Fighting Poverty in Erie County -2014
Agency Principal John Rushe is a volunteer with Erie Together, a countywide initiative to reduce poverty in Erie County. He joined Project Facilitator Mary Bula and Assistant Project Facilitator Nicole Wethli in a community presentation. More details about this initiative are available at their website – Erie Together | Learn, Work, Thrive. – Erie Together.
John serves on the Community Engagement Committee. Their objective is to ta…ke the Erie Together “story” out to small groups such as PTAs, church councils, service clubs and more. Today’s audience was WIC – Women, Infants, Children of Erie County. Roughly 30 managers and staff from throughout Erie County gathered to hear the details and ask questions about the following initiatives:
· LEARN
o Early childhood readiness & success
o Aligning education to careers
· WORK
o Balancing workforce & economic development
· THRIVE
o Individual & family stability
The attendees were eager to get details on Erie Together. And they provided insight on nutrition and immunization as possible barriers to Kindergarten readiness. The event demonstrated the potential of diverse individuals contributing their skills and insight toward the fight against poverty in our area.