Over 138 economically disadvantage individuals receive assistance through the DeltaCorps Program

In July 2017, Central Arkansas Planning and Development District was honored to receive a Delta Regional Authority (DRA) DeltaCorps Program Grant which allowed for CAPDD to pay the living allowance of an AmeriCorps Service Member to create and implement a program which helped educate persons in Lonoke, Monroe and Prairie Counties in Financial Literacy and to assist people in finding jobs via a process called Self-Guided Discovery.

The selected AmeriCorps Service Member was Mr. Marcus Jenkins of Brinkley, Arkansas.

AmeriCorps Service Member, Mr. Marcus Jenkins of Brinkley, Arkansas

The program started December 2017 and ended August 2018. In that time, and with Marcus’s help, the program was able to assist a total of 90 economically disadvantaged individuals improve their financial literacy with things like banking education, paycheck budgeting and credit recovery. Additionally, Marcus mentored 138 economically disadvantaged individuals through the Self-Guided Discovery program which allowed them an opportunity to explore careers matching their aptitudes and abilities; he was able to assist 46 of those individuals with job placements. All services were provided free of charge.

The Central Arkansas Delta Counties of Lonoke, Monroe, and Prairie currently have a high rate of poverty. The average percent of the population in poverty in these three counties is 21.2% (Lonoke- 12.4%, Monroe- 32.8%, and Prairie- 21.4%). Monroe County is listed by the DRA Today’s Delta as being in Persistent Poverty. Only 60.4% of this population has a High School education.

Although the program’s impact was small compared to the need, CAPDD is hopeful that the activities made an impact on helping to remove people from poverty. Special thanks to our partners: Houseaboutit and the Central Arkansas Workforce Development Area.