To the Editor:
On behalf of the families we serve at Family Promise of Beaufort County, we thank Women in Philanthropy, a women’s giving circle and fund of Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, for support of our mission to provide temporary shelter, family stability and permanent housing solutions for homeless families with children.
As a grant recipient, we plan to use these funds to continue to grow our Leap Forward and Staying on Track programs with the goal of breaking the cycle of generational poverty by equipping our families with the skills, resources, financial support, and confidence to achieve long lasting self-efficiency.
We look forward to sharing our familys’ success stories in the months ahead.
Lynda Halpern
Executive Director
Family Promise of Beaufort County
To the Editor:
It caught my eye recently that Rep. Mark Sanford scored the highest in the delegation based on his votes related to reigning in government and spur economic growth from the Club for Growth.
What also caught my eye is the fact that his opponent got an “F” from that same organization in the State House.
It’s one thing to say you’re going to vote with the taxpayer in mind; it is quite another when a politician actually does so. And for that, I’d just like to say thank you, thank you for doing what you said you would do when we elected you.
Joseph S. Iaco
Okatie
To the Editor:
A favorite expression of the late, iconic New York Mayor Ed Koch was, “How’re we doing?”
Answer: Not well!
The U.S., largest economy in the world with a GDP of 16.2 trillion, is no longer the most desirable country to live in.
The U.N. Human Development Index ranks us 8 out of the best 25, using three dimensions of human progress: longevity, financial stability and education.
Yet our life expectancy is one of the highest (79.1 years), our workers the most productive in the world (GNI $52,947) with 95 percent of our population having had at least some high school education.
So, why is our rank dropping?
Let’s look at educational preparation. We invest only 5.2 percent of GDI for education, one of the lowest nations.
Despite ranking third in college attendance, U.S. high school students lag behind their peers throughout the world: reading, 22nd; math, 34th; science, 26th.
An op-ed headline by columnist David Brooks said we are “a nation that’s falling apart.” Since 1990, the number of people who have declared no religious preference has tripled, while more than half of births by mothers under 30 are out of wedlock. He encouraged an agenda that addresses our nation’s social deficiencies.
In conclusion, we need to seriously reexamine our social agenda starting with total educational reform, particularly in science and math. We need higher moral standards and individual integrity, while strengthening family values with reemphasis on parental responsibility.
Our children – the nation’s future.
Earle Everett
Hilton Head Island
To the Editor:
When can we expect a sign at the intersection of Hwy 170 and the Bluffton Parkway? A camera is in place but no sign!
Sheila Armour
Bluffton
To the Editor:
Through another of his myriad over-reaching proclamations, Obama is forcing schools to designate bathrooms and showers as gender neutral facilities, claiming failure to do so violates the civil rights of the LGBT community, which comprises 3.8 percent of the population according to the Center for Disease Control and the Williams Institute among others, and threatening to withhold federal school funding for failure to comply.
What about the civil rights of all the other students? It is my opinion that this federally imposed insanity is actually another covert progressive step toward the moral debasement of this country and the deterioration of the family, using LGBT demands as justification.
Young girls and boys struggle enough with self-esteem and physical image, particularly when peer pressure through social media is relentless, without infringing on their privacy, particularly in the showers, by commingling the sexes because a few individuals identify with the opposite gender.
True transgender issues should be addressed, but this dilemma is too complicated and important to be solved in a one-day decree without considering the rights of all. Obama does the LGBT community no favors by forcing this upon the public at large.
Similar guidelines passed in Charlotte, N.C., regarding public restrooms can be a pedophile’s dream, increasing opportunities for these sexual predators.
Kudos to Texas and North Carolina for legally pushing back against another Obama agenda-driven proclamation that is not the law.
Don Maresca
Bluffton
