Welcome


Voices for Action is a statewide effort to reduce poverty 50% in Michigan by 2020.

Led by the Michigan Department of Human Services, the initiative has created a network of organizations including human service organizations, government agencies, local faith-based and community organizations, non-profits, and businesses.


This space is for you to share your Voices for Action stories and current information. There are three ways to share.

- Submit a post via email to: voices4action6@haltpoverty.org and we'll post it for you, be sure to include contact info

- Submit a post through blogger: Google account required; request author invite by sending an email with
name & organization information to: voices4action6@haltpoverty.org

- Comment on published posts, no login required

You can use tags to highlight themes, such as 'asset building', 'workforce development', 'food assistance', etc.



Here are current poverty statistics for Region 6:

2009 Poverty and Median Income Estimates - Counties
Name Poverty Estimate All Ages Poverty Percent All Ages Poverty Estimate Under Age 18 Poverty Percent Under Age 18 Median Household Income
Allegan 12,850 11.5 4,601 16.2 50,487
Barry 6,038 10.4 2,111 15.2 53,566
Berrien 27,259 17.4 9,481 25.4 39,856
Branch 7,430 17.9 2,780 26.8 40,798
Calhoun 22,951 17.4 8,193 26.1 39,130
Cass 7,837 15.9 2,334 21.5 45,799
Kalamazoo 46,977 19.6 11,748 21.8 42,336
St. Joseph 10,265 16.9 3,710 23.9 43,402
Van Buren 12,755 16.6 4,409 22.8 41,731






Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area
Estimates Branch

Internet Release date: December 2010




View Michigan Counties - Region 6 Poverty in a larger map

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Right Start in Michigan and Its Counties - 2011

Michigan Mothers and Their Babies: Overview and Trends 2000-2009

The Right Start in Michigan is the Kids Count annual review of mothers' and babies' well-being.  Over the decade between 2000 and 2009, Michigan improved on three of the five indicators where a trend could be calculated.

  • The biggest improvement was the 13 percent decline in teen mothers who were having another baby - dropping from 21 percent to 18 percent of teen births.
  • Teen births and preterm births also dropped over the decade.
  • The most dramatic worsening was the 20 percent increase in births to unmarried women.
  • The percentage of low-birthweight babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds rose slightly.

In 2009 more Michigan babies were born to mothers in economically insecure circumstances than in 2000. Roughly half of Michigan infants were born to low-income mothers eligible for Medicaid, and births to unmarried mothers represented roughly 40 percent of all births in 2009. Women unmarried at the birth of their child are likely to remain single parents with the heightened risk of poverty.

The full Right Start in Michigan and its Counties - 2011 report is available on the Michigan League for Human Services website.


Go to the Voices for Michigan's Children site...

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