Giving Compass' Take:

• The Marguerite Casey Foundation works to uphold the power of families living in poverty by tapping into essential networks that will help them thrive. 

• How can local organizations work to strengthen networks for more impoverished families? 

• Read about other programs that are utilizing community networks to empower and encourage family development. 

At this unprecedented time of injustice in the United States, what does “power” mean for low-income families? How can a national movement of low-income families effect change to create a more equitable and just society?

Building the power of poor and low-income families to end poverty has been the guiding principle of Marguerite Casey Foundation’s work since 2001.  We envision a society where all families have the opportunity to realize their dreams, and we are dedicated to nurturing a national movement of low-income families advocating on their own behalf—one powerful enough to create solutions to poverty and injustice.

Families do not experience poverty one issue at a time; they may face racial discrimination, unemployment, lack of education opportunities, and hunger simultaneously. To span these multiple issues, we need strategies and networks that unify families, organizations, and communities around collective actions.

The power of networks is especially important as various organizations fighting on behalf of low-income families have overlapping policy priorities, and compete for the same resources and attention in a saturated landscape. The fate of the movement for economic and racial justice depends on our ability to connect across issues and work together.

Our foundation believes that the families closest to poverty are also closest to the solutions. In under-resourced communities, there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between fear-mongering and racial divisiveness, but efforts that embrace the idea of “leading with families” can surmount both.

Read the full article about the power of families by Luz Vega-Marquis at Stanford Social Innovation Review