GLEAMNS event aims to fight poverty

from the Greenwood Index Journal

By JAIME MADEWELL

May is celebrated as the National Month of Community Action, and Wednesday GLEAMNS Human Resources Commission, Inc. celebrated Community Action Day in support of the national theme: “rooting out poverty.”

“The National Month of Community Action is when we celebrate the services and hard work you provide,” said Alex Alderman, statewide project coordinator for the South Carolina Community Action Partnerships.

South Carolina has 15 community action agencies statewide, and the largest is GLEAMNS, which is incorporated in 13 counties. GLEAMNS sponsors after-school programs, child care food programs, early Head Start programs, weatherization programs, workforce development programs and much more.

“Rooting out poverty is something that is very important,” Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson said. “We can get there if we work together. The key to rooting out poverty is good jobs, and you get a good job through a good education.”

When it comes to education, Nicholson said, “if you go into the race two miles behind and keep the same pace, you will always stay two miles behind.”

The keynote speaker for the Community Action Day celebration was Claude Thomas, chairman of the GLEAMNS board of commissioners.

“Poverty implies lack of resources for comfortable living,” Thomas said. “Poverty is nothing new. There have been many attempts to rid the world of poverty but it still remains. Poverty encompasses race, gender the world over. 14.2 percent of the population in Greenwood is below the poverty level.”