By Carmela Jones, MNS
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” -Mother Teresa
My husband, Jay, is an incredible man. His mantra is "being poor is hard." Ponder this: you and I go to our washer/dryer combo inside our home to do our laundry. A poor person has to transport their clothes to the nearest laundromat and bring coins and laundry soap with them while taking public transportation or even walking.
Jay creates ways to help those less fortunate through his businesses and through the charitable efforts he starts and becomes involved in. He has an amazing story himself. He was once an executive that found himself struggling and living temporarily under a freezing, bridge during an icy, Chicago winter.
When he recalls that time in his life, I see the pain in his eyes as he reflects on how difficult it was to find a meal, to get his clothes clean, or even to clean himself up. There's something about being in that situation that not only robs you of your physical needs, but also strips you in spirit as well; it chips away at your dignity and your self-worth.
Poverty is a real thing in America. According the U.S. Census Bureau (USCB) for 2017 estimates, 12.3% of the country's population live below the official poverty level; that's more than one in ten people (Semega, Fontenot, & Kollar, 2018). Think of 100 people you might know. What if 12 of them lived on less than $2 everyday? That's what the stats are telling us.
Every county in every state is touched by these numbers; there is nowhere that is immune to poverty in the U.S.A. The numbers are getting worse. The rest of the world fares slightly better at 10% (Howton & Imtiaz, 2018); that's down from 11% in 2013. Many in that condition are families of four (2 adults and 2 children under 18).
That is overwhelming for one person to figure out how to help. What can one person do, really? In the next blog, I will describe a personal situation and what I did as an educator in different settings, along with other people, to try to solve our poverty problem locally. Thinking like a Modeler had a huge impact for me on what we did. Stay tuned.
References:
Howton, E., & Imtiaz, H. (2018, September 19). Decline of Global Extreme Poverty Continues but Has Slowed: World Bank. In The World Bank. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/09/19/decline-of-global-extreme-poverty-continues-but-has-slowed-world-bank
Semega, J; Fontenot, KR; Kollar, MA. Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017. Census Bureau, September 2018.
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