Friends in Action of the Eastern Panhandle Inc.

The need for an organization such as Friends in Action is reflected in the most recent US Census Bureau report, which states that in the Eastern Panhandle WV, approximately 11% of families with children under 18 years of age fall below the poverty level. Even more astounding is the fact that 21.9% of female head of households with children under 18 and 46.9% of female head of households with children under 5 years of age are living below the poverty level in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. This is the population that FIAEP serves. The Eastern Panhandle is significantly under resourced when it comes to the needs of families and children living in poverty. Some of the many obstacles that these families encounter include: -Only 200 emergency shelter and transitional housing beds in the tri-county area -Insufficient low income housing *Extremely limited public transportation (making it nearly impossible for individuals to get to a job or for parents to get children to a daycare provider so that they can work.) -Not enough daycare providers in the tri-county area to handle the need