KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday, Change Center Knoxville transformed into a space where solutions could form and problems could potentially find answers.
"We want to get past opinions and get to some genuine facts about what we can do," Tennessee State Rep. Rick Staples, D-Knoxville, said.
The conversation centered around workforce development, but the core issues hit on poverty and access, which Staples said pose problems for many communities.
"African Americans in Knox County lead the state and are nationally ranked when it comes to poverty," he said.
U.S. Census Bureau data shows the poverty rate for African Americans over time has hovered over 30% for many years, while the city's overall rate is several percentages lower.
"It's always good to talk about solutions," community member Damon Rawls said. "There are a lot of smart people in city government and county government who've identified the problems. Now let's identify the solutions."
When he looks at the community, part of the problem he sees is access.
"There's not a lot of job opportunity in East Knoxville," he said.
For many people, he believes that is a key barrier that only leads to another hurdle, which is transportation.
"It has gotten better, but it is still difficult to get people in a tough area to a place where jobs are plentiful," he said.
Views like Rawls' were shared with elected officials from the City County Building to the Board of Education, which he said matters.
"Let's start executing the solutions," he said.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development helped spearhead the community conversation. Staples said it'll take more investment from the community as a whole to see the numbers change.
"To try to attack this... to make sure we are never here again and that there will be a next step," Staples said.