Application Topic Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi

Grant Proposal/Application Topic Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Executive Summary Mother Teresa spent countless days and a better part of her life taking care of the lives of the less fortunate regardless of where they came from, gender, religion, and or race. She sought to see their faces full of joy, just as it is for the few wealthy and privileged people around the world. She did this passion-driven service until she met her death.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Grant Proposal/Application Topic: Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Despite the fact that she stood out as a figure that showed the need to take care of the less privileged, it is surprising that very few have taken over from her. Millions and millions of people are dying every minute because of lack of food, medical services, and or attention. In fact, extreme poverty, increased preventable deaths, and lack of accessibility to education by children are becoming out-of- hand challenges in some cities in the US. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the US. A good number of the poor is women, majority of who have children. The poor conditions have hiked the level of illiteracy among the children in Mississippi, as they cannot afford quality education because of their poor parents. Again, such women have been exposed to risky sexual behaviors as they toil hard to make ends meet. They also have low self-esteem because of their status. Therefore, there is a need for a program that empowers these women psychologically and economically, an effort that will also boost literacy in the city and the entire US. Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is an organization that is concerned about this category of population. The organization is a non-governmental organization that was established to create awareness through advocacy campaigns to educate Mississippi people living in abject poverty and any other pathetic conditions. Children in Mississippi live with no hopes of seeing tomorrow. They live as if they are in their own world though this is not the case. The US government is aware of these people. However, it has no plans to improve their status. There is lack of planning and policies with the formulated ones not caring about the welfare of these people. After a survey carried out in the regions hardly hit by poverty in the US, Mississippi was selected for the advocacy campaign. The advocacy campaign is dubbed, â€Å"Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy.† It is aimed at compelling the US government to adopt policies and plans that are intended to save the extremely poor Mississippi people. The states in which these people live are not appealing. The region was selected because of its high rate of poverty despite having good natural resources to enable it improve the livelihood of its people. Because Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is not profit-oriented, it does not have funds to carry out the program. Funds to facilitate the campaign are in the form of grants from the International Fund.Advertising Looking for proposal on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The organization’s positive results in other areas like New Jersey have demonstrated the benefits of advocacy campaigns. The campaign is expected to take duration of five years after which it is expected that the rate and prevalence of poverty in Mississippi would have reduced to minimal levels because amicable plans and policies would have been instituted to trigger change. The expected outcome after the campaign is to reduce the number of poor people in Mississippi besides heightening literacy levels in the region and the US at large. The rate of deaths from preventable diseases is expected to reduce with the number of children attending schools being expected to rise. This will be determined through evaluations that wil l be conducted after six months for the five years. Organization Information Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative Mission and Goals Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is a group of people around the US who are involved in advocacy campaigns aimed at holding the US’ leaders accountable for their policies and commitments. The organization’s mission statement is to heighten literacy levels by fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases in the US. This mission statement clearly defines the goals of the organization in ensuring that the US government is held accountable besides being motivated to be committed in the fight against extreme poverty and the need for quality education for all. Therefore, the campaign requires the US’ leaders to adopt effective policies to implement in a bid to change the situation in the Mississippi. Background and History Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is an international advo cacy group working in various states in America. It targets poor or developing cities where the rate of poverty and preventable diseases is high with low educational standards of the young people. The initiative believes that these problems are preventable if only the US government implements its policies on the same. Therefore, the organization raises public awareness, as well as pressuring political leaders to come up with smart and effective policies and programs that can help save many children and people’s lives who die due to lack of enough food and or of preventive diseases. It campaigns for equal chances of securing jobs by providing quality and reliable education to all despite the differences in household backgrounds. The organization collaborates with like-minded organizations across the world at the grassroots level to press the government to implement affable policies that can solve these problems that affect the lives of many children. Currently, its membership is around three million.