Pictured in the top row, from left, are Shawn Yetter, Jane Maas, Georgianna Horvath, Congressman Tom Reed, John Knowlton and Barbara Patten; seated, from left, are Connie Sternberg, Dorothy Richter and Carolyn Palladino.
Congressman Tom Reed visited the Tioga United Way office on Friday, March 18 to meet with the Executive Director, Board of Directors and several non-profit organizations to discuss poverty in Tioga County. Laurie Ellis of Catholic Charities spoke from the heart when she said, “We need to empower and respect those who are struggling” and added that living in poverty is an exhausting way of life.
Barbara Patten of Franziska Racker Centers said we should aim for early intervention and shouldn’t wait until the child is entering the school system; we should be addressing their needs at the earliest possible opportunity. Kermit Bossard of Spencer Van Etten Community Food Cupboard, added we need to help those not only for a month but by putting a plan together for their long term needs once their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter are addressed.
Georgianna Horvath, of Literacy Volunteers, added that one way to help residents is to improve their ability to read and write, perform basic math functions, and to use computers. She added the functional illiteracy rate in Tioga County is approximately 14 percent, with nine to ten percent of residents over the age of 25 not having a high school diploma.
Shawn Yetter, commissioner of Social Services for Tioga County, noted that the Tioga Workforce program assists job seekers to gain a skill and/or trade, and to prepare for, find and keep jobs and has had much success.
Dorothy Richter of the Community Care Network of Nichols acknowledged that jobs and programs are all excellent ways of assisting our residents, however, she pointed out that without transportation, the residents cannot get to the literacy classes, skills training, medical appointments, social services, etc. She added that we must not forget about our county’s senior citizens. They are sometimes difficult to find but they are the ones who are often willing to volunteer to help others once they’ve been helped themselves.
Congressman Reed listened carefully and shared a few anecdotal stories. As the youngest of 12 children and the son of an Army officer, he could sympathize with the challenges of the Tioga County residents. Congressman Reed is currently working with Speaker Paul Ryan on reforming the Welfare System in America and wanted to learn more about the obstacles, successes, solutions, and ideas that he could take back to Washington. He noted that many folks in Washington don’t truly understand that rural upstate New York faces different challenges than New York City and he’s planning to bring several other legislators to take a tour of our area.
In attendance at the visit were Alycia Anthony, Kermit Bossard, Christina Brown, Nancy Eckstrom, Laurie Ellis, Andrew Hafer, Georgianna Horvath, John Knowlton, Jane Maas, Sister Mary O’Brien, Carolyn Palladino, Barbara Patten, Dorothy Richter, Marte Sauerbrey, Connie Sternberg, Linda Wintermute, Shawn Yetter and Zoe Ann Zielinski.
