Approximately 150 community members participated in a day-long conference on Saturday, March 19, as Dr. Donna Beegle, an authentic voice who speaks, writes and trains across the nation to break the iron cage of poverty, captivated the audience at St. John’s Lutheran Church, in Chehalis.
Sponsors of the event included United Way of Lewis County, WSECU, Centralia First United Methodist Church, St. Timothy Episcopal Church, Eastern Lewis County Hospital Foundation, Katrina Boedecker- Arbitrator, Twin Cities Sertoma, and St. John’s Lutheran Church.
The conference laid the foundation for understanding what it means to live in poverty in the United States and strategies to help people break through the “iron cage” and move forward. As Dr. Beegle states, “poverty is resolvable", however, making a difference for people who live in the crisis of poverty requires a paradigm shift; a shift that moves us beyond stereotypes and judgment to a deeper understanding of the causes of poverty and its impact on human beings.
With this awareness, we can work together to provide genuine opportunities for people to move out of poverty.” Saturday’s conference is the first step to creating an “Opportunity Community”. Stay tuned for more information as opportunities will be available for community members to be involved in the next steps.