By Andy Marso

Experts in law, medicine, social work and other fields will gather this week at Topeka’s Ramada Inn downtown for a conference that seeks solutions to poverty in Kansas.

The 2015 Kansas Conference on Poverty is coordinated by the Kansas Association of Community Action Programs (KACAP), a group of eight anti-poverty agencies across the state.

Pre-conference activities begin Tuesday and conference sessions are scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, with guest speakers and 42 workshops. Tiffany Jarvis, director of administration and program services for KACAP, said registration slots still are available through the conference’s website.

The cost is $160 to register for the main conference and $50 for pre-conference activities. “We have some awesome speakers coming in from all across the country,” she said. Jarvis highlighted the Wednesday luncheon speech by the Rev. Vivian Nixon, of New York City, who will discuss her organization’s two-generation approach to alleviating poverty.

The Thursday workshops include a session on Medicaid expansion and another on addressing health inequalities by engaging groups like American Indians, Latinos, prisoners and low-income mothers. KACAP will be tweeting about the conference, using the hashtag #2015KCOP.

 

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.