Tag: poverty

Family Corner 12/27/17

Producer/Host: Sue Mackey Andrews
Engineer: John Greenman

Poverty in Rural Maine: Community Compass

Key Discussion Points:
Community Compass is an excellent example of how many communities throughout Maine are working together to support their neighbors living in poverty
Poverty has increased significantly in rural Maine communities including Hancock County from 2011-16 with the percentage of Maine children living in deep poverty – less than $800/month for a family of 3 – has increased at a rate 8 times greater than the national average (MCEP)
Everyone has a role to play and a gift to give to their neighbors – it might be a ride to an appointment, or a cooked dinner …
Each contribution, no matter how large or small, financial or personal, makes the day brighter and let’s people know that they matter and gives them hope.

Guests by name and affiliation:
Bob Holmburg, MD retired – developer and president of Community Compass
Linda Shephard, Community Compass DIS Navigator
Tammie Cox, Community Compass Outreach, Sedgewick

Maine Currents 12/14/16

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Segment 1: Naomi Schalit, Senior Reporter for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, and frequent guest here on Maine Currents, joins us to talk about what she discovered in a 9 month long investigation into poverty and single parenting in Maine – an investigation that resulted in a 5-part series which you can read at pinetreewatchdog.org

Segment 2: A talk by Dud Hendrick, local Vietnam veteran and member of Veterans for Peace. He spoke earlier this month at the Reversing Falls Sanctuary in Brooksville, Maine. This piece was recorded and produced by WERU’s Carolyn Coe

Maine Currents- independent local news, views & culture on WERU-FM 89.9 Blue Hill, 99.9 Bangor, Maine and www.weru.org, Wednesdays 4-5pm Eastern

Family Corner 10/22/14

Producer/Host: Sue Mackey Andrews
Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: The impact of Poverty in Maine on Young Children and Families

Key Discussion:
a) Importance of listening to others as they share their perspectives, opinions and questions
b) Open discussion of the many diverse opinions about poverty and encouraging robust dialogue to generate solutions and support for Mainers
c) How many local Maine communities are working to address poverty

Guests:
Marjorie Withers, LCPC, Community Caring Collaborative
Karen Heck, Mayor of Waterville

Family Corner 9/24/14

Producer/Host: Sue Mackey Andrews
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Poverty in Maine/Effects upon children, families

Program Topic: The impact of Poverty in Maine on Young Children and Families

Key Discussion Points:
a) Connections between poverty and children’s nutrition, health, growth, success in school, language development, social/emotional skills
b) Integrated, long-term and meaningful public support programs
c) Improving the public’s understanding of poverty

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Donna M. Beegle, EdD, Communication Across Barriers
B) Marjorie Withers, LCPC, Community Caring Collaborative
C ) Karen Heck, Mayor of Waterville

Talk of the Towns 1/24/14

Producer/Host: Ron Beard
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Where is Poverty Now?

Key Discussion Points:
a. CAP agencies were established as one of the key strategies in the war on poverty, declared by President Lyndon Johnson in January, 1964… what was their basic role?
b. What do we know about poverty today… are there differences that have emerged over the last 50 years?
c. How have CAP agencies changed… what approaches are you trying now that might not have been part of the original design? Provide an overview of WHCA programs and the role of people with low incomes on your board, involvement in the design and delivery of programs…
d. How is WHCA working with homeless vets? What do we know about the “dimensions” of the problem? How did you get started? What are the ways in which you tackle to problem? What are some of the results?
e. Is there more awareness of poverty as a community issue… talk about the emergence of poverty as a risk factor when Healthy Peninsula began work to help school children succeed? What led to the series of community workshops on Blue Hill peninsula, including a recent one… who is Donna Beegle, and how has she helped frame the issue here in Maine and nationally?
f. What other trends do you see that indicate that poverty and its affects are increasing?
(food pantry use, free community meals, general assistance, private and public efforts around fuel assistance, etc..) Is this a shift from assuming that poverty should be addressed by local efforts vs federal programs… what levels of magnitude are evident, between federal efforts like Community Action Program, HeadStart and others, and grassroots efforts like the Tree of Life Food Pantry and its sister efforts?
g.Part of the discussion about poverty relates to another trend in the US… growing income disparity between the very wealthy and the rest, including the middle class and the poor… do you see this disparity having a bearing on how you work on issues of poverty locally, or is this an issue best solved at the national level?
h. What inspires you to continue working on issues of poverty and its affects on people and the wider community?

Guests:
a. Mark Green, Washington-Hancock Community Agency
b. Bobbi Harris, Washington-Hancock Community Agency
c. Barbara Peppey, Healthy Peninsula

WERU News Report 5/8/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by: John Greenman

Headline: As we went to air today, the Environment and Natural Resources committee of the state legislature was holding a work session on 3 bills related to mining in Maine. Thus far they have voted “ought not to pass” on LD 1059 “An Act To Protect Maine’s Environment and Natural Resources Jeopardized by Mining”, and on LD 1324 “An Act To Protect Local Communities When a Mining Project Is Terminated”.

Segment 1: In our Peacetime segment today, and for the next several weeks, we are going to be featuring speakers from this year’s HOPE festival. As we reported a few weeks ago, this year’s theme was “Do One Thing” or “DOT”. Modeled on TED talks, each speaker was given a few minutes to try to convince audience members to take action on a particular issue

Segment 2: On our last 2 WERU News Report programs we’ve explored the widening gap between the rich and poor. Continuing on that theme today, we have Garrett Martin, Executive Director of Maine Center for Economic Policy, speaking at the University of Maine last month, as part of their Marxist and Socialist Studies Lecture series. He was introduced by Professor Doug Allen

WERU News Report 5/7/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by: John Greenman

Professor Thomas Pogge, Director of the Global Justice Program, and Leitner Professor of Philosophy & International Affairs at Yale University, spoke at UMaine last month on poverty and inequality. His talk provides an academic framework for understanding the widening gap between rich and poor, and how it is perpetuated.

United Way Presents 8/25/12

Host: Adam Lacher, Director, Communications and Community Engagement for United Way of Eastern Maine .

Guest: Steven Madera, LifeJackets Youth Group Coordinator for the Charlotte White Center in Dover-Foxcroft Maine
Issue: Piscataquis County, poverty, youth development, mentoring, after school programs.
About: United Way of Eastern Maine Presents is a weekly radio program featuring the the voices of Maine community organizations from Piscataquis, Penobscot, Washington, Hancock and Waldo counties. More info at: www.unitedwayem.org