Thursday, March 24, 2016

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is hosting the annual Taking the Pulse on Poverty Conference from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29 in McNeill Hall Auditorium. 

In its fifth year, the event is free and open to the public. The event is being sponsored by the UNCW College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Engagement, Department of Public and International Affairs, Department of Sociology and Criminology and the School of Social Work. This year's conference will focus on transportation issues. Mike Ciriello, Planning Director for Person County, NC, will deliver the keynote address.

“We’d like to get a conversation going about how we can address issues related to transportation and poverty in the greater Wilmington area,” said Jill Waity, assistant professor of sociology at UNCW. Waity, whose research focuses on poverty, food insecurity and spatial inequality, is part of this year’s conference planning committee. “Our goal is to raise awareness of the transportation challenges that low-income Wilmington residents experience and consider how we can solve those challenges.”

The following will participate in a panel discussion of the issues outlined by Waity:

- Albert Eby, Director, Wave Transit Authority

- Laura Padgett, Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Rail Realignment

- Sara Pascal, Interfaith Refugee Ministry - Wilmington

- Susan Silver, Executive Director, Aging in Place Downtown

- Glendora Mullins, Creekwood Community Organizer

The panel discussion will be moderated by Lori Messinger, UNCW Associate Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement.

-- Caroline Cropp

#AA
#CAS