Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / May 25, 1965, edition 1 / Page 6
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PAGE No. 6 THE DECREE Carolina Fund Grows Forward (A Feature-Editorial) by Edward Lewis since President Johnson announced his “War on Poverty” last spring, there has been a great deal of excite ment in various areas of the country over his oroDOsal One billion dollars was appropriated for a massive war on the abject poverty which pnjduces painful living conditions in many parts of the U. S., especially in the Appalachian region. Many states, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and others, looked forward to the establishment of the sorely needed project. North Carolina, however, was one jump ahead of the game, for in June, 1963, Governor San ford had initiated just such a program which officially be gan in December of 1963, thereby making North Carolina, the focal point of the National program. Already one state, despite some strong opposition, had begun to act with a plan which should have been initiated years ago. One of the very first areas in North Carolina to take positive action was the Rocky Mount region. Today the product of the action in this area is N.E.E.D. — Nash- Edgeccmbe Economic Development, Inc., of the Nor A Carolina Fund. Once this organization was finally cleared and underway they were given a scant two weeks to draw up a proposal to submit to Washington. Under the able directorship of Captain R. T. (Tim) Brinn the job was carried out in an admirable fashion with the combined efforts of N.E.E.D. and a number of local citizens. The fi nal proposal: ^,615,652. Of this amount the local share is •'^561j565.20; local payment in kind, $507,790; Federal Grant $5,054,086.80. There are also other sources of income. The need for such a program is obvious to anyone who has paused long enough to take an even casual look at the Pocky Mount area. Housing problems are staggering. Em ployment could stand vast improving, as welfare figures can prove, and it goes without saying that the public health situation is in a rotten conditon. Opportunities for voca tional training are virtually non-existent. Even the poor have to all too often the only store is similar to the the left . . . also run poor. eat and grocery one on by the fS' One youngster gnaws a piece of cornbread while his mother watches from behind an old washing machine. LEFT: This woman has another mouth to feed from the ones pictured. We won’t even quote the sum of money her husband makes a week . . . you wouldn’t believe it, anway. UGHT: Two Negro girls pause lonsr enough for photographer to catch shabby clothes and bare feet. This family is more fortunate than some: they have decent clothes and their house con tains more than 4 rooms. This is a fairly large house. The inhabitants are also lucky enough to have shade, and it was rumored that the father possibly made our S85.00 per month. This program has been condemned by some as just another social welfare program which will eventually reach the expensive fate that all other such programs have come to handouts to the poor who will alwavs remain poor. However, I believe that these people overlook (b” choice or ignorance) the manner in which this project is constructed. True, a great deal of monev is beinff poured into his project — it takes a lot of money even to under take such a task. But money is only the means (I should say, part of the means) toward an end which ultimately transcends mcney by returning this invested sum with in terest. If the impoverished are lifted from their miserable (tax-eating) existence into education and jobs, then this knowledge and training will begin to bring money back into the community which first gave them the opportunit-^ to become something better. When this is done we will, indeed, have “made tax-payers out of tax-eaters.” Granted, this is an oversimplification of the problem and the plan, but this is the general structure. Among the many proposed projects of N.E.E.D., some of the more interesting are day care-centers, summer en richment, and vocational education. Day care-centers will care for children of large fami lies in order that the parents (especially the mothers) may be freed to work. The added income from this addition to the local labor force will far exceed the cost of the centers. Summer enrichment will make increased educational, recreational, and cultural resources available to children who would not otherwise receive such benefits. Summer enrichment should lead to scholastic enrichment and there is a dire need for better education. Vocational education will teach people in the Rocky Mount area the skills necessary for working in many of Rocky Mount’s new industries. So one can easily see that some _s(irt of economic reform is badly needed in this area, and I believe N.E.E.D., one of the twelve project area organizations in North Carolina, can, with sound judgment and respon.sible decisions, pro vide at least partial alleviation to this real problem. To those who smell a rat” I shall only ask, “Can you come up with something better?”
North Carolina Wesleyan University Student Newspaper
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May 25, 1965, edition 1
6
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