Pathways to Progress. Volume I: Community Development Challenges for San Angelo, Texas and Surrounding Communities

In 2011, we at Community Development Initiatives (CDI) met with Jack Cowan and Mike Kelly, editors of the San Angelo Standard Times newspaper. We sought approval to write a monthly article for the paper that would focus on stimulating thought and discussion about the social problems facing residents of San Angelo and the Concho Valley on a daily basis. We believe that such discussion is a key path to progress. The problems CDI deals with often focus on residents that seem most troublesome to many citizens. They concern the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the youth, the unemployed and the racial/ethnic minority members of the community. Jack and Mike were enthusiastic about our proposal and they have been staunch supporters ever since the publication of our initial article in August of 2011. Since that article, the Standard Times published monthly articles for more than five years. Those articles comprise our Pathways to Progress series.