June 11, 2008

Mark your calendar for Nov. 13 when Michigan will sponsor its first statewide Poverty Summit, a one-day event to organize the fight to eliminate poverty and provide help to Michigan families in financial crisis. "Voices for Action: The 2008 Poverty Summit" will bring together activists, leaders and families to share strategies and develop new networks to fight poverty and provide help to Michigan families.

"Fighting poverty and helping families who are facing economic crisis is critical to the state's work to improve our economy," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who will give a morning address at the conference. "Working to diversify the economy and create new jobs is one critical way we can help families address their personal economic crises. This summit will allow us to share other best practices and build new networks across the state."

The summit will highlight the work government and communities are already doing to address poverty and economic crisis in Michigan. An advisory group is merging known solutions with citizen input to define actions that complement current programs to address the impacts of financial crisis. Afternoon breakout sessions will focus on work and employment, education, health care and housing in communities.

Martin Luther King III, son of the late civil rights leader, has agreed to participate as the morning keynote speaker. King currently directs the Atlanta, Ga.-based Realizing The Dream, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the work of his parents.

"Almost one in three people in Michigan, including a half million children, are low-income and cannot meet their basic needs without assistance," said Ismael Ahmed, director of Michigan Department of Human Services. "If we leave one-third of our people behind, our economic recovery won't be complete. The Poverty Summit will build on what we are doing now at the state level and in communities. This will make Michigan a national leader in addressing these issues."

Ahmed and Sonia Harb of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services in Dearborn are co-chairs for the event. Harb chairs the Governors Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity, which held six poverty forums around Michigan earlier this year.

"We heard from scores of Michigan residents about what they do to survive poverty and low-income life, the strategies they use, and the strategies the state and communities could adopt that might make things better," Harb said.

The summit will give voice to residents who are struggling and bring citizens, anti-poverty experts, employers, advocates, foundations, community representatives and leaders from government and commerce together to forge a comprehensive approach to eliminate poverty in Michigan.

A complete list of the members of the Poverty Summit Advisory Group is available here.

For more information online go to www.michigan.gov/poverty

For more information on Martin Luther King III go to http://www.realizingthedream.org/