Talk is good, but action is better.

Poverty is a pressing issue that affects people all over Dallas County. In Selma, 35 percent of residents live at or below the poverty line, and 57 percent of our children are growing up in poverty.

Nearly 100 community leaders gathered Thursday evening for Picnic on the Green at Sturdivant Hall, an event meant to draw awareness to the issue and more or less a sales pitch for the Circles of Transformation program by the Family Resource Center.

Events like this are important because the leaders in our community, be they successful business owners, city council members or government officials, need to talk about the real issues facing our area.

However, talk is only worth so much.

It is easy to talk about poverty. It is incredibly difficult, but much more meaningful, to actually put forth the effort to reduce the effects of poverty in our area.

The Circles method focuses on building relationships within the community to build what is known as social capital.

Programs like this can only work if community leaders are truly devoted to the cause.

And it is our job, as citizens of Selma and Dallas County, to also get behind the cause and fight for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Effort is worth more than any combination of words, so the sooner we can start seeing some volunteer efforts in our community, the sooner we will see real, tangible change.

Multiple people interviewed at the Picnic on the Green said our area suffers from a poverty of hope.

Hopelessness plays a key role in the cycle of poverty because people believe that there is nothing better to strive for.

Hope for the poorest residents of Selma and Dallas County must come from within. And action on the issue of poverty