Bristol Dialogue on Poverty

Bristol Holds 4 Dialogues on Poverty

The Bristol Community Organization (BCO) held four Dialogues on Poverty this year, including two in Spanish and an innovative, interactive forum broadcast live on local cable access television station Nutmeg TV. These meetings were part of the series Dialogue on Poverty 2000: Leading America to Community Action, led by the National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA).

This Spring, approximately 100 people convened in two of the city’s housing projects, its senior center, and its community access television station to talk about their experiences with poverty and offer ideas for policies that would lead to self-sufficiency for everyone in Bristol and its surrounding towns. People of all ages and backgrounds attended the forums, including Rep. Elizabeth Boukus and Rep. Konstantinos Diamantis. BCO Executive Director Tom Morrow said information and ideas generated at the meetings will be used to plan programs and services.

Participants in Bristol joined three Community Action Agencies statewide, and over 1000 nationwide, to determine the causes of poverty locally and motivate people to action. Representatives from Bristol’s dialogues, as well as from other dialogues held across the state, were invited to attend the statewide forum 2001: A State’s Odyssey – Out of Poverty, Into Action held on June 9^th in Hartford.

On June 15^th, delegates from dialogues held across the country convened in Washington, DC for NACAA’s National Dialogue Town Hall Meeting. Delegates shared reports on the status of poverty in their state with national policy makers and elected officials.

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