AAASM.ORG
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
Join us in support of
Communities of Hope
Objectives
&
Needs For Assistance
Communities of Hope Target States
We will focus on 20 states with the
highest levels of poverty.  We have
identified the following twenty states:

Mississippi                        21.6%*        
Louisiana                          19.4%
New Mexico                       19.3%
District of Columbia        18.9%
Arkansas                           17.9%
West Virginia                    17.9%
Kentucky                           17.4%
Texas                                16.6%
Alabama                           16.1%
South Carolina                15.7%
Oklahoma                        15.3%
North Carolina                15.2%
Georgia                            14.8%
Tennessee                      14.5%
Idaho                                 14.5%
Montana                            14.2%
Arizona                              14.2%
New York                          14.2%
Oregon                              14.1%
California                          13.2%

The percentage of the states total
population that live in poverty.
EXECUTIVE VOLUNTEER
STAFF

Executive Director
Stacey F. Johnson

Assistant to the
Director
Jyssica P. Tomlin

Secretary
Lorena L. Williams

Treasurer
Jyssica P. Tomlin
Faced with conditions of poverty, individuals are unable to live their lives in the manner that they choose.  These conditions include low
incomes, low levels of education, lack of access to information, lack of political power, and lack of health care.  Living in poverty almost
always leads to unequal social status, social exclusion, dependency, and diminished capacity to participate and to develop meaningful
connections with other people in society.  In the United States in 2006, the poverty rate for minors was the highest in the industrialized
world with 21.9% of all minors and 30% of African American minors living below the poverty threshold. Today, the numbers are even
higher.

The process for community development begins with the understanding that all Americans should be given an equal opportunity to
succeed.  It begins with a common vision of what it takes to produce a well-adjusted self-sustaining community.  A community that is
thriving, safe and capable of providing for the needs of its residents.  A community that is free from crime.  This is a community that
provides for livable wages, safe public transportation, above average public education including after school programs and programs for
special needs.  This community values and endorses the importance of health and health education from cradle to grave.  This
community understands the value of community service and reaching out to people in need.      

It will take innovative thinking and planning to address the problems faced today.  It will take a more honest, concentrated effort to turn
things around.  Status quo will no longer work and has served to increase income, educational and other disparities between the classes
and races that are unprecedented.  

To be equipped to face the challenges of the 21st Century as a Nation, we must empower individuals, children, families and communities
to succeed.  We can no longer rely on the notion that those at the top will create opportunity for those most in need.  We will look at
trigger points or indicators of poverty in communities and put policy in place to facilitate change.
Coming Soon
to
Your Community
...90% of all single parent homes live in poverty,
regardless of race...

Support
Communities of Hope
....low income communities do
not have access to fresh fruits
and vegetables at reasonable
prices....
Communities of Hope
will solve this problem and
help children and seniors eat
and feel better......

Stacey F. Johnson, Executive
Director