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Grant Proposal/Application Topic: Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To become a member, there is nothing that the member is charged. What is required is a commitment of the members to voice the concerns of the population to the US government to take actions that are aimed at ensuring that policies are put in place to ensure that lives are sustained. The large turnout of people to trigger the US government’s actions clearly demonstrates that the organization is influencing many people’s lives across the world. Therefore, Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is a force to trigger change in the US. Location The organization’s head office is in the United States 1400 Eye Street, Suite 600, Washington, DC 2005. Population Served The organization serves the general population across the US. It targets poor people and those who cannot access quality education in Mississippi. The organization works with activists and people who are concerned with the status of the poor in the society. It reaches the US’ leaders through advocacy campaigns to compel them to come up with working policies. Current Programs Currently, the organization has rolled out its campaigns in different states around the US to reach leaders. Recent Accomplishments The organization has been recognized as one of the forces behind improved leadership in most of the states in the US. It has teamed up with other like-minded local organizations besides helping to trigger positive change in the leadership of states like New Jersey whose rate of poverty has reduced to significant levels besides improving accessibility of medical services. Staff For any organization to grow and achieve its objectives, human resources are essential. The management board, which comprises finance advisor, comm unication manager, media officer, program manager, and monitoring and evaluation specialist, controls the organization, which provides leadership on the programs and strategies to use in ensuring that a positive change is attained in the cities faced with high rates of poverty like Mississippi.Advertising Looking for proposal on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The members are the staff that is used to voice the concerns of the poor to the authorities. Therefore, membership is voluntary. It draws people who are in accord and who are concerned with the plight and status of the poor in the Mississippi. Problem Statement Poverty is one of the problems that many states in America are grappling with now and then. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in America. There are various reasons that best explain why the prevalence of poverty is higher here compared to other states. One of them is the lack of fundamental principles to eradicate poverty. The region has poor policies that can assist it from breaking through this yoke of poverty and poor education. Secondly, the leadership is corrupt: it is mindful of its self-interest instead of addressing the challenges faced by the state. Other reasons include poor accessibility to education because of low social-economic status of most of the parents, especially single mothers. Bad weather, unfavor able climate, and other reasons also cause poverty. For instance, â€Å"Mississippi and New Mexico had the highest poverty rates with more than one out of every five people in each state living in poverty† (Associated Press, 2011, Para. 1). It implies that, if inadequate measures are not adopted to reverse the trend, these people are geared to experience hunger. Many of them will not be able to buy food because of the limited amount of money they have. This is an alarming finding, which should be looked into to establish why there is a high rate of poverty in Mississippi. Among the causes are poor institutional and the colonial system policies that were imposed to the people. Even though structural changes have been instituted to reverse the situation, large numbers of people here are still languishing in poverty. They lack education. The educated ones cannot get employment because of poor institutional policies. In this region, most investment plans and government policies t end to favor the rich leaving out the poor who mostly live in the in slum-like houses. Furthermore, other social challenges such as HIV/AIDs have continued to affect most people living in this region. Many of them are highly affected and infected by the HIV/AIDs. This has further added burden to the poor people in the region. They cannot access good medication due to lack of money. Research indicates, â€Å"In 2011, Mississippi reported 5816 cases of gonorrhea† (Fact Sheet, 2011, Para. 2: Kaiser, 2009, Para. 2). The finding reveals the high prevalent cases of HIV/AIDs to the poor. The society is faced with acute problems that hinder it from living a decent life. Due to these social challenges, it becomes difficult for such people to take their children to schools. Most extremely poor people struggle to get food. They do not have enough money to take care of their children. Therefore, children are denied an opportunity to go to school. This further worsens the situation as the rate of poor people continues to expand. Poor planning and