In my post last week on poverty, I invited my friend and MHCC member Carolyn Fulghum to jump in to this discussion. I’m grateful that she has done so, with this article. Carolyn is the Community Development Coordinator for the Tennessee Department of Health. Dennis

I do not have any answers about poverty—but I do firmly believe in the value of each and every person because we are each made in His likeness and the blood of Jesus covers us all. As I read your blog, and many of the following comments, I felt a strong desire to back up the conversation and start at the beginning: poverty. We use that term to represent a multitude of situations and conditions. What is poverty? Is poverty completely defined by a lack of food, water and shelter? How does a lack of opportunity play into this? What about race, ethnicity, and culture? Where do physical and mental abilities and illnesses fit into the picture? Is poverty solely an economic issue? If so, then a redistribution of wealth is a simple and guaranteed answer for hunger, thirst, and economic depression. Determination and desire: if one works hard enough and wants it, can every man and woman rise out of poverty. Is poverty an issue of education? If each and every man, woman, and child in the world learned to read and developed basic math skills, would poverty be a thing of the past? Is poverty an issue of morality? If every person is born again, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, and lives a devoutly faithful Christian life, will poverty end? This list continues indeterminately. Poverty is not as simple as paying an electric bill or getting a job.

In the United States, for practical purposes, we simplify poverty and define it by income. For a family of three, the magic number is $17,110. By the nationally understood definition, if you are a family of three and you make more than this amount, you are not living in poverty. Okay, so let’s think about this some more. Minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. A mom with two children only has to work about 64 hours a week, and never miss a day, and her family is not living in poverty. So, since this mom makes more than the poverty threshold, her ability to access support through food stamps, Medicaid, child care assistance, and housing assistance is limited—if existent at all. In our area, this mom might be able to find a small apartment or trailer to rent for about $300 per month. Add another $150 (conservatively) for utilities and food for the month and this family is left with about $300 for gas, daycare, school supplies, medical care, clothes, personal hygiene items…Talk about living without a margin. As long as there are no flat tires, ear infections, lice, dental caries, or field trips, everything will be okay. But this mom has desire and determination—so we know that everything will work out fine for this family, right? We see poverty everyday. We see people struggling to meet basic human needs for things like nourishment, shelter, and sleep. We see this emphatically with people who are homeless but we also see it in the shadows of the working poor families that we encounter routinely.

I hate numbers but I want to us them to challenge our view of poverty. If I say someone came into the church for food, what is your mental image of this person? The demographics of poverty in the U.S. might surprise you. There are about 300,000,000 people in the U.S. and about 37 million of them live in poverty. In Roane County, more thant 15% of our residents live below the poverty line. Most of the people in our county who live below the poverty line are between the ages of 6 and 11 years. The vast majority of local adults who live in poverty are employed at least one job. Most Roane County children who live in poverty are members of families where at least one adult is employed.

So, here is my challenge to you: as we think about poverty and reaching out to people who are in need of material support, let’s each examine ourselves and evaluate whether or not we need to expand our definition of poverty and get rid of some pre-conceived ideas.

Here are some additional things to think about…

…How do the opportunities that a person has in life impact poverty? What about a person’s capacity to take advantage of the opportunity?

…How does motivation impact someone’s ability? Instead of thinking about motivation in terms of work or laziness, think about motivation as the pull of hope as opposed to the pull of despair.

…How do we define rights and privileges? Is having access to indoor plumbing or adequate nutrition a right or a privilege?

…How does our society reinforce poverty?

…Are we “starting where people are” when we try to help them become fully devoted and equipped followers of Jesus Christ? Do we make assumptions about people? Do we pull people of ditches, never find out why the ditches are there, and leave them standing in the eroding ground next to the ditch?

…Do we forget that poverty impacts each and every aspect of our lives? Do we forget that, if we are not living in poverty, it is only because of God’s grace?

…And finally, as we reach out to people, are we only offering charity or are we advocating for justice? If we truly are the hands and feet of Jesus, advocating for justice is imperative. I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Psalms 140:12

Carolyn Fulghum