Add yourself to the equation in 2012

We want all children to be healthy, safe, and educated.  We believe that all children and families – rich, middle class, and poor – deserve the opportunity to succeed in life.  But did you know that more than one in four children live in poverty in Buncombe County?

Children First/Communities in Schools has launched a multi-year initiative called the Success Equation to inspire and sustain a local movement to reduce the incidence of poverty and its impact on children in Buncombe County through education, collaboration, and public policy advocacy, resulting in a community where all children thrive.

The Success Equation is a catalyst and movement builder to reduce the impact and incidence of child poverty in Buncombe County through the following roles:

  • As policy advocate at local, state, and federal levels.
  • As convener and connector to enhance promising strategies and collaborations – with a special interest in site-based/neighborhood-based programming and empowerment.
  • As champion for creative, provocative ideas where conditions seem ripe for adoption.

Our 2012 Action Plan is ready. The plan builds on the input from 113 interviews with low-income residents (including teens and Latina mothers); 41 interviews with staff of organizations serving persons in poverty; 120 participants at our appreciative inquiry summit May 19 & 20, 2011; and 65 responses to our action plan survey. The Action Plan includes an ambitious marketing effort along with work on six action ideas:

  1. Bridge gaps in public assistance, and remove other barriers to success, for families moving out of poverty.  

  2. Help communities develop local sites that support and empower families, improve access to services and social connection, and increase educational, vocational, health, and parenting skills.

  3. Provide more young children with quality learning and care experiences – including those not enrolled in child care programs.

  4. Improve transportation options and accessibility for low-income communities.

  5. Increase jobs that pay living wages and job training and vocation education to access jobs.

  6. Expand access to safe, affordable housing.

Click here to view the full 2012 Action Plan for the Success Equation.

We’d like you to be involved – everyone has something to add to this equation! Please contact Children First/CIS Director of Advocacy Greg Borom at gregb@childrenfirstbc.org or call 828-423-0698.

Click here to see  a video of Asheville poet, Griffin Payne, performing his poem, “Magic Schoolbus” at the 2011 Success Equation Summit. Griffin’s performance received a standing ovation, and many participants cited his recitation of the poem as a highlight of the two-day event. We hope you enjoy it, but must let you know that there is some graphic language at the beginning of the poem.