poor policies cause most of the challenges. Government leaders and other leaders have the potential to eradicate poverty to ensure that society is able to access fundamental amenities without strain. These problems limit the potential of a state to attain its economic achievements. Therefore, this is the reason why this advocacy is important since it will enable the US’ leaders to come up with the best strategies to tackle the problems relating to poverty in Mississippi since they threaten to explode in the near future if urgent measures are not taken. Literature Review Poverty is one of the social problems and challenges that wrestle many developing countries. Millions of people are lingering in abject poverty. Statistics on the number of people in extreme poverty is disturbing. For instance, according to Hansen (2012), â€Å"poor people in Mississippi still have health problems, even if they have Medicaid or healt h insurance, even if there are clinics in their communities, even if they get home health services. They do not get better, and the diseases born of poverty and obesity are not prevented; thousands of people frequent emergency rooms for illnesses that could have been tackled by primary care† (Para. 2). According to the World Bank, poverty is equivalent to hunger. It is characterized by the absence of shelter, lack of access to medical attention, schools, and jobs. The list is endless. Therefore, poverty is all about the negatives and those factors that hinder individuals from living happily. Poverty is also equated to lack of freedom and being powerlessness. Therefore, this implies that people faced with abject poverty can be treated in any manner. Those in power can abuse them especially during election periods. The powerful people capitalize on these weaknesses to garner support. Hopeful citizens vote for such leaders in office who forget about their needs after being electe d. After their terms elapse, the cycle recurs. This trend has contributed greatly to increased number of people remaining poor. In fact, leaders would always wish that such slums and poor people continue to increase to enable them achieve their ambitions. To know the appropriate ways of eradicating poverty, what can work and or what cannot, and what changes over time, it is imperative to measure poverty besides defining and studying it in details. This will help to find answers and amicable solutions that can help in alleviating the prevalence of poverty. According to the World Bank, the most common and the best measure of poverty is the level of income. A person is considered poor if the level of income falls under the threshold set by a government. Minimum level of income is called poverty levels. Different countries have set their poverty levels depending on factors such as time, place, level of development, societal norms, and values among other factors. For instance, in Britain , the government has three levels under which it uses to define poverty. These include relative poverty, absolute poverty, and social exclusion. Absolute poverty is the situation where an individual lacks resources for his/her own upkeep. According to the US Census Bureau (2012), â€Å"Relative poverty is defined in terms of the average income or resources that an individual has where all people under this category cannot fully participate in the day-to-day activities due to the absence of material needs† (Para. 3). On the other hand, social exclusion is a new term that explains the consequences that are likely to happen in situations where there is no access to employment or where people have low incomes, poor skills, high crime environments, poor housing, family breakdown, and bad health. Mississippi is the hardest hit by extreme cases of poverty (p. 692). The number of poor people grew from 217 million in 1987 to more than 300 million in the year 1998 (US Census Bureau, 20 12, Para. 4: Magubane, 2008, p.692), which is a high percentage of increase in poverty. Drawing from this finding, one gets a clear picture of the pathetic state of children in Mississippi. It is terrifying to see children cry of hunger, die of diseases, or lack parental care due to causes that are beyond their control. Living has become hard for them as they are not given an opportunity to go to school. It is not the wish of parents, but the lack of resources to take them to school. Children become breadwinners at a tender age. Many children in Mississippi also die from preventable diseases. Furthermore, many children in the region are underweight due to poor nutrition. They also suffer from diseases such as measles. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, â€Å"A child in Mississippi is born in poverty after every 46 minutes†¦ is abused or neglected every 2 hours†¦dies before his/her first birthday every 20 hours† (2007, Para. 1). These findings make it clear that poverty is such a killer condition. Once it strikes, it deprives parents of their attention to children since they cannot get any means (funds) to offer food, good shelter, or even health to their helpless children. Abandoning them (the children) remains their only option and hence the many early death cases in Mississippi. These are settlements where the level of income is limited hence hindering people from accessing fundamental basic needs. Most people in informal settlements in Mississippi are employed as manual laborers. Therefore, their salary cannot sustain them. Therefore, they prefer living in such environments to meet their most important needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. It is not the wish of an individual