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Step Up is a collaboration of Chatham County organizations representing business, government, education, and non-profit agencies.

Leaders, experts and neighborhood residents have come together to address the toughest problem hindering Savannah’s economic development and prosperity: persistent poverty.

Consider these facts:

• Savannah has experienced a high rate of poverty for more than 30 years: In the 2000 census, that rate was 22 percent for the city overall and significantly higher in five census tracts;
• Poverty continues to be disproportionate by race. Single, female heads of household are moving out of poverty more slowly than any other group;
• Nearly 35 percent of the city’s households earn less than $20,000 per year.

From the decennial Census reports of 1980 through 2000, the percentage of residents living in poverty in Savannah declined modestly.

The collaboration began as a task force in 2003 when leaders from different sectors of the community decided they needed to take a more systematic approach to significantly reduce poverty. The poverty reduction task force identified key barriers to self-sufficiency and prepared an action plan.

Step Up is the result of that work.