Positivity and Prosperity in the Pandemic
“Peace if possible, but truth at all costs.” –Martin Luther
Tune in for Food First Michigan on WJR Radio tonight at 9:00 PM to hear from Dr. Phil Knight, Gerry Brisson, president and CEO of Gleaners Community Food Bank, and Kim Trent, Deputy Director for Prosperity with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Kim also serves on the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities as well as the Michigan Food Security Council with our very own, Dr. Phil.
Kim is using her one handful of life and the extraordinary opportunity to shape, mold, and produce her impact on the world. She is a product of her time and chooses to act on the TRUTH! The COVID-19 pandemic has peeled back layers of disparities and put injustices on full display. While tragedy birthed the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, it enabled our state to acknowledge racial disparities and develop strategies to address them. The Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities is seizing the moment to ensure the lessons that we have learned amid the pandemic can lift people up outside the pandemic. To read the full report from the task force, click here https://bit.ly/3f2EJSG
Phil, Gerry, and Kim also delve into a candid conversation about the benefits cliff. 47% of people who seek food assistance have at least household member working one job, if not two or three. Many receiving benefits are AFRAID to say yes to economic mobility because it would make them ineligible to receive much needed assistance, NOT because they do not want to work hard and excel. If benefits recipients make too much their assistance is cut which can mean losing the ability to move onto their next success or to solve a crisis. We MUST address the benefits cliff in a meaningful way and lift people up.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put disparities on center state. Our job is to UNITE and create the personal will that will give us the political will to strip disparity of its power over us and remove its ability that blinds us. We must replace disparity with the light of EQUITY that promotes, provides, and empowers; thus creating access to the fundamental elements of life and guaranteeing they are available to EVERYONE, no matter their zip code.
Find this episode and all past Food First Michigan episodes at foodfirstmi.org, on Apple Podcasts, or iHeartRadio.