Community Conversation Themes:

• Poverty, massive job loss, and unfair employment practices undermine basic support for child development and family stability today---and robs families and communities of needed brain trusts for tomorrow.
  
  "Without jobs and income, we cannot provide for our children."
  
  "Underemployment is a big issue. Parents have 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet. It impacts their ability to be active in their children's lives."
  
  "The economy has really hurt public education. Competition for students, the changes in how schools are financed, the drastic decline in the number of students in the Pontiac Public School system, and declining industry, all together, have created challenges to providing our children with a quality education."
  
  "We have 2 things going on regarding poverty. We have situational poverty that happens when someone loses a job or has a crisis. Then we also have generational poverty where 2 or 3 generations have lived in poverty and people don't know how, or don't have the skills to get themselves out of the situation."
  
  "Utility costs are a big issue. We have people who get behind and can't catch up. The get cut off and have them put back on in a relative's name and that can cause conflicts. They can't pay their rent or mortgage. People are losing their shelter."
  
  "A family might have a car that has to be taken care of because transportation is so crucial. Paying for that new tire can be a choice between that and putting food on the table. The stress of dealing with immediate economic issues can push back things like dealing with their kids' educational issues, which can become invisible to them."
  
  >> Return to main themes page.
  
   

• Where we go from here: Continuing the Journey.
  
   
• Return to Main Children of Color page.