Last Thursday, the Michigan Department of Human Services, the Governor’s Commission on Community Action and the Michigan Community Action Association (Voices for Action Network) sponsored the first-ever statewide poverty summit.

Michigan has more than 2 million people living below the poverty line, according to census reports, and that number is increasing as the national economy wobbles into a recession. According to a USA Today report in August, Michigan’s poverty rate is 14 percent, up from 13.5 percent in 2006 and more than a full percentage point above the national rate, which was virtually unchanged during the same period. The state’s rate has grown steadily since 2000, when it was just above 10 percent. The number of people in poverty increased by 45,000 during 2006 and 2007.

The summit drew more than 5,000 people — a combination of state officials, business leaders, social workers and those living in poverty — to the Cobo Conference Center in downtown Detroit.

Representatives from Michigan’s Department of Human Services attended demonstrations and formed discussion groups with people living in poverty from various regions across the state.

After attending the meetings and viewing keynote speakers, including Martin Luther King III and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, regional leaders then shared their findings with the media in a press conference.

Many who attended the summit said they learned new ways to help ease the lives of those in poverty and to get them on track to a better life.

For those in southeastern Michigan, a major concern expressed was the deterioration of local communities. The idea of block clubs working together with religious groups to help organize communities was a consistent theme among those seeking solutions.