford Department of Social Services, Pitney Bowes, St. Luke's Life Works, Stamford Partnership, Stamford Board of Education, The United Way of Stamford and Greenwich, and SACIA, The Business Council.

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