Poverty Commission Issues Latest Report; To Meet Again Nov. 19   Commission on Poverty Progress Report and Highlights from October Meeting Next Meeting: November 19, 9:30 AM, Maury River Senior Center After the first two initial meetings the Commission is making progress on increasing awareness of poverty in the community, building local capacity to address these problems, and developing a Five Year Plan for funding. Progress with respect to these issues are summarized below. The report concludes with a list of attendees at the October meeting. Increasing Awareness Each agency is being asked to report trend data to CBR. These data will be reported through a CBR Newsletter and through local media. During the October 15 meeting Commission members expressed a common belief that the need for services will continue to increase because the newly unemployed are slower to seek out services, not having reached out for assistance in the past. One member expressed a desire for the compilation of unemployment figures along with the data summaries on caseloads. Another member was concerned about the new legislation that says senior citizens’ social security checks will not be adjusted for the rising cost of living this year. This comment resulted in additional concern that the elderly will not seek out services they potentially need. Presentations have been made at local community organizations such as Kendal, and local churches. Kendal leaders have expressed a desire to get involved and support the Commission. Radio broadcasts and film productions of the Commission are beginning to develop. Both Dailey and Dax have been interviewed by a local radio station after the first two meetings. A student at W&L developed a short film on the initiative for a campus television station. This story can be seen by following the link below (press control and click) http://rockbridgereport.wlu.edu/TAYLpoverty.html Future Action: Commission leaders are working with the local press to develop a story on these issues, and CBR is developing a newsletter for the community. The data being collected are also serving as the grounding for a community database that can be used to identify trends, problems, and opportunities, as well as a basis for discussing and launching future strategies and projects. A meeting should be scheduled with Kendal to discuss ideas for their involvement. Building Local Capacity: Collaboration to Literacy The biggest issue being discussed thus far is the need for building community-wide capacity to collaborate and address poverty and economic development as a full range of interlocking problems. Literacy, health, housing, transportation, and resources for our aging and disabled populations have also emerged as major topics around which small groups may be formed. • Collaborative System for Service Delivery – Proposals. Several community leaders have brought forward proposals for how community-wide capacity can be developed, each drawing from models that are proving effective in other communities. • Rebecca Gates (Buena Vista School System) identified a model in which elementary schools serve as a central point for integrating family and child services, focused on strengthening child-family health, the home environment, community conditions, and what happens in schools. • Suzanne Sheridan (Free Clinic) identified a comprehensive model developed in Richmond , the East End Partnership with Families. The Partnership seeks to bring agencies together to improve family access to coordinated human services, improve educational outcomes for children in the East District, and reduce violence and its negative effects on children and families Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, this initiative has achieved the following (drawn from their website): - Development of the Parent Resource Network - Support reestablishment of V. J. Harris Community Health Center - Opening of the Family Resource Center - Established model of collaboration among service providers - Strengthened Coordination of client services - Substantial increase in service funding and service access for East District residents - Community leadership capacity increased - Jobs and employment service dollars created - Client database infrastructure created - Development of Innovative Programming      -School based programming      -Community Outreach      -Community Collaborative Care      -Parent Support Program Here are links: http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/gehli/community/eastend.html http://www.redorangedesign.com/EEPF/history.html • Claire Collins (Rockbridge County) suggested consideration of a similar model for community-wide planning and collaboration that would address poverty and economic development, and would bring together service agencies and local businesses such as the Horse Center and local businesses. • Jeri Schaff (Senior Center) and others have cited No Wrong Door as a model to consider. The No Wrong Door initiative in Virginia connects public and private agencies and providers through the development of single, coordinated systems of information, referral, and access to aging and disability long-term support services. These systems are developed at a regional level under the direction of the Area Agency on Aging. The local Area Agency on Aging coordinates the No Wrong Door initiative with the help of Advisory Councils. The Advisory Council is a place where agency representatives come together to educate one another about services offered, coordinate their services, and plan for current and future needs. See link: http://www.vda.virginia.gov/nowrongdoor.asp • Richie Urtz talked about how SeniorNavigator has become a resource for the community that could support collaboration. This is a national model for aging and disability resources that combines online assistance with a network of volunteers with the goal of helping seniors, caregivers, and adults with disabilities access health and aging resources. SeniorNavigator is a public/private partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Department for the Aging, local governments, and hundreds of private sector partners. See link: http://www.seniornavigator.com/vaprovider/consumer/snConsumerHome.do      Future Action: The Commission agreed that leaders from these programs should be invited to visit Rockbridge County and discuss their models with the Commission. Drawing on these different ideas, the Commission can either seek to adopt one of these models, or draw from different models to develop a system that makes most sense for Rockbridge County, and may represent something new. • Literacy. Commission members are citing low literacy among adults as a major barrier affecting the ability of residents to secure employment and take advantage of local health and social services. Low literacy is also a major barrier for children in school. Too often low-income parents lack the time, energy, knowledge and skills or motivation to read with their children, which reinforces the achievement gap among