UNC anti-poverty center and Edwards gain from each other (AP)

UNC anti-poverty center and Edwards gain from each other
It gave him platform to discuss issues; he helped it get money, speakers
Wednesday, January 17, 2007--Associated Press
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CHAPEL HILL, NC--While director of an anti-poverty center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former Sen. John Edwards helped draw major speakers and big donors.
That kind of work helped the privately financed Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity become a permanent institution that will last beyond Edwards' tenure, center supporters say. Edwards stepped down last month as director to run for president.
"There was skepticism both within and outside the university whether this would be a genuine academic, worthwhile exercise," said Jack Boger, the dean of the university's law school. "My opinion is that it has exceeded everyone's expectations."
The center - housed in the law school - was designed to focus on research to find ways to alleviate poverty. Academics, activists, researchers and those running community programs all have become a part of the center's work.
Edwards worked with UNC Chapel Hill to set up the nonpartisan center in early 2005, three months after his failed bid for the White House as the running mate to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. For Edwards, the center provided a platform to travel the country discussing poverty, which he focused on heavily during his own presidential run before joining the Kerry ticket.
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In the past two years, the center has held forums, panels and other programs in which experts talked about issues ranging from health insurance to job training. Speakers included AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and former Republican Rep. Jack Kemp.
In April, the center will publish a book of essays about ending poverty in the United States.
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Read the rest here.

He has personally worked to help people...giving college scholarships, working to unionize, pushing WalMart to provide health care.

Go JRE.