A National Issues Forum titled “Making Ends Meet” will be held Tuesday, Nov. 29 at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. The public is invited to participate in this Kansas Town Hall discussion in the Visitors Center auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m

“According to the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), the recovery from the 2007 recession that officially began in 2009, feels very remote or nonexistent for many Americans,” said Pam Sanfilippo, Education Specialist, Eisenhower Presidential Library. “Even as the stock market surges and millions of jobs have been created, they see a very different picture.”

The NIFI presents a framework that asks: “What should we do to make sure Americans can achieve economic security?” It presents three possible options for participants to consider:

Option 1) Create New Opportunities
Option 2) Strengthen the Safety Net
Option 3) Reduce Inequality

Participants will gather in small groups to discuss the options. Each group will be led by a trained facilitator and use an issue discussion guide. They will consider what might be done and what the trade-offs and downsides may be for each option. In closing, the small groups will join in a larger discussion comparing notes.
Sanfilippo will moderate the forum in Abilene assisted by trained table facilitators from K-State’s Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy. The Kettering Foundation and the NIFI are partnering with Presidential Libraries to hold these forums across the nation this fall.

The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit research institution studying what it takes to make a democracy work. National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization rooted in the notion that people need to come together to reason.

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Story by Samantha Kenner