The ESP Team has met several times during the month of July with agency/government leaders to learn more about the issues and challenges of local poverty and programs in place that seek to eradicate it or ease its impact.
Our zoom meetings have featured:
Amy Macechko, Director, Oxford Coalition for a Healthier Community;
Jason Bracken, Oxford City Council member;
Jeffrey Diver, Executive Director of SELF, Butler County Community Action Program.
Next week, August 4, we will meet with Brad Hoblitzell, Director of FRC (Oxford Family Resource Center)
We are still in the learning stages but have formed ideas of what needs to be done and how we can be of assistance. It has become clear, however, that there are absolute emergencies that need immediate attention—and—at the same time, a value in long-term solutions that will result in some people now in poverty moving on to permanent self-sufficiency—a vital outcome.
We continue to function within the limitations of COVID-19 lockdown, but have discovered there may be “work-arounds” that can be used to make progress.
We will keep you informed as we move forward.
Anne Bailey, convener, ESP Team, OPC
