[Virginia] Anti-poverty group names new director

From The Charlottesville Daily Progree

Phillip E. Dukes, the new executive director of a local anti-poverty agency, knows how important it is to provide low-income families with the housing, counseling and educational services.

Dukes, who became the executive director of the Monticello Area Community Action Agency earlier this month, has 27 years experience working with mental health and human services agencies in Maryland, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.

But long before he received his doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, he struggled through adolescence in Cleveland's inner city, where he had to deal with violence and gangs. "That was a social outlet in my community," Dukes said. "It was either be a part of that or be ostracized."

With the help of many concerned people, Dukes was able to focus his energy on school. "[Gang] activity was not for me. What was for me was learning algebra, learning history, learning things that my friends and I thought were pretty square," he said. "I was helped by many people who helped me see the value of education and the value of myself as well."

MACAA, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, is a nonprofit organization that works to alleviate the effects and causes of poverty. Serving Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson, it coordinates the Head Start prekindergarten program and the Hope House program, among others.

As the head of MACAA, Dukes hopes to develop relationships with other agencies and organizations in the area to better address poverty in the region. Particularly, he hopes to coordinate initiatives with local schools and housing agencies.

That coordination may be expedited since Dukes' predecessor at MACAA, Noah Schwartz, left the agency to become the executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Schwartz served as the executive director of MACAA for almost four years. "I think we accomplished a lot in that time," Schwartz said. Changes that he and his team helped implement included strengthening the range of programs MACAA offered and stabilizing its finances.

"They're in a great spot," Schwartz said of MACAA. "It really gives the new director the ability to focus on the future."

Dukes plans to do just that, and has great confidence in his staff and in the community. "The people are great," he said. "They are eager to do things, eager to give and eager to serve."