From Harrell C. Carter Jr., president Jackson-Madison County NAACP Branch –

The state of Tennessee is withholding significant portions of funds that should be used to help
support the high rate of poverty in Jackson-Madison County families.

In a report from the Beacon Center, the state of Tennessee is withholding 120 million dollars from TANF (temporary assistance for needy families), in a ‘rainy day fund’ that now totals nearly one billion dollars.

The Jackson-Madison NAACP Branch strongly encourage our local state legislators, the Jackson
City Council, the Madison County Commission and the Jackson-Madison County School Board to
pass resolutions in support releasing these funds for new initiatives in housing, transportation,
expanded educational opportunities, etc. so as to allow these families to survive the day.

In recent reports from the Annie E. Casey Foundation on the status of Madison County families
with children in poverty, the just released United Way ‘’ALICE’’ Report detailing the status of a
significant number of our children in need, and our local public education system who reports
a very high population of its students coming from homes in poverty and a continuous flow of
families that are homeless.

The local NAACP would like to partner with all who shares these concerns knowing that it rains every day on poor families in Jackson-Madison County.

(PHOTO: Harrell Carter)