This month we’re taking a look at poverty in Waco--about 30.1 percent of Wacoans live below the poverty line, that’s about double the state’s poverty rate, and Waco’s median household income is $32,239 a year, that’s about $20,000 less than families make on average across Texas.
Last year the city commissioned theUpjohnInstitute, a think tank that researches the causes of unemployment, to report on Waco’s economy and employment trends. Those findings are guiding the city’s anti-poverty initiative, Prosper Waco. In this interview, KWBU'sRyland Barton talks with Mayor Malcolm Duncan, Jr. and former Mayor Virginia DuPuy about some of those findings and how Prosper Waco is trying to bring stakeholders together to combat poverty.