to live in such environments. Rather, the situation forces this to be the only solution. The US government has a role of ensuring that it provides better policies that can enable people to look for opportunities to lead a positive life. Poor leadership in this state has contributed to most of the extreme poverty cases. Leaders whom people elect are not focused. They lack vision. They only seek to amass wealth to satisfy their self-interests. It astonishes that, at some point in the1960s, states that are performing well in their economy were once at the same level with Mississippi. However, decades have passed with no solid developments in Mississippi, which is a good illustration of how ignorant the US government has been. Furthermore, leaders, not only in the US, are hungry for power. This has contributed to negative effects as wars have erupted causing losses of many lives and property destruction. This case has worsened the situation besides contributing to the collapse of the economy. Therefore, for the US to reduce poverty in Mississippi and other affected regions, there is a lot of work it needs to do to be successful. Otherwise, the situation may come out of hand. Therefore, to ease this work by the government, t he program will partner with organizations whose aims and objectives match its goal of curbing poverty in Mississippi. These partners are proficient when it comes to handling the issue at hand because they have been doing it for long in many other areas. For instance, the program will partner with ‘The action Aid’, which is an international non-governmental organization that is well placed to know the issues and changes that children from a poor background go through. It aims at ensuring that children are taken good care of and are taken to school to pursue their academics to achieve their goals. This organization sponsors children from poor backgrounds. Therefore, information from this organization will be of great assistance in enabling the staffs and members of the organization to be abreast with facts about the prevalence on rate of poverty. Therefore, in this Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative campaign, ‘The Action Aid’ will come in handy in ensuring that the program succeeds. ‘Wake up Youths’ is yet another group that the organization will collaborate with to ensure that it achieves its objectives and goals. It consists of like-minded youths in the slum areas. The focus of the group is to stimulate economic growth among youths in the areas. These youths have been raised up in these slums. Therefore, they understand the challenges that people in slums go through as they try to make ends meet. Therefore, they understand the difficulties of slum dwellers. This knowledge will be of great importance to the advocacy initiative. The group will be used to present its policies and demands to the leaders for a remedial action. Therefore, it will participate besides presenting itself to the US’ leaders to explain its problems and need to compel the government to take appropriate actions to ensure that people in the poverty-hit Mississippi are also assisted by the government to enable them become s elf-sustainable. The Activists Group in the US is also very essential in the campaign initiative. Activists are very vocal as they aspire to ensure that human rights and freedom of the people are respected. The constitution of the US is clear on the government’s initiative to ensure that nobody suffers from poverty, dies of preventable diseases, or fails to go to school. Therefore, this group comes up with programs that are aimed at empowering such vulnerable population to engage in an economic venture to enable Mississippi people sustain their families, as well as themselves. This organization is also ensuring that adequate measures are put in place to fight with preventable disease such as malaria and typhoid in Mississippi. To do this, it educates the members of the communities and poor families on the need to ensure cleanliness every time. These awareness programs will help Mississippi people to change their behaviors in terms of ensuring high levels of hygiene in every t hing they do. Therefore, this organization is a very important partner because it will help in providing evidence and statistics on the level of poverty and the rate at which people from these areas succumb to death due to the failure to access good medical care. Therefore, the activists together with employees will compel the US government to formulate policies that are aimed at promoting good governance by voicing these issues. The issues that Mississippi faces at the grassroots levels will be voiced to the concerned leaders for an immediate solution to be instituted to remedy the solutions. Program Objectives and Expected Outcomes Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is purposed to reach the US leaders with a goal of stressing the need for accountability for the lives that are lost in regions such as Mississippi because of ignorance from leaders. The increasing rates of deaths due to poverty and preventable diseases should be brought to an end. It is astonish ing how these countries have enough resources at their disposal. Yet, they fail to utilize them to their advantage. Poor policies and lack of appropriate machinery to implement policies are the key contributors of the problems facing poor people in Mississippi. The objectives of the program include: To reach the US government through advocacy campaigns to petition for adoption of good policies that will uplift the lives of poor people in Mississippi To ensure that policies