Child Poverty Collaborative almost lost its last African American co-chair | WCPO

CINCINNATI — Just a few weeks into the Child Poverty Collaborative’s new effort to reduce poverty in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the only African American on the group’s top volunteer leadership team considered resigning his position.

Pastor Ennis Tait has been leading community outreach and engagement efforts for Project LIFT, a $5 million initiative that aims to reach 1,000 families this year.

But Tait submitted a “letter for consideration of resignation” about three weeks ago, he said, and raised questions about whether the Child Poverty Collaborative’s work could be more effective.

“As a black man from the black community, I think there are other things we can be doing,” Tait told WCPO. “We can no longer do the ‘great white hope’ approach where you have a group of white people who are sensitive and sincere.”