Pictured here are the students who went to Propel Ohio. From left to right are Charlie Powers, Jonathan Krebs, Kelsey Demel, and Harper Jones

This past October, Miami University students Charlie Powers, Jonathan Krebs, Harper Jones, and Kelsey Demel traveled to Cleveland State University to attend a Propel Ohio conference. Propel Ohio is an initiative launched by Senator Sherrod Brown’s office in conjunction with various universities throughout the state with a goal of encouraging undergraduates to become civic leaders. Throughout 2018 the dedicated forces behind Propel Ohio have engaged with students on issues related to childhood poverty—specifically food availability, education, and homelessness. Miami University was an eager participant in this event and was able to experience the Propel Ohio initiative first-hand thanks to its student ambassadors.

Charlie Powers, a junior at Miami, helped with the planning of Miami’s involvement with an attendance of Propel Ohio for months in advance. Powers stated that, as expected, “[the] months of planning were well worth it. We were able to have a moving dialogue regarding ways that we can combat childhood poverty in America.” Food deserts were one of the primary topics of conversation at the event. Many impoverished American families live in areas that do not have immediate access to food, thus creating “food deserts”. Kelsey Demel found issues such as this, along with other matters including home eviction and inequities in education, to be key takeaways from the conference. Demel explained that Propel Ohio offered insights into these issues not just from Senator Brown’s office or higher education professionals, but also from specialists in the field of childhood poverty.

While issues facing American children living in poverty were thoroughly addressed, solutions were also a cornerstone to the Propel Ohio conference. One such solution is the introduction of a new grocery store to serve the southwestern side of the state. “The market will be located inside a massive food desert in the Dayton area,” Powers explained. After hearing the action that can be taken to combat issues in childhood poverty, Miami’s students at the event were certainly inspired to engage in civic leadership. Demel articulately reflected the group’s sentiments, saying that she found a desire to “be more aware of how policy changes can affect impoverished people and actively try to seek out ways to help those living in poverty.” Miami was fortunate to have such civic-minded representatives at Propel Ohio and looks forward to the results of the hard work put forth by the Propel Ohio initiative.