are implemented to ensure that children from poor families are educated and trained in Mississippi To ensure that all target groups in Mississippi (women, children, and young people) are empowered and are able to access good medical care To ensure that the US leaders who fail to address issues pertaining to poverty alleviation are pressurized to do so This very intensive campaign is expected to bring changes to the lives of people in Mississippi. Many people in Mississippi are living below the poverty line. They cannot access good medical services and food. Despite the fact that Mississippi has fertile arable land, people here continue to depend on sponsors and donations. This trend has made most of them lose hope in the US government. This constitutes one of the things that this program seeks to end. The US leaders will be required to be proactive working hard to uplift the lives of the suffering Mississippi people. Adequate resources available in this region will be put to full utilization to improve farming and productivity. Furthermore, this campaign will ensure that the number of children enrolling to schools increases. In the current world, education is the pillar and foundation of a nation. Countries that do not invest in education are planning to fail because illiterate people cannot manage them. Therefore, the advocacy campaign will also focus on this important issue to ensure that fundamental plans are put in place to ensure that children in Mississippi access good schools and ed ucation. Most poor parents cannot get good medical attentions. This affects their growth and life in the future. Preventive diseases are another area that many people in Mississippi face. Many people die from these preventable diseases such as malaria and typhoid among others due to poverty and lack of money to seek good medical treatment. Therefore, his campaign seeks to solve the issue. If the US leaders can only get their calculations right, there is nothing that can hinder them from achieving and realizing their dreams of a poverty-free Mississippi. This is expected to trigger positive change in the general lives of people in Mississippi. Program Design and Methodology The program is expected to take duration of five years, which is enough time to ensure that prominent US leaders meet with the advocacy groups to negotiate on various issues that pertain to the challenges that Mississippi people face in a bid to provide affable solutions. In the design, officers will carry out a s urvey to determine the US regions that are highly affected by high rates of preventive deaths, poverty, and high school dropouts. In the initial stage, the survey will be carried out in all the American states to choose the regions that have higher rates of people living in extreme poverty. Even though most of them may be facing these problems, the rate of prevalence may not be similar. Furthermore, this survey will factor in various issues, which may include the forms of government, the availability of resources, and fundamental infrastructure to drive the economy forward. In the survey, government data and statistics on population and the rate of poverty will be analyzed, reviewed, and compared with other regions. Furthermore, research will be carried out since data will be collected from various locations including areas such as slums, as well as from those middle class populations. These reviews will be of great importance as views of the population concerning their plights will be analyzed and incorporated in the campaign strategy. After the survey, the US state that will have very high rates of poverty prevalence will be given priority. The team will have to make a decision whether to roll out the campaign in all the hardly-hit states or in the one that has high rates of poverty. This decision will also be arrived at by considering the availability of resources and the number of members in the states to make it a reality. Due to limitation in the resources at the disposal, the only region that will be given attention is the one with high prevalence rates of poverty. Therefore, the campaign will be done in Mississippi region only. After identification of the focus region, machinery will be put in place to kick-start the campaigns. The timetable will be clearly set with the course of actions that will require to be followed to ensure that the program achieves the best results. The personnel in charge of the various locations within the selected region will be trained on various aspects to enable them perform better to produce excellent results. Program Staff Human capital is one of the fundamental components in ensuring that a program succeeds or fails. The program members will run it in the relevant countries. A team leader will be recruited to ensure that all the programs and activities in the respective countries are going on well. The team leaders will be the ones to compile reports and submit them to the head office to evaluate on the milestone made. The other members will be trained on public relations skills to acquaint them with how they need to interact with their leaders. The training will be done through the internet. Members will be directed to websites where they will be given the login details- password and username to gain entry to the learning resources. This is aimed at reducing the costs of carrying out training besides saving on time since the members are literate. Those who have the skills will direct the few that may not be having knowledge in computer. The members will work or roll out their campaigns from the grassroots levels whereby they will engage with