[Louisiana] Ideas shared in war on poverty

from The New Orleans Times-Picayune

St. John group gears up to map out strategies

By Sandra Barbier

After meeting a year and a half ago to outline solutions to the most pressing causes of poverty in St. John the Baptist Parish, parish business and community leaders met again Wednesday to begin fleshing out a plan for a community-based effort to reduce poverty.

"This is very early in the planning process," United Way of St. John executive director Dean Torres said. The group had planned to meet in August, but Hurricane Katrina postponed it.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Louisiana is second to Mississippi for the percent of residents living below the poverty level, or about $20,000 in income per year for a family of four. St. John the Baptist Parish had a poverty rate of just under 17 percent when the group met in October 2004, Torres said.

About 25 participants met at the Louisiana Technical College-River Parishes Campus. They were sometimes frustrated with the lack of action against poverty and the failure of government programs to reduce it, but several said they're looking forward to finding and implementing local solutions.

The group will focus its plan on community involvement in education, support for strong families and promoting "financial literacy" among the elderly, the poor and youths.

St. John Sheriff's Office Maj. Mike Tregre, who often visits schools, said youngsters need more firsthand information about jobs, and more visitors to talk about careers.

"Kids don't know what kind of jobs they want," he said. Some are only concerned with salary and vacation when they apply for jobs, he said. Summer programs and Spanish language education also are needed, Tregre said.

Elois Joseph of the St. John Community Action Agency said she was concerned with lack of financial knowledge that traps some impoverished people.

Many poor people rent stoves, refrigerators and television sets when they could buy them on installment plans for less. The elderly especially need more information, she said.

"I feel more for them because I see them being ripped off," she said.

The Rev. Neil Bernard of Reserve Christian Fellowship, meanwhile, lamented children growing up in homes with absent fathers.

"I think a key component of eliminating poverty is having a fatherhood initiative, or things that promote the basic family -- one man, one woman and a lifetime commitment," he said, adding that children from homes without fathers are nine times more likely to grow up in poverty. "All the other issues are symptoms of the root."

And St. John Assessor Whitney Joseph Jr. said his frustration was with constitutional blocks against allowing religion to play a part in the fight. The solutions, to share and love each other, are laid out in the Bible, Whitney said.

Elected officials committed to eliminating poverty are needed, and creating another anti-poverty program just creates a job for someone while taking money from the poor, he said.

Torres said the group has no money for its initiative. Nevertheless, committees will be formed to begin thinking of specific solutions, he said.