Fighting poverty a cause for the entire community

The passion in Bob Laipply's voice was clear as he spoke to the Bucyrus Kiwanis Club Thursday afternoon.

The topic was poverty in rural America, specifically Crawford County.

"There is generational poverty here and we are trying to help people out of it," he said.

Laipply, an local educator, is part of a group called "Connecting Crawford County; Building Bridges to Bring Us Together." Their mission is to establish a network to assist professionals in fields of human services, education, child support, law enforcement, churches and other groups in helping move individuals and families toward self-sufficiency.

One of the goals is to build a network between providers in the community and increase efficiency. That's a tall order when one considers all the agencies and communities involved.

It is nonetheless the right thing to do.

The timing or this program is right. With layoffs at local manufacturers, the economy here is struggling.

People need help transitioning into the right work environment. Some need help short-term after suffering job losses or going through a divorce. Others require more long-term assistance.

We applaud the efforts of Laipply and others in Bucyrus who want to attack the problem of poverty. It is not easy or pretty, but it's necessary.

Toward that end, a two-day workshop is planned Sept. 18-19 featuring Phil DeVol. The program will address generational poverty in our area.

We encourage county residents to consider attending and working toward solutions. Overcoming poverty in Crawford County should be everyone's goal.

News Source: The bucyrustelegraphforum.com