Erie’s anti-poverty warriors are using data-driven, childhood education-focused tactics to bring Erie county and city’s alarming poverty rates down. But as Georgia Del Freo, Vice President at the Greater Erie Community Action Committee told Joel Natalie on TalkErie.com yesterday, there are certain disincentives built into state and federal poverty programs.
“There are some policies that we have as a state and as a nation that say that if you earn one dollar more, we’re not just going to cut $1, or $10 or $50 from the food stamps that you are receiving, you are going to lose all of them,” Del Freo said.
17 percent of Erie county families and 27 percent of those living in the city of Erie are poor, according to Erie Vital Signs.
