CALHOUN AND 28 WV COUNTIES TAPPED FOR USDA POVERTY AID

(01/18/2014)

Calhoun and its' six adjacent counties are among twenty-nine West Virginia counties that have been added to a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative targeting persistent poverty in rural America. Of the 703 U.S. counties with poverty rates above 20 percent, 537 are found in rural areas, according to a survey by the USDA's Economic Research Service. "There's a significant rural component to poverty in America," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "The average wage-earner in a rural county makes $6,500 a year less than an urban worker. People in many rural areas feel disconnected from the rest of America and left out. We decided it was time to address this feeling," Vilsack said. The USDA antipoverty program StrikeForce, matches federal funds with local projects and their sponsoring organizations. The problem with several of West Virginia's poorest counties, coming up with matching money for projects. Last year, the program financed, among other things, more than $9 million in micro-loans to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, and $68 million for community buildings in StrikeForce areas. Since 2010, the StrikeForce program has partnered with more than 400 community organizations, businesses, foundations and universities to provide funds and technical expertise for more than 80,000 projects, channeling $9.7 billion in investments into rural America. Projects StrkeForce has been involved with financing summer feeding programs for rural schools and building tribal administration offices for American Indians to providing farmers with funds for seasonal greenhouses and providing loans for rural housing. The number of states served by the StrikeForce program is now 20. In coming months, a StrikeForce team will travel to West Virginia to begin identifying projects that could benefit from the program. The West Virginia counties in which the program will operate are Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Hampshire, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mason, Mercer, Mingo, Nicholas, Pleasants, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wirt and Wyoming.

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