Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May is disappointed that the $5.1 million handed out by the Escambia Children’s Trust last week didn’t focus on the children living in pockets of poverty. He believes the staff and application review committee tried to spread the money around the county.
“I’ve said this multiple times that it’s very unfortunate that the children in the inner city and the urban core were used on all the propaganda material to get this tax passed,” he said on WCOA. “Overwhelmingly, it was supported by people who are living in these pockets of poverty — 32501, 32053, 32505 — because they had lost hope and they needed an opportunity.”
He continued, “I think that we want to help all children of Escambia County, but we have to be laser focused on designated areas. I certainly think that the emphasis should have been put on those that were utilized to get the tax passed and those who are in the greatest need.”
Inweekly interviewed similar trusts around the state and found the best ones talked about how they trained their application review committees and how they narrowed the scope of requests for proposals to better meet specific needs – Read Not Alone in Growing Pains.
We’ve written about how poverty is impacting our schools – Poor Students, Poor Schools and Forgotten Families in 32505.
Objective data shows were the needs are – ECT: A failure to connect. And we have pilot programs that have worked, and more are needed – More Pilots Needed.
It’s not difficult to understand Commissioner May’s frustration.
