Dear Friend:

What comes to mind when you hear the word “poverty?” Do you picture a single mom, trying to pay the bills, feed the kids and get ahead on a minimum wage job? Do you picture a suburban couple where the main breadwinner has lost their job and health insurance and has now run out of savings to pay for their spouse’s medical treatment? Or do you picture a child who, through no fault of her own, is hungry every day and has to play inside because her neighborhood is not safe?

Any of these images could serve as a face of poverty.  Consider the following:

• While poverty in Monroe County is concentrated in the City of Rochester, 45% of the county’s poor residents live in the suburbs.  
• For every unemployed person living in poverty, there are TWO working people living in poverty.

With a difficult economy and government resources stretched beyond their limits, Action for a Better Community (ABC) offers an effective response to the challenge of epidemic poverty rates.

• ABC’s Head Start/Early Head Start programs help 1,500 children make world-class developmental gains each year.
• ABC’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program provides peer support for families working their way to better jobs and better futures.
• ABC’s Milestones Program helps at-risk youth develop positive plans to stay off the streets and to give back to their community.
• The Rochester Initiative for Structural Equality (RISE) – founded by ABC – brings community stakeholders together to address policies and practices that limit opportunity for people of color.

In short, Action for a Better Community is Community ACTION – your local organization focusing our community’s anti-poverty efforts for 47 years. When you become a “Friend of ABC,” you help support programs that change lives and build a community that works for everyone.

Giving is easy.  Click ‘Donate Now’ to send us your gift. If writing a check, you can mail your contribution to the Foundation at P.O. Box 31023, Rochester, NY  14603. You can also donate to ABC through your participation in the United Way campaign (Donor # 2002), and don’t forget to mark December 12, 2012 on your calendar for ‘Roc the Day.’ On that date, logon to www.roctheday.org  and for a 24-hour period you can easily direct your support to ABC.  Please call us at 295-1828, if you would like to talk about planned giving. 

A better community begins with you –and it’s as simple as ABC.  Thank you for considering making your 100% tax-deductable gift to the Friends of ABC Campaign.

Sincerely,

Emerson U. Fullwood, Chair                                                       James H. Norman, President & CEO       

Friends of ABC Campaign 2011                                                 Action for a Better Community,Inc.