students. With these issues in mind, a group of concerned educators, tutors, citizens and the local library system are developing plans for services to tackle literacy head on. The Commission is developing a partnership with this group in order to link these efforts with the local school system, connect the group to a wider set of community services, and potentially support efforts to secure funding for needed services. Hopefully the Commission can empower the group to harness the wide range of human capital existing in the community to address this challenge. Future Action: W&L education professor Lenna Ojure, a member of the literacy community group, has agreed to be speak on this issue at the next Commission meeting. Another member of this group, Rabia Sandidge, is now attending Commission meetings. • Application to Receive Medically Underserved Designation. The Commission has asked students and faculty from W&L to assist a small working group comprised of the Free Clinic, Hospital, and other partners to develop an application for Rockbridge County to become designated as a “medically underserved community.” The application will involve extensive data gathering and research, and would emerge as a significant initiative of its own. Once this designation is attained, it could serve as a gateway for additional funding. In addition to these benefits, the planning involved in developing the application are seen as a pivotal opportunity to plan for a new system of health delivery that might be needed as a result of federal health reform. Here are links to more information: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/Shortage/muaguide.htm http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/healthpolicy/primarycare/documents/shortagedesignations/VirginiaMedicallyUnderservedAreas--CodeandRegulations.pdf Future Action: Free Clinic and W&L CBR students should follow-up to start developing a work plan and timeline for this project. Housing. The lack of comfortable, affordable, low-cost housing continues to be a challenge the Commission is discussing. The poor conditions of housing, access to indoor plumbing, and the lack of adequate shelter for a growing homeless population is also of critical concern. The commission will be seeking to empower a community group led by Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) and the local housing board to develop strategies for addressing these issues. Both groups are members of the Commission. Potentially these efforts can be linked to data and ideas generated through the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness (www.vceh.org), which Earl Reynolds (TAP) has brought our attention. See highlight of a new report on homelessness in VA from VCEH by clicking http://www.vceh.org/family.html Future Action: W&L students and faculty are drafting an Issue Brief on housing in RC that will outline different policy options for future action. This will be developed      in conjunction with TAP and local housing leaders, forming the basis for a small group on housing. • Transportation. During the first Commission meeting the Rockbridge area Transportation System (RATS) reported out on progress they have made in follow-up to recommendations coming out of the poverty report and forum for expanded fixed routes. Currently, RATS is working with a consultant from Augusta County, Virginia where progress has been made for improving the accessibility of public transportation. Concerns were expressed by Commission members about accessibility for the elderly, the need for closer collaboration with the hospital and with other local transportation services, and the cost for accessing buses operated by RATS. Alternative models from other communities were identified. Future Action: This discussion laid the foundation for forming a smaller community group to work with RATS and other transportation services to address these issues. This can be supported by an Issue Brief being drafted by W&L students and faculty that will outline the problems and identify policy options that can be considered in addressing the problems.      • Economic Development. Integrating these issues with strategies for economic development are also cited as crucial. Rockbridge County, like most other communities, is facing challenges in which poverty and economic development are highly interrelated. Are we experiencing a short term crises, or have we entered an era that requires new conceptions of poverty and economic development? Rockbridge County alone is facing challenges and questions of this nature for which there are no easy answers. Under these circumstances, Community-wide Capacity is needed to draw on the full spectrum of capital, human and otherwise, to rethink problems, and develop and implement effective strategies related to both poverty and economic development. Future Action: During this first year, the commission is planning to learn about past efforts for economic development in the community, and previous strategic effort to envision a new future for the community. These efforts will support construction of a strategic plan and blue print for both reconfiguring how the community addresses poverty and grows economically. Five Year Plan In order to support the goals and work of the Commission, W&L will be seeking funding to further its effort in developing and implementing the Commission. While this is an ongoing initiative, a five year plan is being developed that envisions progress in building local capacity in Rockbridge County, and over time scaling the Poverty Initiative into other communities as appropriate. This work will also be documented as a model for other communities outside of Virginia. The plan includes action steps for developing a community-wide strategic plan that connects each of the separate communities existing within Rockbridge County, developing a community-wide database, hosting annual community forums, developing web-based services, and sponsoring student-faculty research that supports the work of the Commission. * * * * * Attendance at October 15, 2009 Meeting Roberta Anderson, News-Gazette Reporter Kitty Brown, Rockbridge Area Relief Association Susan Bushnell, Rockbridge Regional Library (for Alan Bobowski) Melissa Caron, Shepherd Program at W&L Clare Collins, Rockbridge County Chief Administrator Linda Cummings, Service Learning at W&L Don Dailey, Visiting Associate Professor, W&L David Dax, Director of United Way Meredith Downey, Rockbridge Area Social Services Tim Dudley, City Manager of Buena Vista Jon Ellestad, City Manager of Lexington Rebecca Gates, Superintendent of BV City School System Suzanne Mayerchak, YMCA Sammy Moore, Chamber of Commerce Earl Reynolds Jr., TAP Rabia Sandage, Lessons in Literacy Jeri Schaff, Maury River Senior Center Suzanne Sheridan, Free Clinic Jackie Smith, Student at W&L Ryan Spitzer, City Manager of Glasgow Victorian Taylor, W&L Student Reporter Richie Urtz, SeniorNavigator Dan Waltz, Habitat for Humanity

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