Allen County’s first-ever “Poverty Summit” on Thursday drew roughly 40 representatives who work with organizations, agencies or groups that provide charitable services in Allen County.
Attendees heard a number of stories about the trials struggling families face on a daily basis, and how some have tackled those issues.
Organizer Tracy Keagle, founder and president of Iola’s Humanity House program, served as host.
She likened the poverty summit to the G-7 Summit, a gathering of the world’s leading industrialized countries that meet annually to discuss issues regarding the global economy.
“Now, let’s take it down a notch,” Keagle said, referring to Thursday’s assembly as the “A-117 Summit.”
The 117 refers to the number of entities in Allen County that provide some sort of charitable service, she explained.
At the conclusion of the three-hour gathering, Keagle welcomed participants to further network in an effort “to see if there are ways you can collaborate or join partnerships to really make things happen in our community for people who need help.”
KEAGLE included her own testimonial about realizing the plight many face on a daily basis.
Every Christmas, she and her kids would bake dozens of cookies, and then cajole her husband, Willie, to dress up as Santa on Christmas Eve to deliver the sweets to others in town.
“He usually had to be cajoled, harassed, threatened, to get into that suit, every single year,” she recalled. It was only he actually began giving away the cookies that his mood would miraculously lighten.
One year, Keagle expanded her gift-giving to include toys.
Then came the fateful Christmas Eve, she says that changed her life.
As was custom, Keagle had the toys and cookies packed up and ready to go. Willie was donning the suit and hat, bickering all the way.
The first house was at an unfamiliar address.
The Keagles weren’t even sure they were at the right place, she recalled.
“I thought, this can’t be it,” she said. “NO one should be living here. The house had a huge hole in the roof, windows were missing, the door was crooked, and the porch and steps were rotted.”
