College-based program aids struggling students
Written by MaryLynn Schiavi, For NJ Press Media
If there is a silver lining to the economic downturn of the last four years, it may be that long-held stereotypes about poverty have been shattered. A new understanding about the plight of the working poor is emerging — especially for those who are making a fraction of what they were earning four years ago.
Now more than ever there is a growing awareness that almost anyone can slip into poverty despite levels of education or work experience, according to over a dozen students who spoke candidly about their lives and their hopes and fears at the “Voices of Poverty” conference conducted at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg.
The students, who range from teens to middle age, have taken part in a new program called the College Community Empowerment Project that is a collaborative initiative of Norwescap, the United Way of Northern New Jersey, Somerset County and the college.
The program has two components. It consists of a semesterlong college course called “Poverty and Society,” taught by Alicia Liss, and The College Community Empowerment Project — Student Alliance that offers students much needed support from one another and members of the community.
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