A National Council of Churches organizer says a collaborative program soon to be available in Mississippi should help underserved citizens obtain access to millions of dollars in federal and state benefits people don't know about.

The council's John Briscoe was one of 17 speakers at a town hall meeting sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute Wednesday night at the Leflore County Civic Center. More than 250 people attended.

Speakers addressed the economic disparities that afflict America's black population.

Among the topics were poverty, health care and retirement security.

"We have dedicated ourselves to abolition of poverty," Briscoe said. "This is a way of easing the process by which you apply for benefits that you are entitled to."
Robert Brand with Solutions for Progress said that 90,000 people in Mississippi who are eligible for tax refunds don't receive them. Another 216,000 people are eligible for food stamps and don't get them, and 66,000 children who can get health insurance never do.

Brand said roughly $123 million could be brought into Mississippi if only 25 percent of the people who are eligible for benefits but do not receive them were reached by The Benefit Bank.

The Benefit Bank is a tool to aid families in overcoming poverty. It offers an online software program that simplifies applying for state and federal benefits and helps people figure out which ones they are eligible for, Brand said.

It will be set up on computers in places such as churches, community-based organizations, unions, public schools, colleges and other places. The institute is working to get this tool into Mississippi as soon as possible, Brand said.
Dr. Kweku Laast, with the Priority Populations Health Institute, said that every year, 400 out of 500 new cases of AIDS each year are African Americans. Although African Americans are not affected as often as other races by cancer, they have a higher death rate from it because of delayed care, he pointed out.

Laast said the solution was to make health care facilities more accessible and make sure people know that they need to be tested for diseases regularly.

"Retirement security has come to be one of the most important issues on the minds of many people of color," said Bennie Thompson, the Democratic congressman from Mississippi's 2nd District. "Social Security remains especially important to African Americans, as we have traditionally been at the low end of the earning scale over our lifetimes. As a result, Americans of color are generally more dependent on Social Security in the retirement years."

Thompson said Social Security is the only source of income for one-third of the country's blacks age 65 or older.

The Congressional Black Caucus Institute tour, which started Tuesday, Aug. 9, also went to Jackson State University, to the Humphreys County Memorial Hospital and
to the G.A. Carmichael Health Center in Yazoo City.

The Mississippi tour is one of four that will take place across the country over the next year.