Good luck to anti-poverty director Leonard Brock

On Friday, Leonard Brock, Ph.D., showed up for his first day on the job. He is now the director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative. Brock is an impressive man who has demonstrated commitment to families and children living in our poorest neighborhoods, like the one he grew up in. But he is taking on what will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge of his professional life — past and future — and we have a few words to say to him.

First, it can be done.

For proof, take a look at the children's poverty rate in the United Kingdom. According to the bipartisan, national children's advocacy organization, First Focus, the U.K. cut its child poverty rate in half during the 2000s. This was the result of a very deliberate attack, launched by Tony Blair, who was prime minister at the time. His strategy included putting more people to work, supporting families with children, and making sure young kids got off to a good start — both in terms of their health and education.

It can also be a losing battle.

For proof, take a look out the window. Rochester is the only city in America where more than half the children live in poverty. It also has the highest rate of extreme poverty, with 16.2 percent of its population living below 50 percent of the federal poverty level. We are the worst of the worst.

It's not that we have all been sitting around, doing nothing. Instead, we have been trying all sorts of things, accomplishing nothing.

"The numbers show we are far from making headway on this," Ann Johnson, director of ACT Rochester, said during a presentation to members of the Editorial Board and staff members at the Democrat and Chronicle last week. "In fact, it's been getting worse."

This is due, in part, to our inability to put together a cohesive force to fight the battle. The anti-poverty initiative could be the closest we've ever come, but there are many holes in our ranks.

Already, there are those who feel slighted, not having been directly invited to join the initiative. There is unease among nonprofits, which could be facing new community priorities and increasing scrutiny for data-driven results. There are skeptics, who logically question how a massive committee structure can make any real progress. There are the impatient, pressuring for immediate results — sometimes at the expense of long-term success. There are the unmotivated, who have no interest in changing the status quo. There are those who want it done my way, or the highway. There are those of little faith, who question the abilities and motivation of the initiative's leaders.

This is an incomplete listing of characters, but it provides a sense of what we are hearing. Rochesterians want to alleviate poverty, but desire alone is not nearly enough.

"People don't want to go through the process of getting to a better Rochester," Mayor Lovely Warren so aptly pointed out at a recent Editorial Board meeting.

We urge Brock to be as transparent and open as humanly possible. Publish goals, report progress, answer questions, provide information, listen and respond every step of the way.

We also urge Brock to be courageous. Change will require systems to break, and people to compromise — or let go.

Finally, and most important, we wish Brock well. This could be a time of historic change in Rochester, or it could be another heartbreaking disappointment for those who are suffering the most.