The city of Greensboro is bringing together mayors from across the state to come up with ideas and solutions to reduce poverty in their communities. The Wednesday event is the first of what will be quarterly meetings addressing the issue.
This summer, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Charlotte was included in a list that cities do not want to make The Brookings Institution named them in the top 10 of its list of the 15 U.S. cities where poverty is growing fastest.
Greensboro mayor Nancy Vaughan says the summit will look at several aspects of the growing problem.
“It's hard to bring businesses in our state when we are on these lists that we don't want to be on.” says Vaughan. “If people aren't convinced to do this from a moral perspective because we owe it to our citizens, then they should do it from a business perspective.”
Vaughan says for years Greensboro has been struggling with huge economic disparities between the city's West and East End. Other cities in the state have their own problems, so she hopes this summit will bring people together to generate new ideas. Vaughan says this will not be a one and done meeting. “We are going to travel to the other cities and continue these discussions," according to Vaughn. "I also believe that there is power in numbers. When you have the urban core that has the same issues, we can go to the legislature and demand that they take a look at this issue as well."
The agenda includes an overview of the Brookings Institution study and discussions by the mayors of Durham and Winston-Salem about their current poverty initiatives.
Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news
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