The statistics regarding poverty in Syracuse are alarming. Syracuse, NY ranks 13th in the nation in poverty – 47% of Syracuse children live in poverty, and over 41,000 of our neighbors fall below the federal poverty line. The numbers are rising.
City Limits is year-long multi-platform civic engagement project produced by WAER Public Media that examines and explores poverty in Syracuse. It’s a mix of journalism, storytelling and community convening designed to spark a community-wide dialogue between individuals, organizations, and community constituencies. Each episode of this podcast project will challenge assumptions about poverty and highlight one of the many poverty-related issues ranging from food insecurity to economic development to affordable housing and more.
Each episode is an intimate look at how poverty in our community affects all of us. This project is meant to give voice to the voiceless, highlight efforts to eliminate poverty and provide an ongoing conversation so that our friends and neighbors are not forgotten. To date, 21 episodes have been produced including round-table discussions with agencies, educators and elected officials. In addition to the produced content, a resource map listing service and resource organizations and agencies are listed for community information. A quiz testing users assumptions about poverty is also included as an interactive, educational tool.
As a companion to the produced podcast episodes, individual stories are edited for radio use and hour-long round-table discussions are produced for deeper dives into specific issues. So far round-tables have focused on poverty in general, poverty and legal services and poverty’s impact on education.