the leaders of various institutions to help them with ideas on how they can resolve problems that they face. The campaigns will be rolled out to the national levels bringing into perspective national leaders who, in most states, are the ones who provide decisions on which projects to initiate. These staff members will volunteer their services. Therefore, they will not be entitled to salary but rather a small token to motivate them to continue with the initiative. Few other employees will also be recruited to ensure that the program is well rolled out to achieve its objectives. They will be entitled to salary. They will sign a contract with the organization to ensure that they achieve their objectives. Those who will not manage to satisfy or adhere to the terms of the contracts will not be tolerated. They will be summoned for the first t ime. However, in the second sermon, their contract will be terminated. The organization expects that the employees will be people of high skills and knowledge in matters of relations and advocacy to ensure that they engage in the exercise in a professional manner. The results should be evident at the end of the five years. They should have shown that indeed they have performed and influenced the leaders to change their policies to adopt others that can stimulate investments to uplift the poor Mississippi people besides ensuring that children from poverty-stricken areas like Mississippi attend schools and or access good medical treatment. Program Partnerships To ensure that the project succeeds, Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative will enter partnership with various organizations that operate in America as briefly hinted above. The organizations that Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative will partner with include the Action Aid, Wake up Youth s, Poverty eradication in America, and the Activists Groups. The reasons for this partnership are to ensure that Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative reaches many US leaders and people to influence them to adapt appropriate strategies. Furthermore, these partners are formed to perform duties that relate to what the group would like to offer. They are like-minded groups that agitate for the rights of the people. Further, they are concerned with the welfare of the poor people in the society. Therefore, they understand the problems that people in poor regions go through better. They are better placed to provide good recommendation on the best policies that can help improve the living standards of people in these Mississippi states besides making them access schools and medical services. These partners will be notified through an official letter from the organization. The letter would request them to collaborate with the organization in ensuring that they bring to t he attention the poverty situations in Mississippi and the best ways to formulate policies that can alleviate such problems better. In the letter, they will be informed on various duties that the organization does, the theme of the advocacy campaign, and the concealment date among other important information of why the program is important in ensuring that the lives of the people are uplifted. Program Timeline Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is scheduled to take five years. The program is scheduled to kick-start when the notice of a grant award is served. It is expected to end with the first evaluation of the program. Upon notice of grant award, the chief executive officer of the company will communicate to his fellow board members to inform them of the release of the money. The organization will write to the International Funds to acknowledge and send appreciation for the grant. This letter will acknowledge the receipt of funds by the organization’s accounts. Members will come together in round-the-table talks to arrange and budget for the funds. Duties will be assigned to managers to execute the tasks. Furthermore, all the program partners will receive calls and updates on arrangements such as the date when the program commences and other relevant details. Furthermore, a meeting will be scheduled to assist in coordination of activities of different organizations. Public announcement and media release of the program will be prepared and disseminated in various organizations. In the first to the third month, the initial stages of program implementation will take place. During this period, the training of members and other employees will take place. The members will be assigned their areas of jurisdiction and the rules that they will work with. After the campaign is rolled out, the evaluation will take place after six months to determine the milestones that would have been made for the few months. Team leaders will have to file their reports on the achievements they have made so far. These evaluations will be done after every five years. The last evaluation will be done in the fifth year to ascertain the milestone that will have been made. The program will come into conclusion after some noticeable achievements made. Plans will be taken on how the project will be sustained for the coming years. Program Monitoring Process and Evaluation Plan For the program to fair on smoothly, monitoring and evaluation are imperative. Monitoring and evaluation specialists will scrutinize and assess the program on a daily basis on its outcomes. A supervisor will be assigned the role of ensuring that the program performs as expected. The supervisor will work in all the sub-regions of Mississippi. He or she will have to transverse across the regions to find