Rooting Out Poverty Campaign

Rooting Out Poverty: A Campaign by America's Community Action Network

Lincoln Action Program has joined forces with other Community Action Agencies across America in a nationwide campaign to significantly reduce poverty. The campaign, Rooting Out Poverty: A Campaign by America's Community Action Network, is a call for action to promote economic security for all Americans, especially those who are poor. Published by Community Action Partnership—a national organization with more than 1,000 member agencies—Rooting Out Poverty was also released nationally in New Orleans during the Partnership’s 2008 Winter Management and Leadership Training Conference.

“With input from Community Action Agencies like Lincoln Action Program that work in the trenches daily fighting poverty and promoting economic security, Rooting Out Poverty contains effective and realistic strategies that will help create a strong economy for all Americans,” said Sue Hinrichs, Lincoln Action Program Executive Director.

The Community Action Partnership developed this campaign with input from several hundred key leaders from the local, state, and national levels. Rooting Out Poverty offers five action themes and more than two dozen recommendations and strategies to help children, families, senior citizens, and other individuals who are vulnerable to poverty, economic deprivation, and other significant barriers to economic self-sufficiency.

 The five action themes for rooting out poverty at the community, state, and national levels are:

• Maximize participation - maximum feasible participation of those who are seeking economic self-sufficiency
• Build an economy that works for everyone – an economy that provides a wide range of jobs and addresses financial and economic conditions of all residents
• Invest in the future – provide the training now to develop the knowledge and skills that today’s children and workers will need for the jobs and industries of tomorrow
• Maximize equality of opportunity – facilitate access to key opportunities for personal and professional growth and advancement
• Ensure healthy people and places – ensure access to adequate health care and homes that are weatherized to prevent high heating and cooling costs

“While some Americans are enjoying our nation’s economic well-being, far, far too many are not,” noted James Norman, Partnership board member and chairman of the steering committee for the National Conversation on Poverty and Economic Security.  “The number of poor people in the U.S. range from conservative estimates of 15 million to more than 35 million.  Community Action Agencies have a track record of 40-plus years effectively helping poor people and families, and our new campaign will enable us to educate, advocate, and help even more.”

Rooting Out Poverty offers solutions and strategies for promoting quality child care; employment and training opportunities, especially for those lacking basic skills; responsible health, energy, and conservation policies, assistance to those elderly and otherwise most vulnerable of people, and more.

Lincoln Action Program will use the report to help explain the benefits of the work the organization does to local leaders and challenge all people in the community to become involved in the fight against poverty.

To see a copy of the Rooting Out Poverty report, click here. To see the executive summary, click here.