Poverty continues to be a big problem in the City of Buffalo - and Friday morning local scholars, advocates and government leaders will be learning about the latest strategies for fighting it.
The third annual Buffalo Poverty Research Workshop at the Olmsted Center is sponsored by the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, the University at Buffalo, the Service Learning Coalition and the Partnership for the Public Good.
It's co-director Sam Magavern said the workshop gives advocates an opportunity to learn from each other - and the focus will be on 3-innovative collaborations.
“People in poverty suffer from a lot of additional health problems,” said Magavern. "Finding ways to improve our education, our health care our housing. Those are all important to fight poverty."
The latest poverty data will also be discussed. Magavern said there's some misconceptions about the local poverty rate.
"Buffalo is the third poorest in the country. That’s a result of looking at the city itself. As a metro region, our poverty rate is below the national average," said Magvern. "The City of Buffalo has so much concentrated poverty, which is a big problem, but a different problem."