I am writing to voice my support for Proposition 1, the Bellingham Home Fund.

In my years of working with businesses and human services organizations, I have come to realize the undeniable interdependence between economic prosperity for communities and breaking the cycle of poverty for children.

If we hope to build vibrant and prosperous communities, we must be able to attract businesses and industries that offer not only the quantity of jobs it takes to assure adequate employment, but also the levels of wages and salaries that equate to economic vitality.

To attract these employers, we must be able to provide an educated and capable workforce in sufficient numbers. If children are not given the opportunity to achieve the requisite education and skills, our prospects for good employment and economic growth is nothing more than a dream.

Every child deserves to grow up safe, secure and healthy, able to take full advantage of educational opportunities. Without a place to call home - a safe place to live, a bed of their own to sleep in, the kind of nutrition and health care that come with it - they cannot hope to acquire the education and skills needed to create a world better than that they were born into.

Let's do our part to make sure every child gets the future they deserve by enabling them to create the future we all want. Vote "yes" for the Bellingham Home Fund.

Terry Belcoe

Bellingham