CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A working group created to “cultivate confidence and trust” in Charleston communities will approach the various issues on multiple fronts, Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said Tuesday.
Goodwin introduced the Charleston Council for Outreach and Empowerment, also known as C-COrE, during a news conference on the steps of city hall Tuesday afternoon.
“C-COrE is going to work closely with the city administration and the public to cultivate these relationships on behalf of those marginalized populations and certainly create additional opportunities for community input,” Goodwin said.
The recent discussion about race that has spawned protests across the country has also been the subject of discussion in Charleston where a handful of peaceful rallies have taken place. Goodwin said those have been “painful conversations but they need to happen and community input is critical.”
Goodwin said she believes C-COrE will be unique because it wont’ focus on just one area of need.
“You can’t solve one problem if we don’t understand and at least entertain the thought that one challenged area in the City of Charleston has many tentacles to it,” she said.
C-COrE is a team of legal experts, job training professionals,health care officials, financial literacy experts, coaches, faith-based leaders and others.
Goodwin said Charleston must act every day with strong intentions to dismantle the lingering racism.
“It does still exist, absolutely, in our country, in this state and without question in this city. C-COrE is going to help us come up with some strategies for moving forward,” Goodwin said.
The group just won’t be another committee, according to Goodwin.
“I hate committees,” she said. “This separates itself because this isn’t a committee. This is a working group. There will be goals, deadlines, accountability and transparency.”
The mayor’s office released the following objectives for C-COrE:
· Cultivating trust and confidence within the community by strengthening connections to and promoting positive and sustainable relationships of mutual understanding and respect among key cultural, educational, social, economic, religious and civic entities.
· Fostering administrative transparency to encourage greater community involvement and to promote positive and healthy partnerships among various entities who are striving to make the City of Charleston a better place to live, work, learn and worship.
· Demonstrating sensitivity and empathy toward community concerns and issues and ensure that those concerns are addressed in a timely and impartial fashion, especially as they relate to public officials.
· Advocating for marginalized populations; impoverished, uneducated, intellectually disabled, victims of domestic violence, and those who have suffered injustice, to ensure their voices are heard, concerns acknowledged, and needs are met.