A former assistant to the Alabama governor and grandson to Justice Hugo Black may be running for the position of state treasurer.Stephen Black, director of UA's Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility and president/founder of Impact Alabama, has always been fascinated with government and public policy. Black's dedication to making a difference is part of what drove him to serve as assistant to the governor.
During his time as an assistant, Black researched policy issues and worked on economic development projects.
Black said the root of the biggest problems facing Alabama's children are in the way Alabamians are taxed and in the funding of education. As state treasurer, Black could address many of the economic issues facing Alabama residents.
In the meantime, Black is focusing much of his energy on his service learning non-profit organization, Impact Alabama.
Impact Alabama has implemented three initiatives: Focusfirst, Speakfirst and Savefirst. All of which are dedicated to improving the lives of Alabama residents, especially children.
FocusFirst addresses vision care needs for children who don't have health care. As a result, a vast majority of four year olds are not getting vision screenings. Through the FocusFirst initiative millions of Alabama children have beeen screened and have received follow up treatment if needed.
SpeakFirst has formed a debate team for students in lower income schools and provides them with the training and experience to compete in debates. SpeakFirst just had it's first debate team graduate from high school this past year.
SaveFirst focuses on tax preparation for Alabama families who fall below the poverty line and are not receiving many of their benefits due to shady tax preparers who are overcharging and frauding these families. Although Black said all of the initiatives are important, SaveFirst could be the most important one.
With the "Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" conference coming up on Wednesday, many of Alabama's leading organizations advocating to solve issues facing our children, are preparing to present. The conference will feature speakers, including Black and various other speakers from organizations in Tuscaloosa and around the state on the future of Alabama's children.
Brenda Truelove, coordinator for CHEER UP, will be speaking at this year's conference about the goals and missions of her organization.
"CHEER UP's mission is to assist our community members who may be suffering the effects of our local community's economic situation with specific knowledge of how to access support services," Truelove said.
Truelove says there are several specific areas of need they are targeting including food assistance information, how to apply for unemployment compensations, training/educational options and financial aid assistance among others.
"CHEER UP's role at the conference is simply to make those in attendance aware of our mission and pass out informational data base forms for support agencies," Truelove said. "We will introduce key CHEER UP team members, give faces to names and let them know how to contact us."
This year's conference begins at 8 a.m. on February 4 at the Bryant Conference Center.
Black said the root of the biggest problems facing Alabama's children are in the way Alabamians are taxed and in the funding of education. As state treasurer, Black could address many of the economic issues facing Alabama residents.
In the meantime, Black is focusing much of his energy on his service learning non-profit organization, Impact Alabama.
Impact Alabama has implemented three initiatives: Focusfirst, Speakfirst and Savefirst. All of which are dedicated to improving the lives of Alabama residents, especially children.
FocusFirst addresses vision care needs for children who don't have health care. As a result, a vast majority of four year olds are not getting vision screenings. Through the FocusFirst initiative millions of Alabama children have beeen screened and have received follow up treatment if needed.
SpeakFirst has formed a debate team for students in lower income schools and provides them with the training and experience to compete in debates. SpeakFirst just had it's first debate team graduate from high school this past year.
SaveFirst focuses on tax preparation for Alabama families who fall below the poverty line and are not receiving many of their benefits due to shady tax preparers who are overcharging and frauding these families. Although Black said all of the initiatives are important, SaveFirst could be the most important one.
With the "Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" conference coming up on Wednesday, many of Alabama's leading organizations advocating to solve issues facing our children, are preparing to present. The conference will feature speakers, including Black and various other speakers from organizations in Tuscaloosa and around the state on the future of Alabama's children.
Brenda Truelove, coordinator for CHEER UP, will be speaking at this year's conference about the goals and missions of her organization.
"CHEER UP's mission is to assist our community members who may be suffering the effects of our local community's economic situation with specific knowledge of how to access support services," Truelove said.
Truelove says there are several specific areas of need they are targeting including food assistance information, how to apply for unemployment compensations, training/educational options and financial aid assistance among others.
"CHEER UP's role at the conference is simply to make those in attendance aware of our mission and pass out informational data base forms for support agencies," Truelove said. "We will introduce key CHEER UP team members, give faces to names and let them know how to contact us."
This year's conference begins at 8 a.m. on February 4 at the Bryant Conference Center.
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