PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council last week awarded $4.5 million dollars to kickstart its Poverty Action Plan. The money will go to four organizations that help people get access to financial benefits.
On March 3, 2020, Council president Darrell Clarke announced a five-year plan — what he called a "moonshot" — to lift 100,000 Philadelphians out of poverty. Days later, the COVID-19 pandemic began. It delayed but also reinforced the need for the program.
"We've been talking about it," Clarke said, "it's time to be about it."
Council appropriated $10 million in November to seed a Poverty Action Fund to pay for the plan. The four organizations to receive the funds are the Campaign for Working Families, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the African Cultural Alliance of North America and Diversified Community Services.
The organizations work with low-income residents on services including benefits access, tax preparation and financial counseling, the first set of supports in a plan that anticipates providing housing, education and workforce development help.
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Clarke said the grantees' common thread is their deep roots in the communities they serve.
"Those are organizations in neighborhoods that have significant credibility, that understand who lives around the corner. You can point out an address, that person will know who lives there," he said.
Clarke thinks that's crucial to getting more people to avail themselves of benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which could be bringing $100 million more into the city than it is, if more people took advantage of it.
If successful, the plan will reduce the city's poverty rate by a quarter, taking it from 23% to 17%.