Changing How We Think About Poverty

Despite being one of the wealthiest counties in the country, Marin County is one of the least racially equitable in California across all indicators of well-being.

It might surprise you to learn given Marin’s affluence that 37 percent of households struggle to meet basic needs – or that one in five families often can’t put food on the table. As more people age into poverty, it’s also true that one in three seniors is food insecure. 

However, with these challenges come opportunities. “We have the capital, the resources, and the will. If anyone can create stronger pathways to racial and economic justice, it’s the people of Marin through the power of community action,” says Community Action Marin (CAM) Chief Executive Officer Chandra Alexandre.

Alexandre describes people of low income, often people of color here, as the “Invisible Marin.” These are communities that are twice as likely as white households (83% of the population) to face difficult choices between paying rent or putting food on the table each month. It’s families that lack access to high-quality childcare and people who are precariously housed or homeless. 

CAM’s mission is to alleviate the causes and consequences of poverty. The agency’s goal is to help build power with people, change laws and policies, deliver services without barriers, and ensure that they are telling new stories about what’s possible for people on the road to thriving.

Through its wide range of programs, CAM assists over 20,000 people each year. For example, the agency provides organic, culturally-relevant meals to more than 550 children daily in its blended Head Start and state-funded early education centers. Its financial coaches offer tools and strategies for budgeting, debt reduction, and credit repair to over 200 people every year. Its CARE mobile outreach teams help get people to safety, to services, and on the way to a home. Most importantly, staff across all of the agency’s service areas are listening to the needs of their community and fighting to meet the urgencies of today while making an equitable future a reality. 

“We are stronger together,” Alexandre says, “and the team is living its values of Service, Relationship, Unity, and Inclusivity. Each day they are helping to ensure that every Marin resident can live with dignity and respect. If it is possible to create racial and economic equity anywhere, I believe that it’s here in Marin County.”