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Lawmakers talk about poverty at forum
Jessica Cline
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: News
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Randy Eubanks, D - Fort Collins, said the county needs a proactive method to bring poverty rates back down, as Larimer County outpaces both the state and the nation in rising poverty rates.
"It is not only important for us to react but also to act," Eubanks said, placing an emphasis on the necessity of attracting jobs to the area.
Steve Johnson, R - Fort Collins, echoed Eubanks' statement, saying that employers in the area need to bolster training programs to make employment more accessible to the poverty-stricken.
"We need to have more tailored job training programs to bring in more employees," he said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the past seven years, poverty in Larimer County has increased by 51.2 percent.
There are 34,176 people in the county living below the poverty line.
Nicolle Gregg, a representative of Pathways Past Poverty, a local poverty awareness campaign, said most, if not all, students at CSU fall below the poverty line.
"Most students would fall below the poverty line because they have little or no income coming in," Gregg said.
"Students depend on their parents to help them make ends meet."
Because of students' dependence on parents, Gregg said it's very hard to fit students into the poverty study.
Regardless, though, all college students are poor, she said.
Gregg said there are not yet opportunities for aid for students in the Pathways Past Poverty program.
But said she hopes there eventually will be. Pathways Past Poverty has eight different committees with a total of 156 community members working towards the poverty problem.
"We are concerned with the quality of help, and we are concerned with the sustainability of what we do," Gregg said.
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