Knox County poverty task force reaches out

from the Galesburg Register Mail

Group going public to generate solutions
By JANE CARLSON

In the wake of Knox County being named to a state poverty warning list for the third consecutive year, a task force is coming forward to address poverty-related issues such as high school graduation rates, teen birth and unemployment rates.

Team Knox County has been working quietly for the past six months but will have a news conference at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Knox County Courthouse to mobilize residents to collaborate in developing solutions to rising poverty.

The task force originally was formed by Sal Garza, community and economic developer for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, to address youth development issues. The discussions soon progressed to the topic of poverty and how different sectors could come together to come up with solutions, Garza said.

According to the 2008 Report on Illinois Poverty, released by the Heartland Alliance, the county fared worse than the state average on four key poverty indicators — high school graduation, teen birth, unemployment and poverty rates.

“We quickly realized that we needed to work on a much bigger scale. That bigger scale, we decided, should tackle the four general areas,” of high school graduation, teen birth, unemployment and poverty rates, Garza said.

The goal of Team Knox County, according to Garza, is to be a neutral entity that will create a comprehensive plan to address these challenging issues by drawing on the expertise and input of community leaders in sectors including education, healthcare and economic development.

“Each of the sectors has done work, but it has not been integrated,” Garza said.

Team Knox County had intended to work quietly for several more months until its funding streams were secured, but chose to go public after Knox County was placed on the warning list for the third consecutive year.

“After the release of the 2008 report, we believed it was in the best interest that we share the activities of the task force,” Garza said.

Several elected officials will speak at Saturday’s press conference, including Congressman Phil Hare, D-Illinois; Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson; and Knox County Board Chairman Allen Pickrel. In addition, members of Team Knox County will explain the task force’s goals and the work it already has done.

Those already serving on the task force are Garza; Rhonda Brady, director of Knox County Area Project; Diane Eager, a Bridgeway prevention specialist and member of the Knox County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition; Carrie McKillip, community and economic development educator for University of Illinois Extension Knox County; and Sue Shurkey, who works in Hare’s Galesburg office.

Now that Team Knox County is going public, the task force will be expanding. Garza wants to encourage people to become a part of the discussion and to consider that the issue of poverty goes beyond the issue of jobs and unemployment.