Havre looks this week at 'Bridges Out of Poverty'

The Hill County Health Department is bringing a look at ways to reduce poverty in the county to Havre Tuesday and Wednesday as part of an effort to help young children even before they are born, along with everyone else in the community.

Hill County Lead Public Health Nurse Bridget Kallenberger said a point identified as a major problem in an assessment of maternal, infant and early childhood issues was poverty, and the department applied for a grant to help look at ways to reduce poverty.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the grant, which is paying to bring “Bridges Out of Poverty” to Havre.

The workshop will be held with full sessions each day focusing on professionals, with community members also invited to attend, and a separate evening session aimed at community members in general set for Tuesday evening.

All sessions will be held at Havre High School, with the all-day sessions in the auditorium and the evening session in the library.

The session Tuesday evening runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with registration from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and will cover how the Bridges Out of Poverty program helps prevent poverty, helps people transition out of poverty and helps alleviate suffering of people in poverty.

The two-day all-day session is listed as aiming at community members in general as well as elected officials, members of the criminal justice system and professionals in the fields of health care, education and business. It runs from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. each day, with a lunch break from noon to 1:30 p.m. each day.

Kallenberger said if people wanted to attend but were unable to register in advance for the two-day session, they could show up early Tuesday to register.

Day 1 is titled “Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Communities and Professionals” and Day 2 is titled “Applying Bridges Out of Poverty.”

The workshop is described as teaching a comprehensive approach to understanding the dynamics that cause and maintain poverty from the individual to the systemic level. The program’s goals include helping move individuals from poverty to self-sufficiency; reduce social costs related to crime, poor health, and welfare, and build sustainable communities with low poverty levels.

People can register for the event online at the Havre Public Schools website at http://havre.k12.mt.us by clicking on the “August Institute Training Session” button below the “Welcome” bar.

After filling in their information, people need to scroll down to “General Offerings” and “Bridges Out of Poverty” to click the button to register for the sessions. The Tuesday and Wednesday presentations of the two-day workshop each need to be selected separately.