Morning Sentinel
Workshops target poverty in rural Maine
By DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Wednesday, July 18, 2007

FAIRFIELD -- Between the years 2000 and 2005, the state of Maine saw the largest percentage increase in rural child poverty of any state in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

More than a half million people live in rural Maine and an estimated 12 percent of those rural households live below the poverty line.

Twenty-two percent of rural Maine children under 18 live in poverty.

In an attempt to reverse those troubling trends, John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, has scheduled public meetings to discuss how community colleges can help strengthen the state's rural economy.

The meetings are set to run in all 16 counties throughout the summer and into the fall, according to a release from Fitzsimmons' office.

"The goal is to learn from local leaders about the workforce and educational challenges of their region and to identify ways in which the state's seven community colleges can play a greater role in helping to address those challenges," Fitzsimmons said.

Fitzsimmons will travel to more than 15 cities and towns to meet with focus groups of local business and community leaders, according to the release.

The meetings are to begin Thursday in Dover-Foxcroft. Fitzsimmons will travel to Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield for a focus group meeting in August.

"Steady job losses in traditional manufacturing and natural resource based industries have contributed to poverty and unemployment in many rural areas of the state," Fitzsimmons said. "The economic and educational gaps between our urban and rural communities are deeply troubling.

"Without focused intervention they are likely to continue to grow. We need to explore how Maine's community colleges, working in partnership with local businesses and communities, can do more to strengthen and sustain rural areas of Maine."

Maine's community colleges are uniquely situated to help address some of the major workforce challenges confronting rural parts of the state, Fitzsimmons said.

The seven colleges and their nine off-campus centers are located within 25 miles of 92 percent of Maine's population. Programs of study are the most affordable in the state and both credit and non-credit offerings are focused on creating a skilled labor force that is responsive to the changing needs of the Maine economy, according to the release.

Over the course of the summer and fall, Fitzsimmons will hold meetings in all 16 Maine counties.

By late fall, he intends to issue a report that summarizes findings from the meetings and details recommendations on how to move forward.

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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CAL of WATERVILLE, ME
Jul 18, 2007 4:52 PM
as a land lord i have had a section 8 occupants
i had to go to the houinseing authorty to sign paper work and i read a sign earn extra income see back wall it stated call see if you can get addt income from food stamps no joke that what the sign stated in maine it is a choice for most to live of the system welfare is a choice for some they look at working people as suckers why go to work for little when you can stay at home the ave welfare house hold makes 40k thats more than i do working 40hrs a week i think there i am a sucker for working report abuse
Colleen Kinney of york, SC
Jul 18, 2007 11:34 AM
yet there are families living in poverty in Maine and their children do NOT even realize that. Go figure.

Their are also many in Maine that can not help it. Due to their limits and disabilities, they are in fact unable to go get that cash paying job, or they are the SMARTER ones that will NOT lie to the system to better themselves, like so many do! For those tht do lie and cheat the system, god knows the rest sure hope and pray one day you will be caught, you sure deserve to be.report abuse
Stinky of Benton, ME
Jul 18, 2007 9:14 AM
There are plenty of "cash" paying jobs OR seasonal work in Maine, combined with welfare - you can live high-off-the-hog.

Poverty is a "choice" in Maine!

Most people living poverty in Maine are LAZY.report abuse
Bryan of Bangor, ME
Jul 18, 2007 8:34 AM
Yet another indication of the economic state, of maine
report abuse

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