GIVE LOW-INCOME ENTREPRENEURS A FAIR SHOT!

Hello ROBI Supporters!

It's RW Jones here with some important news that I think you should be aware of.  Programs like the Resident Owned Business Incubator (ROBI) funded by local workforce programs are typically funded by the Department of Labor through the Workforce Innovation & Opportunities Act (WIOA).  

WIOA is landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation's public workforce system and help get Americans, including youth and those with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.

Entrepreneurship is an allowable activity in the WIOA legislation, unfortunately, it is not fully supported as a pathway out of poverty by many local cities and states.

Here is where it gets interesting.  Low-income families are forced to bear huge administrative burdens such as taking 4-hour exams, commuting to offices to complete redundant paperwork, and submitting personal identifying information for each program that they desire to join.

This redundant process has left families depleted of hope, and opportunities.  Even after training, they are left in the same position simply because the programs are not effectively meeting the plethora of needs, they face daily.

Low-income families are looking for another way.  Another way to access real opportunities without burdens.

When we say we believe that all Americans are created equal and possessed of inalienable rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and to justice under the law.  Yet the entitlements provided to people living at or below poverty are structured to keep them poor while entitlements offered to wealthier Americans and corporations assist in wealth creation and enhanced prosperity.  It is this very element that keeps families from accessing opportunities that build wealth. 

Corporations and Individuals with great wealth can access programs that aid them in their prosperity without administrative burdens and or barriers.  However low-income people are put to tasks at every point, with every program that claims to help.  This further leaves families feeling helpless and defeated.

So we are currently contracted to provide training to families who want the program with evidence of them completing our applications and assessment.  However, what has now become something we cannot control or manage is how they engage with these bureaucratic systems. 

Something has changed and shifted!  Low-income families are telling us what they need.  We hope that those with the power of the pen are listening. 

In Great Expectations

Links:

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

Hello and Thank you for your generous support of under-resourced entrepreneurs.  As we continue the fight for economic justice through the support and enforcement of laws like Section 3 (24 CFR 75), it is important to know that we have the power to end poverty in America!

African-American communities at large are not poor because they do not have the intellect, ability, or desire to be self-sufficient.  Nor is it because they lack the commitment to better their lives and the lives of their children.  

It's Racism and Systemic Discrimination that deepens the economic divide.  It's a deliberate and practiced attempt to lock out, hinder, and create barriers for entrepreneurs like me, and like those we serve.  

With Trillions of dollars appropriated through the current administration's America's Rescue Plan, under-resourced entrepreneurs have not seen and will never see a dime of this money.  It pains my heart to know that a heavenly creator blessed all men with gifts and abilities to prosper, yet there are those who go to extremes to continue this disgraceful behavior!

Section 3 is one of the most powerful tools ever created for low-income individuals.  It basically states that where HUD financial assistance (specific funding) is used, to the greatest extent, Employment, Training, Contracting, and other Economic Opportunities are to be afforded to low-income residents, specifically those who receive housing subsidies.  

Section 3 triggers more than $18.9 Billion every year, which equates to more than $16 million in weekly wages for low-income families.  This law is given to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to enforce.  This is grossly neglected.  

If the Section 3 law were enforced, our under-resourced entrepreneurs would have ample opportunities to build powerful lives through the pathway of entrepreneurship. 

If we can bring a man to the moon, certainly we can bring economic opportunities into the hands of low-income individuals.  It's NOT Rocket Science ladies and gentlemen!  It's Love!

And Charles Darwin said it best so many years ago, If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.

As we continue to fight the good fight of faith, we thank you for your continued support, your heart of compassion, and your prayers.