Anti-poverty strategy for the Master Plan

The City of Newburgh hosted a panel discussion on innovative strategies for social and economic justice for the City of Newburgh Sustainable Master Plan stakeholders on November 21 at 7 p.m in the Community Room of Orange County Community College. Bernard Lietaer and Edgar Cahn explored some groundbreaking strategies to alleviate poverty as the city moves forward with its largest redevelopment effort in more than 30 years. The public is invited to attend.

Bernard Lietaer served as a senior central bank executive in Belgium and was one of the two principal architects of the “ECU,” which developed into the European single currency (“Euro”). Named by Business Week as the world’s top currency trader in 1991, Lietaer is the author of several books including The Future of Money and The Mystery of Money, both translated into several languages. With Stephen Belgin, he co-authored Of Human Wealth: Beyond Greed and Scarcity, slated for U.S. publication this year.

The City of Newburgh Master Plan is being drafted with the assistance of Gwendolyn Hallsmith of Global Community Initiatives. Lietaer and Hallsmith are co-authors of a new workbook for communities called Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal (LASER). Lietar, in consultation with Hallsmith, developed some of the strategies described in the current Master Plan draft after review of the data and issues identified by the stakeholders.

Edgar Cahn, a Fullbright Scholar, began his career as a special counsel and speech-writer for U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and was assigned to the Solicitor General’s office to work with civil rights sit-in cases. In 1963, Cahn and his wife, Jean Camper Cahn (now deceased), published a Yale Law Journal article that provided a blueprint for the creation of a neighborhood-based legal services program. Subsequently, the Cahns worked in the Johnson Administration and are regarded as co-founders of the Office of Economic Opportunity legal services program. During the 1980s, Cahn conceived “Time Dollars”, a concept that advocates for social change through inclusion. It is based on the premise that everyone has something special to contribute and that a civil society can only succeed by enlisting the less fortunate as partners working towards change. Cahn founded the Time Dollar Institute in 1987 and is now joined in his work by his wife, Christine Gray-Cahn. Cahn has also been working with the Orange County Department of Social Services to introduce a Time Dollar system in Newburgh, which will be discussed at the meeting.

To alleviate poverty as the city moves forward with its largest redevelopment effort in more than 30 years. The public is invited to attend.
Bernard Lietaer served as a senior central bank executive in Belgium and was one of the two principal architects of the “ECU,” which developed into the European single currency (“Euro”). Named by Business Week as the world’s top currency trader in 1991, Lietaer is the author of several books including The Future of Money and The Mystery of Money, both translated into several languages. With Stephen Belgin, he co-authored Of Human Wealth: Beyond Greed and Scarcity, slated for U.S. publication this year.

The City of Newburgh Master Plan is being drafted with the assistance of Gwendolyn Hallsmith of Global Community Initiatives. Lietaer and Hallsmith are co-authors of a new workbook for communities called Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal (LASER). Lietar, in consultation with Hallsmith, developed some of the strategies described in the current Master Plan draft after review of the data and issues identified by the stakeholders.

Edgar Cahn, a Fullbright Scholar, began his career as a special counsel and speech-writer for U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and was assigned to the Solicitor General’s office to work with civil rights sit-in cases. In 1963, Cahn and his wife, Jean Camper Cahn (now deceased), published a Yale Law Journal article that provided a blueprint for the creation of a neighborhood-based legal services program. Subsequently, the Cahns worked in the Johnson Administration and are regarded as co-founders of the Office of Economic Opportunity legal services program. During the 1980s, Cahn conceived “Time Dollars”, a concept that advocates for social change through inclusion. It is based on the premise that everyone has something special to contribute and that a civil society can only succeed by enlisting the less fortunate as partners working towards change. Cahn founded the Time Dollar Institute in 1987 and is now joined in his work by his wife, Christine Gray-Cahn. Cahn has also been working with the Orange County Department of Social Services to introduce a Time Dollar system in Newburgh, which will be discussed at the meeting.