In April 2017, NeighborWorks America will convene community development professionals from around the country for a conference to address persistent rural poverty areas and lift up asset-based strategies and award-winning contemporary community economic development projects.
This unique event is primarily for the 115 members of the NeighborWorks Rural Initiative and will be hosted by local network member HOPE Enterprise. The goal of the convening is to identify innovative ideas and strategies that will be relevant and timely to the Network and partners across sectors.
Persistent poverty is an enduring problem in rural America. Geographic isolation, lack of resources and economic opportunities, and disinvestment have led to high poverty rates for decades. Rural and small town poverty rates are highest in the South, where more than half of all rural and small town persons in poverty reside. Even more disconcerting is that the number of persistent poverty counties is on the rise, having increased by 8 percent from the year 2000 level.
View the Agenda:
https://www.neighborworks.org/Documents/Community_Docs/Rural_Docs/HopeintheDeltaRuralConvening-Agenda.aspx