More on June 10 conference

After our introductory session, we heard from Rev. Edward King, Jr., Senior Program Officer with the duPont Fund. He gave us some history and background on the duPont Fund and their efforts in the Northern Neck. Since Mrs. duPont was born in the Northern Neck, it is one of the five core communities that have been a focus for the fund. Rev. King encouraged us to look for creative ways to reduce poverty. He mentioned the Northern Neck Housing Study Group, presented in March 2009, and the Summer Jobs Network for Youth, which will place at-risk students in summer jobs with mentors to help them succeed this summer. Both of these were funded by duPont.

Prior to our conference, members of the planning committee for this conference had called some contacts in various communities who had successfully discussed and made progress in reducing poverty. All of them had something in common with the Northern Neck, whether it was racial or cultural divisions, rural as opposed to urban, and so on, so we thought they might be able to share some of their experiences. Paula Fisher presented some of the themes and suggestions that came out of those calls. If you want to know more about her presentation, please comment with your email attached and I will send you that information.

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After Paula's presentation, we heard from Jereann King Johnson, a consultant and community coach from Warrenton, North Carolina. She shared some information about their efforts to address and reduce poverty. She was frank about issues of race and divisions and the need to get a diverse group of people involved. Jereann is a quilter, and the metaphor she gave us of piecing together many types and colors of fabric to present a whole new picture was a powerful one. She emphasized the need to support the young teachers who came to the area by literally helping them get to know the community and telling them "we have your back" in their efforts. She specifically talked about the impact of poverty on young people.
Finally, she reminded us to be persistent in our efforts. Jereann was a dynamic presenter who gave us much to think about.