A Minnesota Without Poverty to Host Statewide Gathering

A Minnesota Without Poverty issued a call to artists—painters, writers, photographers, dancers, and others—to submit their depictions of “enough.” Artists have until next spring to submit their works. Questions to prompt artists’ creativity include:

• What does enough look like?
• What does enough sound like?
• What does enough feel like?
• How do we experience enough?
• How do we know when we have enough?
• Is there enough for all?

Early submissions will be featured at the Minnesota Without Poverty statewide gathering December 9 as a report on Minnesota’s poverty status. The theme of that gathering will be “Enough—for All.”

Elsewhere, the Affirmative Options Coalition is urging its members to call on our state’s senators to extend emergency TANF funding for another year. One of our senators signed on to a letter to senate leadership urging action on TANF funding. We’ve also encouraged employers participating in the jobs program funded with emergency TANF money to sign on to a national letter. And frontline employment counselors are contacting senators’ offices letting them know what the money means. Finally, we’ve reached out to allies in the homeless community asking them to submit their own messages about how the emergency funds have funded homeless prevention efforts in Minnesota, which are desperately needed during this recession.