PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The City of Portsmouth brought in consulting firm Thomas P. Miller and Associates from Indianapolis to brief everyone on a study on the city's poverty.
According to their study, Portsmouth's poverty rate sits at about 18%, which is higher than the national average of about 13.5%.
Hampton Roads, overall, has a 12.3% poverty rate.
"What was important to me is understanding that 66% of the individuals who are in poverty are in positions where they are not workforce eligible," said Darlene Washington, a Portsmouth resident.
Those numbers hit Washington, who was thinking about how the city can help the 16,000-plus people living in poverty. A large number of those are children, according to the study.
"Tackling poverty is multifaceted, all fronts have to be attacked. So, for children, do mom and dad have a living wage job?" said Jenny Hodge, who lives in Portsmouth and is a member of Virginia Organizing.
Identifying the facts and the problems was just one part of it.
The consultant also had recommendations for city council, such as having a task force to focus on the issues.
"This task force was very interesting to me because we've seen the effect of poverty, particularly on children in the Portsmouth schools," said Barbara Edwards, a Portsmouth resident.
"I agree with the presenter about having it focused and getting to the issues and coming out with solutions and recommendations," said Washington.
The presenter said the study involved a lot of public input, as well. Issues the public wanted to see addressed are crime, education and availability of jobs within Portsmouth.
Mayor John Rowe said council will get together to discuss putting together a task force. That date hasn't been set yet.
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