Poverty is Difficult to Navigate
Poverty seems to have this way of keeping people down and contained within the misery it creates. Generational poverty is very real and the comorbidities of poverty are vast. The increased incidence of mental health issues, drugs, and violence are exponential compared to the same concerns affecting people of middle and upper classes. Overall, poverty affects about 20% of the American population. Dependence upon communities and government for tangible assets, such as food and hygeine products, is relatively normal for those affected by poverty. For some, it is simply the way life is – it’s all they know. For others, it’s an abyss they cannot get out of fast enough.
My Catalyst for Change
My childhood was spent in poverty. I endured the violence of it, the scarcity, the abuse, the drugs, the trauma, the neglect. When I was 22, my son was nearly two years old when I realized that I could not raise him in the same environment that I had experienced as a child. The environment was not acceptable to me and I wanted better for him and for us. I was a single mom and the best I could offer him at that time was just not enough to give him the opportunities he deserved to have as he grew.
It was at that time I decided to go to college. I did not realize it then, but the most guaranteed method of permanently getting out of poverty is by taking advantage of educational opportunities. I needed knowledge and information that would help me build a life suitable for my son. I needed access to people who had better ideas on how to navigate life and earn more money. I needed to be around people who also wanted more in their life because the desire to grow can be contagious.
The College Journey
I started with my associates degree in business management. I remember when it was time to select an agency for my internship, I told my advisor that I wanted to find a charitable organization to intern with. I was very adamant about it, actually, because the spark of altruism had been ignited in me by this point. He ended up placing me with the foundation at the college I attended. The foundation was working on an annual event they host to raise money for scholarships and it was here that I began to learn tools for helping others.
When I was 28, I returned to college to get my bachelors degree. It was no longer enough to have an associates degree. I wanted more out of life with greater opportunities to build wealth. I knew without a doubt at this point that education was the answer for so many of the life goals I had developed. To this day, while I do not continue to persue education in a traditional setting, I still persue it where I can in an effort to enhance my life. There are so many ways to capture information these days – webinars, seminars, certificate and training programs, and documentaries, to name a few.
Shifting the Way We See Poverty
There’s a book by Dr. Ruby Payne called “Bridges Out of Poverty” and it shed a lot of light into my life about the causes for some of my life experiences, as well as the tools that can be used to get out of poverty. On average, it takes about 10 years for someone to work their way out of poverty. It seems like a long time and it does take a lot of effort. It’s worth it, though, to have stability and consistent resources available in ones life. It can be done.
My heart has deep compassion for those affected by poverty because I haved lived it. I realize I cannot change the world nor can I eradicate poverty – it’s just not possible. What I can do, when the opportunity presents, is help change the life of one person. We all have people enter our lives, whether momentary or long term, who make an impact or are the catalyst for our motivation to improve our existence. We need these people to affect our lives so we can grow as a person and as a society.
It is My Hope…
It is my hope that through my stories you begin to understand poverty in a comprehensive way. It is my hope that you develop compassion and understanding for those who are different or less fortunate than yourself. It is my hope that you will journey with me to learn more about humanity and ask how you, too, can help affect the world in a positive way.
Until next time…
Peace and love,
Jessica ❤️
