In response to your interview with Dr. Jeff Kaczorowski ("Ghosts from the Cradle" August 13):

The real question concerning supporting our poorest children is whether we as a region have the will to do it. Your interview appeared the same week that the Brookings Institution issued its report on working poverty. It found that the level of poverty among the working poor nationally increased 41 percent in the first five years of this decade. The last two and a half years will likely show a more dramatic loss.

Rochester has the fourth greatest increase in poverty of 58 cities and metropolitan areas in the study. Meanwhile, the state is cutting support for day care and for the Rochester Surround Care (Children's Zone) initiative. Jeff Kaczorowski said, "I am scared as could be about what could happen for kids and families." Dr. Kaczorowski has always allowed his heart to break over kids. It is the kind of moral courage that all of us need.

Our region has great wealth side by side with severe poverty. While there are hundreds of people working to make things right, many of us have by default expected government to intervene.

It is clear that we are the people we have been waiting for. The Coalition for the Beloved Community has been working for nearly two years to address the root causes of violence. We found a lot of hopelessness in poor neighborhoods and a lot of compassion in the region. This current crisis is our opportunity to connect the two and create Martin Luther King's Beloved Community.

The Coalition for the Beloved Community has lifted out 10 community standards from the testimony of 500 of our neighbors. One of them reads: "Every child is our own." The children Jeff Kaczorowski speaks about belong to all of us. Thousands of us believe that.

It means that we will not let our children down. The splendid work that the Children's Agenda and countless others are doing to make sure that mothers get good prenatal nutrition and good parenting skills, and that newborns are stimulated to get their brains wired in a healthy way is just good sense for all of us. To neglect these proven practices is to fail our kids and to bequeath ongoing hardship on to the next generation.

The Coalition for the Beloved Community vision statement begins: "The Rochester New York region is known for a spirit of generosity. Embracing a shared vision and shared sacrifice, we commit our collective labor, creativity, passion and wealth to our beloved community."

Our great wealth can bring enormous joy when it is shared, both for the families and the givers. It is clear that this region has the capacity to respond with a generosity we have not known for decades, even in the midst of economic challenges - especially in the midst of economic challenges. When our investments in money are not bringing a return, our investments in kids and families will guarantee a return.

Now let us put together our good brains, our hopeful spirits, and our economic resources to change this place, not only for our children, but for us all. We can become the Beloved Community.

THE REV. RICHARD NEWELL MYERS, SCOTTSVILLE

THE REV. ROY HEDMAN, ROCHESTER

Myers is past president, Greater Rochester Community of Churches. Hedman is president of the Baptist Ministers' Alliance.