January 5, 2007

Alabama’s Children Get Worldwide Attention

I get a daily email from Google, searching for matters related to poverty in our state. A couple of days ago I got one that included a link to a Reuters story concerning health care for low income children. Al Rohling, Executive Director of the Alabama Child Caring Foundation and currently treasurer for the APP, is quoted rather extensively in the piece.

The content of that article, of course, is of interest to me. But what’s of added interest is how much the article has been picked up, literally, around the world. Go ahead and Google Al’s name and you’ll see – it’s everywhere!

Why all that interest? Why would news outlets in India and Saudi Arabia choose this article for publication?

Well, for one thing, we in the states often don’t appreciate how folks in other parts of the globe keep up with us. It’s a shame, really, that we are also so fascinated also with ourselves and fail to notice much of what happens elsewhere in the world. But citizens the world over know how much U.S. policy and culture impacts them.

And I suspect the interest has something to do with Alabama itself. We do have a certain reputation, do we not? In particular we are known for our history with race issues and there is a certain image we have in relation to poverty. People the world over know about us – and they have opinions.

Some of these judgments are unfair perhaps. But we need to be “fair and balanced” in how we see ourselves as well. While Alabama has done relatively well in addressing health care needs for our children, well ahead of most other states, we are still near the bottom in many other categories of service provision.

There’s a lot of work to do. Folks from Huntsville to New Delhi know about it too.

Groundbreaking Work in Perry County

I was glad to be in Perry County a few weeks ago, visiting with APP Board member David Potts, the President of Judson College in Marion. While there I also met with Frances Ford, Executive Director of Sowing Seeds of Hope. SSH is a partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Alabama to address the many needs of this Black Belt county. There are nine task forces involved in the effort.

I found out a couple of interesting things in my conversation with Frances. For one, she and I graduated at the same time from Samford University. It was good to make that classmate connection!

But she also told me about the Camellia Project. A while back I wrote here of the Benefit Bank, a computer program that helps people discover what resources and aid they qualify for. It turns out the Camellia Project is a similar program, just now a pilot project only in Perry and Montgomery counties. I’ve looked at it and it seems a very simple online interface. I’ll be interested to see how effective it is. A good start.

Do check out Sowing Seeds of Hope. Wayne Flynt was very instrumental in getting this off the ground and I think it’s a visionary approach to addressing deeply rooted challenges, a hopeful model.

The Vital Role of Libraries

OK, so I’ll admit I hadn’t really thought of this until I ran across this article, but when you think about how vital connection to the internet is, and how there are still many who do not have such connections at home, computer access alone is invaluable for folks with low income. Many get that access at local libraries.

Libraries also serve as shelter for the homeless on regular days and for the displaced during emergencies. Libraries in San Francisco have developed Homeless Outreach Teams to respond to needs and the obvious attendant challenges. During Katrina and Rita libraries became essential locations for information and contact with the “outside world.”

But, according to this report, funding for libraries is diminishing. That despite an amazing increase in library visits and an expanding array of services being provided.

I wonder how libraries are faring in Alabama.

A Full Year Ahead

Many of us declare at this point in the calendar, “This is going to be my best year ever!”

Me too. With this new work that is mine, and with all that is happening for our cause across the state, it may just be the best year for many of us.

So while we are hopeful, let’s also be vigilant – and hard at work

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