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29 <br /> II . DEEPER INVESTMENTS IN ENDING HUNGER <br /> There needs to be a focus on longer term changes not just immediate-needs <br /> based services. <br /> "A lot of these people, they will find food and they will find housing, but they can never <br /> get ahead, you know, uh, because they had never be able to afford to live here. They're <br /> stuck in that area." <br /> Recommended Actions.- <br /> Experts <br /> ctions:Experts recommend focusing on reducing poverty, not just direct service pro- <br /> grams that meet immediate needs. The County needs to invest significant fund- <br /> ing in longer term supports that enable people to change their economic status <br /> over time. <br /> Economic programs that serve as stepping stones and enable a clear pathway <br /> to a sustainable economic status for households and individuals are essential. <br /> "There's a saying that I learned back in school, if you feed a man a fish he'll eat for one <br /> day, if you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime...The reason why I'm here is <br /> because yeah, I know there's money and there's a lot of money. Thankfully, we live in <br /> a very wealthy area... They pay high taxes for their multimillion dollar homes, and then <br /> you walk like a streetlight and then you're in the lower income housing and whatnot. So <br /> the money is there, but I feel like we also need to find ways to help our community help <br /> themselves because we can't just continue to provide, for example, the groceries we're <br /> providing. The grocery money is there. The families are thankful they're feeding their <br /> families, their children, but is that really helping in the long run? What if they continue to <br /> need this help? They don't have a way to feed their own household." <br /> Recommended Actions.- <br /> Community <br /> ctions:Community Experts recommend creating economic support programs that en- <br /> able someone to advance in their profession/employment and make existing <br /> incentive programs more accessible and with better wrap-around supports. <br /> Support programs could pay for specific educational or certification programs, <br /> provide gas vouchers, expand free wifi/internet access, and provide child- <br /> care programs or subsidies. There are community members and families falling <br /> through the cracks because they may not be eligible for certain federally funded <br /> programs but are still struggling to find stable housing, good employment op- <br /> tions, and be able to afford food. We cannot let people fall through these cracks. <br /> 14 <br />