United Way looks to tackle poverty through mentoring

Money is not the main problem for families in poverty. A lack of relationships with people that model and teach them how to be successful keeps them from bettering their situations, according to a new initiative taken on by the United Way of Southeast Missouri.

Nancy Jernigan, United Way executive director, told community members during a meeting Friday at Dalhousie Golf Club the organization is taking steps to adopt the "Opportunity Community" model, a strategy developed by Communication Barriers Inc. The organization was founded by Dr. Donna Beegle, who has a personal history of overcoming generational poverty.

During the next 12 to 18 months, Jernigan said, the United Way will be collaborating with other local organizations to create a system of self-sufficiency supports and mentorship relationships to aid people in raising themselves from poverty.

Jernigan said connecting people with jobs is important, but just one step in the process. Self-sufficiency requires access to transportation, child care and education, she said. Aside from helping create access to those supports, Opportunity Community aims to alleviate shame and remove the stigma associated with poverty.

The problem is widespread in the Cape Girardeau community, Jernigan said. Approximately 18 percent of people in 2011 in Cape Girardeau County lived below the poverty level, considered to be $23,050 for a family of four. In 2010, the number was 14.2 percent. About 27 percent of households in the county earned less than $25,000 per year in 2011, an increase of 10 percent from the previous year. The sufficiency wage for a family is estimated to be a minimum of $32,000 a year, she said.

Although statistics put families struggling with insufficient incomes at more than 1 in 4, many people keep their needs hidden, Jernigan said. In the meantime, two-thirds of them work an average of 1.7 jobs trying to make ends meet, contrary to stereotypes about poverty.

"You work hard, but you don't get by," said Mary Marois, spokeswoman for Opportunity Community and former director of the Department of Human Services in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties in Michigan. Despite the attention it receives, few people are defrauding the system, she said. Most are working hard, but just not moving forward.

Marois said the crux of the problem is that people in poverty gather information from others in the same situation, who "aren't making it, either."

Opportunity Community connects people with individuals in the community who can help coach them in how to successfully connect with resources. Just telling people what they need to do is not enough, she said. People need help in how to take the next step.

The first step in the initiative will be a Prosperity Summit with Beegle from 8 to 11 a.m. May 16 at Drury Lodge, 104 S. Vantage Drive, for "business, social service, education, health care, justice and faith-based community members to learn more about the culture of poverty," according to a United Way news release.

An Opportunity Conference for low-income individuals and families will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Osage Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway.

For more information, contact the United Way of Southeast Missouri at 334-9634, email Heather.short@unitedwayofsemo.org or visit unitedwayofsemo.org.

salderman@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

104 S. Vantage Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

430A Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.