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ACTION UPDATE Editor .-ACTION November 14,1980 & update.. Brown Addresses Minority Media Group / President of the Capital Press Club. Dwight Ellis and ACTION Director Sam Brown chat with press club members. 4 Page 2 ACTION/PC Awareness in Minority Communities Discussed n an effort to increase ACTION and Peace culty of recruiting minorities into Peace Corps, ICorps awareness in the black media, mem- they account for slightly less than seven percent of bers of the Capital Press Club were invited to the volunteer force. "That's part of what we are ACTION headquarters for an informal meeting and trying to do here today," he said, "to increase the question-and-answer session with Director Sam visibility of ACTION and Peace Corps in minority Brown. communities through people like yourselves." The Capital Press Club is the nation's oldest and In terms of staff, Brown said that the representa- largest predominately black organization of media tion of minorities and women is high at the upper professionals. Founded in 1944, its members work levels of the agency, as well as in the lower grades, on newspapers, wire services, magazines, radio, TV, "but in the middle levels, I believe we do not have films, public relations, information and in related enough blacks, Hispanics or Asian Americans. This areas. has to do a great deal with federal hiring practices- Sam Brown made a presentation of all ACTION the federal register and the Civil Service System." programs and the Peace Corps. He spoke of the re- Dwight Ellis, president of the Press Club, and emphasis on capacity-building through self-help also vice-president for Minorities and Special Ser- opportunities. "Although the war on poverty be- vices at the National Association of Broadcasters in gan with a focus on self-help," said Brown, "the Washington, D.C., inquired as to the increase in the intervening years seemed to concentrate on 'service number of 8A (minority) contracts over the years. to the poor.' That's not what we're all about, nor He was told that these contracts have been increas- should we be. In order to instill a sense of pride ed by 80 percent over the last three years, and and value into poor communties, volunteers are "this is a record we can all be proud of." now providing a supportive environment for self- Several participants stated that there has not reliance." been enough media coverage of ACTION/PC in Brown emphasized that the philosphopy of minority communities. Brown agreed and asked for working with, rather than for was true of Peace their assistance in accomplishing this. "We have en- Corps as well as VISTA and the Older American larged our press release mailing list to minority Programs. publications, and continue to include minorities in Delores Davis of the National Black Caucus on PSA radio and TV spots as well as in recruiting the Aged, asked about ACTION'S affirmative brochures. But, as I said earlier, it's not an accident action policy, and was told by Brown that in terms that you are here today. We need the help of the of volunteers, VISTA has a 30 percent representa- minority media to get the word out." tion of minorities. However, because of the diffi- - COPE Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Employees and family members of employees wishing assistance in resolving personal, fami- ly, social, legal, financial, drug and alcohol abuse problems may obtain confidential help by calling : COPE Counseling Center 484-7400 t f 1980-1990: UoNo Water Decade Safe drinking water/ sanitation is decade's goal events, U.N. representatives in each developing iseases related to unsanitary water supplies country are beginning the decade by forming D are responsible for 80 percent of the illnesses National Action Committees which focus on such in the world today and 50 percent of the deaths activities as health education, community partici- of infants and children. Hundreds of millions of pation and training of mid-level technicians. people suffer from a number of such diseases - Various groups -- financial institutions, non-govern- gastroenteritis, malaria and others. ment organizations, schools and colleges, business, Over half the people in the developing world industrial and community groups, and the media have no access to a safe, adequate water supply. An are participating. even greater percentage lacks adequate sanitation U.N. representatives are also forming support facilities. The tragedy is that much of the techno- teams, bringing together technical experts from - -. logy and know-how for safe, sufficient water and various U.N. agencies to help countries identify sanitation is relatively simple and inexpensive. and establish decade programs and projects. In response to this situation - which takes an ' "The most important thing Peace Corps has to enormous toll in the energy and work capacity of offer the Water Decade is the articulation of what the world's people - the United Nations Confer- we have learned from 20 years of experience in ence on Human Settlements, in 1976 suggested an grass roots development," Hafner says. "That is International Drinking Water Supply and Sanita- that sanitation and water supply problems are tion Decade with the goal of safe drinking water complex and closely related to other development and adequate sanitation to all the people of the problems." world by 1990. This decade was endorsed by the In response to the Water Decade, Peace Corps is United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata, developing skill training which involves health edu- Argentina in 1977 and the World Health Organiza- cation, community organization, and the building tion/ United Nations Children's Fund (WHO/ and designing of appropriate water and sanitation UNICEF) International Conference on Primary facilities. '-Effective community participation is Health Care, held two years ago in the Soviet essential if water and sanitation projects are to be Union. maintained and have an enduring usefulness," The decade was officially launched on Novem- I-Iafner says. ber 10, 1980 with a special day-long session of the Peace Corps will stress intra-and inter-regional U.N. General Assembly. Speakers included U.N. networking through increased collaborative efforts Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and the Execu- with other developing agencies, including the tive Heads of the United Nations Development Pro- Agency for International Development, UNICEF, gramme (UNDP), the International Development the World Bank and private voluntary agencies, Coqperation Agency, WHO and UNICEF. Member "all of which have considerable experience in the state representatives addressed the assembly on de- field o'f water and sanitation." cade goals and national and international plans, An example of this kind of effort is the assign- and the decade theme film, "Journey for Survival," ment of PCVs to a latrine construction/health edu- was shown. cation project in Oman, designed by WHO in re- According to Craig Hafner, water and sanitation sponse to the Water Decade. "It is the sort of team- ' specialist in Peace Corps' Office of Program and work we'll need," Hafner says, "if the goals of the Training Coordination, who attended the U.N. Water Decade are to be achieved." Page 4 -'T Credit Union Begun by VISTAS Receives Loan WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Eastern Suffolk "Ont: big reason why limited income people stay Rural Development Credit Union, started and sup- poor is that, without their own banking facility, ported by VISTA volunteers in Riverhead, N.Y., they have no way to trap the dollars that flow is one of 33 low-income community development through their community and use them for their credit unions across the country chosen by the own development," explains Johnson. "When they National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and put their money in a regular bank, it can go to the Community Services Administration (CSA) to Westhampton to build castles on the beach. receive a $200,000 five-year, low-interest loan "They need an economic structure to conserve from CSA and technical assistance from NCUA. their dollars and recirculate them back into the About 200 out of approximately 650 low-in- community in the form of loans for housing and come community credit unions in the United small business development," he continues. States applied for the loans, which are being a- "Limited income people also need special services warded on the basis of their response to the needs to survive and make the most out of their dollar." and development of low-income people in their The credit union provides financial counseling, comn~unities as well as their financial stability. senior citizens' tax assistance and a debt interven- The Eastern Suffolk Rural Development Credit tion service which extends low-interest loans to Union was established with the help of VISTA vol- cover outstanding debts and attempts to negotiate unteers in 1974 by a group of former migrant reasonable terms with creditors. The credit union farmworkers who had settled in the area. In the also helps people obtain food stamps. past six years it has grown from 13 to 1,000 mem- Last year, according to Johnson, the credit bers. union was able to funnel $360,000 back into the "VISTA volunteers developed the credit union community for its growth and development. from chartering to break-even point this year. The "People didn't have to go begging for money from only support we have ever had has come from loan sharks and financial companies which prey VISTA," says Van Dyke Johnson, president of on victims of poverty. Moreover, they saved plenty the Long Island credit union. "Most of the volun- by not having to shell out high interest payments teers have been former migrants themselves and on their loans," he notes. part of the community. Unlike regular paid em- "Having their own credit union fosters together- ployees, they are not 9 to S'ers.
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