Assignment Two

On Monday morning we met with PEPP (People Escaping Poverty Project)and were given all the information necessary to complete this assignment by Duke Schemp, executive director of the organization.
PEPP was founded in 1986 by a group of women who organized their efforts for the purpose of defeating a piece of state legislation that would have cut public assistance by 30% in Minnesota. Inspired by successfully defeating the bill, the group formally created the organization currently known as PEPP.
PEPP's expressly stated mission is the use of organizational strategies such as leadership and coalition building within the community as well as forming alliances with those individuals and institutions in power positions for the purpose of fostering long term solutions to the issue of poverty. Examples of this mission in action include the Tenants Action Network, the Bennet Park Cooperative, and the Waking the Sleeping Giant (WSG) nonprofit organization coalition.
PEPP does not consider itself an advocacy oriented organization; however, the target clientele for its organizational services is the local low income community, a group which has traditionally had less access to the types of resources which would allow for greater involvement in community building and civic involvement. Ultimately, PEPP's goal is to foster and develop leadership from within the community it serves, acting as tutor for necessary skills and liason between the low income community and those individuals and institutions which have the power and authority to help the mission.
According to Duke, "it would take a while for PEPP to be missed if it disappeared...". This may be a humble illustration of the organization's value to the community it serves, or a subtle reminder that there is still much to be accomplished by PEPP before it can consider its mission fulfilled. Duke also added "...until people actually needed a contact made or something organized."
*I'm quoting Duke here to the best of my recollection, so this statement may be paraphrased-if anyone present at the meeting feels that the statement as posted here is a misrepresentation, please feel free to clarify by commenting to this post.*