Poverty & Homelessness

October 1, 2000 is a date I can't seem to forget.  Nothing earth shattering for the world, my community or even my family happened on that date.  It has no significance in comparison to the history making event of November 4, 2008.  However, it is a date that began a new journey for me professionally and personally. On that date I attended a workshop where I first heard the phrase "Hidden Rules of Economic Class".  It was also the first time I heard of the book "Bridges out of Poverty" by Dr. Ruby Payne, Phil Devol and Terri Smith. 

I hope mercy will be extended to me as a stump and bump along with my first blog. It has been my desire for some time to contribute in some way on a number of issues concerning deliberate misconceptions set forth by conservatives and those who are encouraged by them. Homelessness is one of those issues. Homeless people have been labeled as drug-addicts, drunks, or just plain lazy. The Reagan Administration in 1987 instituted budget cuts that virtually put disabled veterans from the VA hospitals and those being cared for in nursing homes onto the streets because they were required to show financial need to receive care and those who were not put out received reduced care. This is from an ideology that glorifies the military.

Overall, Fair Trade sounds like a wonderful way to empower those who have been historically exploited by corporations.  This is because Fair Trade allows for these individuals to directly profit from their hardwork; in addition, it also acts as a way to empower them by acknowledging their cultural heritage.  In this sense, the ability to Fair Trade is a reputable one--specifically for those who have been historically and economically disenfranchised .

Education is the main Key to eradicate poverty.

A society or individual  can not eradicate poverty except there is an enlightened mind.

A mind that is full of knowledge will be able to see opprtunity when it is coming on its way.

Poverty is basically a product of underlisted issues which are  ignorance, carlessness and bad decisions.

Ignporance

When you have the right knowledge you will be able to use the opportunity that comes across your way and also be able to identify the resources at your disposal and make a good use of it.

Every mans limitation is basically his ignorance, which when knowledge apperas it dissaperas.

Today we're joining blogs all across the internet to raise awareness about poverty. What a perfect opportunity to share with you "Twenty Questions: Social Justice Quiz 2008" by Bill Quigley. If we as Christians, are called to have a heart for justice and to cry out on behalf of our neighbor who has not - should we not educate ourselves about what's happening? Here's a little dose of reality:

Here is an excellent Bible Study on poverty written by Marc Henkel, Here's Life Inner City Staff in Chicago: http://thenewculture.org/only-here/poor-mh-2/

Excerpt:

In honor of Blog Action Day, this post will discuss this year's theme: poverty. Here are three ways the arts can make a positive impact on poverty.

Today is Blog Action Day, a day meant to bring about awareness of poverty throughout the world. So often I think that we focus on the poverty existing in underdeveloped countries across oceans and time lines. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word poverty is the deteriorating family structure in America. So many of the children who enter foster care and never leave are from homes that sit way below the poverty line. Poverty in America means drugs, crime and promiscuity, just as it means those things in other nations.

About a year ago, in the little known city of Bryan, TX, a radical outreach to the impoverished was started by a group of college students, Christians, social workers, and community members.  This outreach was not organized by a church or a denomination.  It was not the brain child of a global organization attempting to stamp out poverty and social injustice.  It was born from a group of people coming together to do something good for the poor.

The Food of Poverty – by David Bowring
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Often when people think of helping the poor, they think of one-time events, like free Thanksgiving dinners or toy giveaways at Christmas. While these events are not bad in themselves, they do not have the lasting impact of community development work.

What is meant by community development? In essence, it is a community-directed process by which the poor are able to gain the skills needed for their economic well-being, with the assistance of those who initiated the community development work. Both FASTEN and the CCDA provide more resources on how community development works, and how it differs from regular charity efforts. For an introduction, read Dr. Wayne Gordon's essay "The Eight Components of Christian Community Development."

After the recent hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, it is good to ask the question; what are we doing? Pretty vague question, I know.

Those were the repeating words of a woman sitting in the corner.  I met her last week near by Coolidge Corner in Boston.  I stood not too far from her pretending to be busy.  I felt that she had the fidelity life of a prairie Jack-rabbit flirting and hopping from one lover to another, because as I took a glimpse at her, she juggled between a forced look of desperation and a lack of interest. I was a bit furious by her lack of intent; she could've watched the Red Sox lose to the Yankees, and still say not a darn thing about it.  I want some explanations; I want some necessity for and the conditions of her character development. I ended up giving her whatever the money in my back-pocket. 

 Surely the mendicant pilgrim is constantly dependent on the wills – the charity – of others. Definitively speaking, to the extent to which a man/woman’s fate is dependent on others, his/her own life escapes out of his/her hands and his/her intelligence.  Simply put, I am raising the question of ‘why not control the course of your own life?’  And please, let me do the honor of clearing up any room for ambiguity with that statement. Here, the ‘control’ means responsibility: one’s own understanding of the situation in which one is placed. Again, don’t get me wrong, we actively submit ourselves to God’s authority; however, one of the ways of being reactive to His love is engendering responsibility. The overuse of the word ‘responsibility’ has diffused the word, giving only a slight punch of a butterfly wing. But, think of The Parable of the Talents, we each are given this amazing liberating force against the popular trend of specialization: the society objectively describing what is useful and what is not.

The good news.  The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov) lastest report indicates a decline in homelessness across the country.  The Planning and Development Network's website asks "if this is too good to be true?"  Why the skepticism?