Welcome


Voices for Action is a statewide effort to reduce poverty 50% in Michigan by 2020.

Led by the Michigan Department of Human Services, the initiative has created a network of organizations including human service organizations, government agencies, local faith-based and community organizations, non-profits, and businesses.


This space is for you to share your Voices for Action stories and current information. There are three ways to share.

- Submit a post via email to: voices4action3@haltpoverty.org and we'll post it for you, be sure to include contact info

- Submit a post through blogger: Google account required; request author invite by sending an email with
name & organization information to: voices4action3@haltpoverty.org

- Comment on published posts, no login required

You can use tags to highlight themes, such as 'asset building', 'workforce development', 'food assistance', etc.


Here are current poverty statistics for Region 3:

2009 Poverty and Median Income Estimates - Counties
Name Poverty Estimate All Ages Poverty Percent All Ages Poverty Estimate Under Age 18 Poverty Percent Under Age 18 Median Household Income
Ionia 8,952 15.8 3,068 20.7 46,926
Kent 86,639 14.5 31,431 20.3 47,684
Lake 2,455 23.4 830 42.5 29,373
Mason 5,024 17.8 1,569 26.4 38,073
Mecosta 8,053 20.9 2,107 26.2 37,840
Montcalm 11,868 19.9 4,264 29.1 38,143
Muskegon 31,179 18.6 10,542 25.2 38,916
Newaygo 8,900 18.6 3,210 26.7 39,059
Oceana 5,569 20.6 2,271 33.7 37,655
Osceola 4,268 19.1 1,529 28.7 34,823
Ottawa 26,051 10.3 7,295 10.9 52,107






Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Estimates Branch
Internet Release date: December 2010



Region 3 Poverty Data by County Map


View Michigan Counties - Region 3 Poverty in a larger map

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Road to Prosperity Wants Your Stories

Half in Ten Logo

The Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half in Ten Years

Half in Ten and CHN release the Road to Shared Prosperity story map


The Half in Ten campaign and the Coalition on Human Needs are thrilled to announce the release of the Road to Shared Prosperity, an interactive map displaying a collection of personal stories about programs building the American Dream. At a time when human-needs programs like Medicaid, food stamps/SNAP, and numerous others are facing the threat of extreme budget cuts, it is critical to show how such programs make a difference in the lives of real families, communities, and the economy. Designed to be a rich resource for the public, all stories contained in the map are paired with data on a state’s social and economic situation to show that this is about more than one person’s struggle or one family’s encounter with the safety net, but rather systemic issues that federal programs are successfully addressing.
Visit our resources for advocates page to learn best practices for leveraging the map’s contents for advocacy. We urge you to include stories and data from the Road to Shared Prosperity into your correspondence with members of Congress, in opinion editorials, and in social media campaigns.
Half in Ten and the Coalition on Human Needs are seeking additional stories to add to the map, which will be updated regularly. We welcome short video clips and written stories from service providers, beneficiaries, community leaders, business owners, and others who can speak to the value of federal programs that build prosperity and increase opportunity for all Americans. If you’d like to add your story to the Road to Shared Prosperity, click here.
We hope that this map will prove to be a useful resource in your advocacy around the budget debate. With your help we can pave the road to shared prosperity for all Americans.