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Secretary Ben Carson with JKF intern Tremayne Truitt, Clean Green Team's Antonio Smith, and Jimmy Kemp at the  R.I.S.E. Center in SE DC on March 10.
Dear Friends of the Jack Kemp Foundation,
 
“The American Dream is not confined to one class or one color or even one nation.  It is the most powerful force for economic growth, wealth creation, and emancipation in human history.  I believe that with the right policies, we can look forward to the promise that poverty as a permanent condition can be overcome, not in the distant future, but during our lifetime.” – Jack Kemp
 
Between the election and the Inauguration, I served on the Presidential Transition Team for HUD - nostalgic for a Kemp to be back walking the halls of HUD – which was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Dr. Ben Carson.  He is facing many of the same challenges that my pops tackled when he was HUD Secretary: budget concerns, an inspiration deficit, and above all, making effective investments in America’s greatest resource: her people. 

Last month, Secretary Carson joined us for a roundtable discussion to talk about how government policies have affected the lives of people they were meant to help.  Ron Moten, Steve Park, Antonio Smith, Robert Rector, Mary Cannon, John Weicher, and Ja'Ron Smith shared their insights and personal experiences.

Afterward our intern, Tremayne Truitt, told me this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him.  He explained:

Growing up in Columbus, Georgia I lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods that was called home by drug dealers, thieves and gang members -- but also by upstanding citizens of the law. Although my family never lived in public housing I had friends who did and have borne witness to the plight of low income families. Still we were told that there were great opportunities to be had no matter where we came from if we just worked hard, had faith and never gave up. However today that message is lost in reality T.V., video games and social media.

So how can we restore the promise of the America dream?  Secretary Carson is seeking the best way to reach people living in poverty, in public housing, and without job opportunities with his own message of hope and endurance. He emphasized that leveraging public funding with private investment as is happening in Detroit, would be part of the infrastructure of opportunity to improve citizens’ lives and decrease rates of poverty, homelessness and unemployment.  And just like capital investments in business and infrastructure, the American people need to effectively invest in human capital. 

An upcoming opportunity for you to join us is through our Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity II -- a series of events to explore programs and policy ideas that can and do produce tangible results. Our first three events will cover (1) technology and skills development, (2) housing, and (3) community health and wellbeing. The culminating event in late fall 2017 will be a solutions summit, where recommendations will be made and discussed. Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Tim Scott, and Secretary Ben Carson will join us along with policy experts, practitioners, other national political leaders from both sides of the aisle, and a number of people with their own personal success stories to tell. 

Stay tuned. We will send exact dates, times and more information your way soon.  Thank you for reading this and please stay in touch.

For the cause,
Jimmy Kemp


 
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The Jack Kemp Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt entity organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).  The Jack Kemp Foundation engages only in educational activities and does not engage in any lobbying or political activity as those terms are defined by the IRC. Contributions to the Jack Kemp Foundation are deductible to the donor to the extent allowed by law.  

Copyright © 2017 Jack Kemp Foundation, All rights reserved.


 
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