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Step Up Savannah

Step Up Savannah Vision: “Savannah is a community where all people have hope and opportunity, where we challenge injustice, and where all community members Step Up to reduce poverty.” Mission : “ Step Up Savannah works collaboratively to reduce poverty in Savannah and Chatham County .”.

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Step Up Savannah

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  1. Step Up Savannah Vision: “Savannah is a community where all people have hope and opportunity, where we challenge injustice, and where all community members Step Up to reduce poverty.” Mission:“Step Up Savannah works collaboratively to reduce poverty in Savannah and Chatham County.” Step Up Savannah

  2. What Is The Solution To Poverty? “The solutions to poverty are to be found in what is important for the health of any family – having a job that pays a decent wage, having the support of good health and child care and having access to a first rate education.” Mark R. Rank “Poverty in America is Mainstream.” New York Times, November 2, 2013. Retrieved from: http//opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream.

  3. How Does Step Up Work? • Attract/Leverage Resources • Enhance capacity of direct service providers to increase their impact in fighting poverty • Train Neighborhood Leaders • Focus on Workforce Development and Wealth Building • Educate and advocate in the field of public policy

  4. A Dialectical Approach to Understanding Poverty Otis S. Johnson, Ph.D. Step Up Savannah, Inc. Workshop November 18, 2013

  5. The Impact of “The Great Recession:”Growing Inequality • The rich are getting richer and more of the middle-class are getting poorer. • Government, at state and federal levels, are reducing funding for “safety-net” programs. • Philanthropy was hurt by the stock market. • Charitable organizations are being severely challenged. • The local public and private sectors are being asked to do more for the poor.

  6. Facing the Poverty Dialectic Thesis Liberal Position Lack of: Education and Job Skills Transportation Affordable Housing Affordable Dependent Care Health Care Supportive Financial Services Antithesis Conservative Position Dropping out of School Poor “soft skills” Early Parenthood Substance abuse Criminal Activity Poor Financial Management Synthesis The Step Up Position “Savannah is a community where all people have hope and opportunity, where we challenge injustice, and where all community members Step Up to reduce poverty.

  7. Building Equity and Opportunity in Savannah, GeorgiaFacing the Poverty Dialectic Thesis Liberal Strategy Government intervention because of: Structural Causes Lack of Opportunities Discrimination Antithesis Conservative Strategy Non-Governmental Intervention because of: Lack of Personal Responsibility Decline of Nuclear Families Synthesis The Step Up Position The public and private sectors must step up and remove the barriers that keep individuals and families from having opportunities to attain economic self- sufficiency. Individuals and families must step up and advocate for and take advantage of opportunities to improve their ability to be economically self-sufficient.

  8. Identifying Barriers To Economic Self-Suffiency Structural Economic Failings: • Failure of the job market to provide the proper amount of jobs which pay enough to keep families out of poverty. Social Safety Net Failings: • Inadequate Educational Opportunities • Poor Health and Limited Access to Health Care (Physical and Mental) • Limited Access to Quality Dependent Care • Limited Availability of Quality Affordable Housing • Inadequate Public Transportation • Limited Opportunities After Incarceration

  9. Identifying Personal Barriers To Economic Self-Sufficiency • Dropping Out of School and Lack of Work Skills. • Financial Illiteracy. • Teenage Parenthood. • Ex-Offender Status. • Lack of Personal Motivation.

  10. How Does Step Up Do Its Work?

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