New York, NY (MMD Newswire) September 24, 2012 -- With more than 1.5 million New Yorkers now living in poverty, City Limits (www.CityLimits.org) and the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness (www.ICPHusa.org) will launch a city-wide tour of community conversations to highlight effective strategies combating growing poverty and homeless rates.
The Tackling Poverty Conversation and Networking Series--which debuts in Brooklyn at the Galapagos Art Space on October 3rd--will feature civic leaders, academics, and grassroots activists working on the ground to improve the city's poverty and homeless outcomes. In 2006, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for city leaders to significantly reduce poverty, stressing the need to go beyond "conventional approaches." In the years following the mayor's call to action, and the aftermath of the global recession, New York City has been burdened with record rates of poverty and homelessness. This series will analyze the shortcomings of "conventional approaches" while proposing innovative ideas that have proven to aid impoverished communities across the nation.
"While we're seeing record numbers of poor and homeless New Yorkers, we're also seeing innovation and grassroots approaches that are making a difference," said Mark Anthony Thomas, director of City Limits. "This series will engage audiences around the best of what's working and how we can grow and sustain these efforts."
"This groundbreaking series allows New Yorkers to come together to exchange ideas about reducing poverty and homelessness," said Ralph da Costa Nunez, president of the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness. "The series will take the discussion of poverty and homelessness outside the think tanks and into communities."
This event series is free to the public, but advanced registration is preferred, in an effort to reach citizens who want to understand this issue, its solutions, and network with neighborhood stakeholders and leaders who are making a difference. Attendees can register at www.TacklingPovertyNYC.org
About City Limits
City Limits is a non-profit media organization that strengthens awareness and engagement on civic, economic, social, and criminal justice issues in New York City and the national urban agenda. City Limits' coverage has garnered a number of recent awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' award for publishing the top local investigative magazine story in the country in both 2010 and 2011. In 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed a "City Limits Day" for the organization's work as a "model for New York and for the rest of the nation."
About the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness:
The Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness (ICPH) is an independent non-profit research organization based in New York City that studies the impact of poverty on family and child well-being, and generates research that will enhance public policies and programs affecting poor or homeless children and their families.
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