March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 47 F

Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency Hosts “Together We Can” Poverty Symposium

On September 16, 2010 the Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency in partnership with the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel County Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, City of Annapolis, NAACP, and Maryland Hall for Creative Arts, will host a half-day Poverty Symposium called “Together We Can” at Maryland Hall.

The symposium will engage the community in a half-day event that will clarify future direction, ideas and actions about poverty issues in Anne Arundel County.  During the day, community members will gather and take part in a collaborative conversation and strategy session about the poverty that is still widespread in Anne Arundel County.

The format will include a keynote presenter and break out groups that will identify one to two strategies about the importance of moving from ‘Me’ to ‘We’, Connecting Services, Homelessness, Affordable Housing, Moving Past Poverty, and Entrepreneurial Ventures.  Attendees will also celebrate the successes that are happening at Community Action, in the schools and other areas of the County that are reducing poverty by showcasing it firsthand through a variety of segments.

“Our goal is not to reinvent the wheel but to coordinate the efforts of all of us to help families sustain themselves.  I am hopeful that we will walk away with fresh and promising possibilities that will increase the impact of poverty reducing measures now in place,” said Gretchen Huntley, Interim Director of Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency.

The symposium will tie together the Community Action’s monthly brown bag discussions that occurred over the last eight months, that featured discussion leaders who shared their views, research data or experiences on topics related to Poverty in Anne Arundel County.  In addition, the symposium will build off the county-wide needs assessment: Poverty Amidst Plenty: The Two Faces of Anne Arundel County completed in May.

Bess Langbein, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County shared, “The needs assessment we presented in May in partnership with the Partnership for Children Youth and Families is intended to be the basis for an action plan to address poverty in our county.  The symposium is an opportunity for us as a community to develop some strategies and tactics on which we can all act.”

Dr. Pamela Brown, Executive Director of the Anne Arundel County Partnership for Children, Youth and Families shared, “The Partnership for Children, Youth and Families is proud to be part of this multi-agency collaboration to address the issues related to poverty in our county. The Symposium builds on the work of the 2010 Anne Arundel County needs assessment Poverty Amidst Plenty and is a call to action for all county residents. “

For more information, please contact Planner, Kristen Komlosy at 410.626.1900, x1030.

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