United Way president discusses strategies to reduce poverty in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — Last year, the City of Jackson and United Way worked together to build an anti-poverty task force. Recently, they reported some glaring problems within the community, made worse by the pandemic.

“48% of residents in the City of Jackson are either working poor or actually living in poverty. That’s pretty striking,” said United Way President and CEO Matt Marshall.

But Marshall believes there are some things the community can do to solve it.

“I think we have to take it step by step,” Marshall said. “We can’t do all of it at once.”

There were over a dozen different initiatives in the report. One of them is to create efficient and effective public transportation.

Currently, to ride a Jackson Transit Authority bus, you have to pay cash. You don’t get change, and there’s no bus tracking options.

“The more that we can work to help people have the options they need to get to work and to get to the places they need, the better,” Marshall said.

The report also highlighted the 22 predatory loan services in Jackson, where the average interest rate is 300%.

“When someone goes and gets one of those loans, it often starts this vicious cycle of debt that they’re unable to get out of,” Marshall said.

At city council Tuesday, Marshall suggested they look at regulating these companies. He also asked city council to consider an initiative called “Handle With Care” to help find solutions for families who have children with behavioral concerns.

“So imagine how many children unfortunately go to school and they are trouble, and maybe they act out, but no one knows it was because they encountered something traumatic,” Marshall said.

It’s no secret that the City of Jackson is struggling financially. So, what is the feasibility of getting these projects done?

“I really don’t think it’s as important about how much money we have to spend as much as how we’re spending it,” Marshall said.

Some of the initiatives would need to be passed by city council.

Tuesday, Marshall said the Handle With Care initiative would cost around $60,000.

“We have to be diligent and intelligent and particular about this initiative with what we want to work towards,” Marshall said.

But for now, he asked council members to take a closer look at the report and see how they would want to be involved.

Click here to read the full 2020 Anti-Poverty Task Force report to Jackson City Council.