SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
Some of us go from day to day never realizing that one problem exists in our own backyard, our neighborhood, our church.
That problem is poverty.
Thursday, communication among local agencies and church groups to try and tackle it.
"When people knock on that church door or knock on that agency's door, they're not coming because they have nothing better to do. They're in a desperate situation," said Joe Young, program director for community development.
Churches, agencies, and government officials agree that while they're trying their best to combat the problem of poverty, something's blocking their final goal: lack of communication.
The reason that leaders of the Micah Project are conducting an open discussion.
"We hope to bring other partners to the table, to help fill in those gaps, to partner with them to more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of those in poverty," said Reverend Patricia Johnson, Micah Project Director.
While each agency, and church group, is doing what it can to help the impoverished, that help only goes so far.
Money is being stretched thin, so one group won't necessarily provide all the help someone needs.
"Most of the people who have these issues, don't just have one problem that they're dealing with. There's often underlying issues that need to be addressed," said Amy Hennies, assistant coordinator for Boys Town of Iowa In home Services.
Some possible solutions, provide a one-stop shop for organizations to see which agencies and church groups are out there.
"Everybody is so into social networking, and with people's schedules being so busy, not being able to make meetings and missing information, it might be a good idea to have a central place to put that," said Sandi O'Brien, Senator Harkin's Office.
"We just need to know who they are and what services they're providing," said Alaire Willits, program coordinator at First Congregational United Church of Christ.
But, one person we talked with says it all depends on discovering one simple truth.
"We need to as individuals of this community, take it upon ourselves find out, it's a much better issue than we realize," said Willits.
Local agencies and church groups to try and tackle the problem of poverty.
