Candidates need to address poverty, affordable housing and homelessness

The future of Asheville’s success will depend largely on how well we can expand opportunity to all children and families and nurture their success. To realize such a vision, our city leadership will need to focus attention on low-income and working families. Too many families are experiencing poverty in Asheville — dramatically increasing their risk for poor health, hunger, reduced productivity and lower educational achievement.

Last week, the Census Bureau released the 2010 American Community Survey showing that 24.1 percent of families with children in Asheville lived in poverty — up from 20.7 percent in the 2009 ACS.

During this election season, issues impacting children and families like poverty, affordable housing and homelessness need to be discussed. Children First/CIS, along with 13 other local nonprofits, posed questions on these and other issues to candidates. The results are online at http://www.childrenfirstbc.org. We invite you to consider their responses as you prepare to vote in the primary election.

— Allison Jordan
Children First/Communities in Schools of Buncombe County
Asheville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Webmaster
Mountain Xpress Webmaster Follow me @MXWebTeam

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

4 thoughts on “Candidates need to address poverty, affordable housing and homelessness

    • bill smith

      It’s true. When FreedomWorks and government combine, it helps keep people poor.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.