Associated Press Reports on New Poverty Measure

The U.S. Census Bureau released new poverty data this week.  Based on a revised formula that considers not only income but also benefits and expenses, more people are experiencing poverty than originally understood.

Even without this adjustment, the poverty rate in Lowell increased by more than 17% from 2011 to 2012.  Today nearly 1 in 5 Lowell families live in poverty.  In addition to climbing poverty rates, Census Data indicate that Lowell families have experienced a staggering reduction in household income. The median household income in Lowell dropped from $52,131 in 2011 to $45,271 in 2012.

When families have less money to spend at area businesses and contribute less to the collective coffers the economy suffers. Businesses struggle, fewer jobs are created, public safety is jeopardized, and our community deteriorates.  We’ve come too far to let that happen.  A strong economy benefits everyone.

Community Teamwork is working to strengthen our economy by  acting as a catalyst for social change and by delivering vital services and collaborating with key stakeholders to create housing, education and economic opportunities.

Please join us to keep Lowell vital and to ensure that every Lowell resident has the opportunity to contribute to a stronger economic future for us all.

Consider contributing to this effort by visiting our DONATE page.

Read the full report here.

Join us at 4pm on Tuesday, October 22 for a visit and presentation from the Commissioner for the Massachusetts Dept of Agricultural Resources, and the Northeast Regional Administrator of the USDA. Film Starts at 5pm. Tonight is made possible by a partnership between CTI, LGH, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank and the Lowell Film Collaborative.

“A Place At the Table, with talking heads ranging from Jeff Bridges to Tom Colicchio, all of them articulate and impassioned, is a film that should make you furious.” –Huffington Post

“A shocking indictment of how people are starving in the land of plenty …”-Linda Barnard, Rotten Tomatoes

“As important and eye-opening a documentary as you’ll see this year,” –New York Daily News

Preview this important film at http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable

Raise Up Massachusetts is conducting a petition drive to raise the minimum wage and ensure that more Massachusetts workers can care for themselves and their family members when they are sick.

According to their website, when workers and their families can’t afford the basics, they aren’t able to spend money in their communities to keep the economy growing. That’s why Raise Up Massachusetts is fighting to require employers to offer earned sick time and raise the minimum wage.

To learn more about this important initiative or to join the campaign visit Raise Up Massachusetts on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RaiseupMA

I am pleased and honored to be joining the CTI team as Chief Program Officer, and to serve an agency whose historic mission and legacy are more important now than when community action agencies were first developed in 1964.  You all do such incredibly important and vital work to assist low income people, and I look forward to learning from all of you as I enter the agency and apply my experience and skills to do as much as we can with each dollar that we receive.

I come to CTI after serving for twelve and a half years as Director of Residential Services for YOU, Inc., a large multi-service child welfare agency in Worcester serving northern and southern Worcester County communities.  Similar to CTI, YOU, Inc. is a large multi-service agency that provides a continuum of care for families and children.  And so, I appreciate and value that each program or service can do individually, but also how much more effective coordinated service delivery can be for the people we serve.

My career in social services administration is broad and diverse, and I have managed service systems both in the public and non-profit sectors, and have planned, implemented and managed service delivery for children, families and adults facing the challenges of poverty, mental illness and developmental disabilities, as well as individuals involved with the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

The foundations of my career, however, began here in Lowell, first as a Northeastern “co-op” student, then in the Planning Department of the Lowell City Development Authority and finally as a case manager working in a store front on Middlesex Street funded by federal employment and training funds that were administered through CTI.  So, I am very pleased to return to Lowell and the Merrimack Valley to offer my skills, enthusiasm and commitment to Community Teamwork.