Wednesday, October
25, 2006
Opening General Session
- 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
How "NOT" to talk about poverty
Margy Waller, director, Center for Community Change
Turn on the television or open a newspaper and you will find
stories about the struggle of those living in poverty and
how it is affecting our communities. You will also find reports
by those that wish to marginalize the issue of poverty, using
the topic as a platform to advance an anti-social welfare
agenda. The extraordinary work that Community Action Agencies
perform everyday is continually challenged by a constituency
that seeks to shift or cut funding sources. Do you feel attacked
for your work? Have others finally made the point that the
work of Community Action and other agencies is just "feel
good" stuff and that people who are poor are unmotivated?
Do you think that the rhetoric about anti-poverty is too susceptible
to detraction and we shouldn't use words like poor and poverty?
Well, come and hear what Margy Waller suggests "we"
should really do to shape and control the discussion.
Ms. Waller will participate in the panel discussion "Eliminating
Poverty in the Commonwealth" from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