out the performance of the project. Evaluation is a process of checking and assessing an action plan after some time to determine whether the program is fairing on as requ ired. It is also aimed at determining the area that needs urgent correction to institute urgent measures. Evaluation is also important in a project because it allows improvement of the service provided in the program. In this case, the managers will carry out evaluations after every six months. The evaluations will be aimed at checking whether the company is making positive progress or not. In the first six months after the program is rolled out, a survey will be carried out to determine the magnitude the program has affected the US prominent leaders. A sample of leaders, as well as campaign lobbyists, will be given questionnaires while others will be interviewed to find out how they find the program in the six months. This information is important in this process of project implementation because it will help the organization to come up with viable strategies to change the effects of the current situations. Furthermore, evaluation will also measure other central objectives related to the program such as any positive intervention and decrease in cost of life among many others. For instance, when the number of children who are not sent away from school to collect school fees does not increase, it will demonstrate that the government has not done enough measures to control poverty prevalence. However, because this is a very short period, the number is expected to be low. This evaluation will also enable the organization- Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative to continue strengthening its relationships with other groups to help it achieve its missions. This relationship will enable the target audience to provide information without fear. It will also participate in various important issues concerning the elimination of poverty in the poverty-stricken areas. Organizational Capacity The organization is well prepared to ensure that this campaign becomes successful. The company’s online training program is aimed at equipping the members and workers with relevant skills on how they should conduct the campaign. The training is high-class intending to prepare members by equipping them with skills to allow them perform their tasks with ease. The venture is not that easy since it requires frequent meetings with members of the public. Therefore, public relation and etiquette skills are paramount to ensure that this becomes a success. This training is provided by the organization itself. Furthermore, the partners the organization has incorporated are very important in ensuring that this process becomes a success. These partners have enough relevant information and expertise that the organization will adopt to ensure that the program succeeds. For instance, Action Aid as highlighted earlier has been serving different countries for a long period. Therefore, many people are familiar with the organization. This will help boost our image towards the public. There are various success stories that are associated with the organizati on. The organization is attributed to have successfully carried out advocacy campaigns in different countries in its neighborhood. Therefore, this is a reason enough to demonstrate the capacity of the organization to carry out successful campaign strategies. Many children did not attend schools. Many died of preventive diseases. However, when the program was rolled out, it helped many people to change their ways of life by uplifting and even liberating them from the menace of poverty. The government began to adopt and implement policies that ensured that the poor and the vulnerable are reached with measures put in place to improve their lives. The success that was made from this program was worth. Still, the government is committed to ensuring that its population can access essential services and amenities. Program Sustainability Program sustainability is an important aspect to ensure that the project is able to add value to society. However, this requires that appropriate considera tions be adhered to sustain the program. Even as its timeline concludes, the program is expected to remain in the operation to enable the members of the society to continue demanding their rights if no actions would not have been taken at the time of its conclusion. The activists groups in the regions will be required to continue with the efforts of pressing the government to provide good services to its people. An agreement will be sealed between the two to ensure that this is not breached by setting a sub branch of the organization in every sub-region, which will work under the umbrella of the activist movement. This unit’s mandate will be to ensure that the campaign is alive. The government will be compelled to provide these services to its members without relenting. The important thing is to ensure that, in all programs and policies, government policies are in tandem with the objective of eradicating poverty besides ensuring that all Mississippi people in extreme poverty are attended well. The mouthpiece of the group will be the activists who will continue demanding the support of the extremely poor from the government. They will also be voicing the demands and other needs of the people. Furthermore, the organization will develop a strategic plan that will be implemented and administered by the units that will be left in the sub-regions of Mississippi to ensure that cases of extreme poverty are eradicated. In the strategic plan, members will be in the sub-regions to ensure that the US implements policies appropriately to meet any challenges that may result in the course of the advocacy campaigns. In addition, to be sustainable, there is the need for the provision of financial aids to ensure that the activities of the organization go on smoothly. The people carrying out this agenda require funds for their own sustainability as well as the sustainability of the program. A budget plan will be drafted to cover for some years that the organization will o perate in Mississippi. Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative is a non-profit organization whose grants will be apportioned to cover the financial expenses that will come after the duration expires. Those organizations or individuals who may have the same vision may also donate funds for the organization to help it in furthering its objectives and goals. These funds will be channeled in a special account aimed at sustaining the program. The funds will only be used for the purposes of sustaining the program. No person will be entitled to withdraw money from the account without the authority of the management. Program Budget A specialist group in budget drafting will be required to come up with a budget that will cover all the expenses that the organization will incur in its operations in the five Mississippi sub-regions. Because most of the members of the organization are substantial, and thus not entitled to salary, this will play a great deal in helping the organ ization save on its expenditures. They will only be given a small token as an appreciation and encouragement for them to work hard to ensure that these changes are effected in the organization. The trainers, team managers, and supervisor will require salaries to enable them execute their duties. This will be included in the budget. Furthermore, expenses to be incurred in traveling will be factored in the budget to ensure that the activities of the organization run smoothly. The management will come together to debate on the required budget. The whole budget for ensuring that the campaign runs on smoothly until the end is expected to cost 1177700 US dollars. The funds will be used appropriately to ensure that the campaign succeeds. The amount of money that will be channeled to each of the five sub-regions of Mississippi will be 235540USD. This budget is divided into equal measures because populations affected by abject poverty are equal. The detailed budget is as below Activity Bu dget Total Securing work stations in 5 sub-regions in Mississippi 8000*5USD 40000USD Purchasing of working instruments (Vehicles and Computers) 120000USD 120000USD Paying rent for each for 5 years 1500*5*5USD 37500USD Baseline Evaluation of the program 552000USD 552000USD End line Evaluation of the program 552000USD 552000USD Training 8000USD 8000USD Salary for 5 years 225000USD 225000USD Working station support for continued campaign after the 5thyear 60000USD 60000USD Miscellaneous 80000USD 80000USD Total 1177700USD Reference List Associated Press. (2011). Nearly one in four People in Mississippi living below Poverty  line as Rates Rise in Almost every state. Retrieved from dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2051700/Nearly-people-Mississippi-poverty-rates-rise-EVERY-state.html Fact Sheet. (2011). Sexually Transmitted Diseases Fact Sheet 2011 Mississippi. Retrieved from http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/4695.pdf Hansen, S. (2012). What Can Mississipp i Learn from Iran? Retrieved from  www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/magazine/what-can-mississippis-health-care-system-learn-from-iran.html?pagewanted=all Kaiser, H. (2009). Mississippi has eighth Highest HIV Rate among Young Adults in  Nation. Retrieved from medicalnewstoday.com/releases/158394.php Magubane, Z. (2008). The American Construction of the Poor White Problem.  South Atlantic Quarterly, 107(4), 691-713. United States Department of Agriculture. (2007). Poverty in Mississippi. Retrieved from usm.edu/poverty/temp_parts/Mahlet/poverty_in_mississippi.html US Census Bureau. (2012). Mississippi Has Highest Poverty and Lowest Income. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/20/news/economy/income-states-poverty/index.html Appendix I Poverty-Free Mississippi Certification Preference will be given to any initiative/organization/business that has poverty-fighting programs. In accordance with section 25(2)(a) of Mississippi statutes, any two or more competitive appeals made to the state for procurement of goods or contractual services can be strongly attractive in terms of cost, value, and services. Therefore, any application received from a business/initiative that manifests that it has implemented any poverty-free plan successfully shall be chosen as the most preferred for the award of carrying out the task. However, to have a poverty-free Mississippi initiative, an organization shall: Engage all the US media platforms (TVs, Radios, and Print) for a three-week awareness campaign on the need for the US government to save the poverty-stricken Mississippi people Inform the US government on the need to have all illiterate children in Mississippi taken to schools free of charge to improve literacy levels of Mississippi state Impose a stern fine to any parent denying his/her child(ren) the free education specified in II Make a tireless effort, assisted by the US government, to uplift the standards of Mississippi state by establishing appropriate laws and regula tions that will help make the Mississippi dream a reality Appendix II Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative Chart