Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will turn his attention to poverty this month during an appearance in Inez.
Huckabee is the scheduled keynote at an event dubbed “Dream! Martin County,” which organizers say will chart a new path forward on the issue. This year marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s declaration of a War on Poverty.
The one-time presidential contender addressed the initiative at the Republican National Committee Winter Meeting in January.
"Today more people are impoverished than there were when we started the War on Poverty. I'd say the War on Poverty isn't going very well," he told the audience.
Huckabee is likely to encounter some resistance on that point.
Defenders of the initiative note U.S. Census Bureau numbers that show a four percent drop in poverty since 1964. Community Action Council executive director Malcolm Ratchford spoke at a War on Poverty anniversary ceremony at the Capitol in February.
"I can tell stories of folks who have survived, life in itself, to be able to live. We see folks who haven't had shelter. Their home is on the streets. Some of those folks have been housed," he told WUKY.
The Dream! Martin County event is expected to focus on private and faith-based efforts to alleviate poverty.
It will be held on April 25.
