Poverty is real. It is a way of life that is real for a large portion of our county and for 5.3 million Americans. Poverty is depressing, isolating, hard, tiring, stressful, and just plain terrible. It is a real-life nightmare of not having enough food for your family, or if you will have shelter, heat, water, or the medicine you need to live.
It is having to make the choice between paying your rent or paying your utilities; living without heat or living without a home; having food twice a day or having food every day of the month. It’s a lot of walking and a lot of working at low-paying jobs. It’s working two jobs and leaving your children on their own or being home with the kids and not being able to keep your home.
It is being unemployed or underemployed or not employable or employed at jobs that only pay minimum wage. Poverty can sometimes mean substance abuse, but it usually doesn’t. It can mean any number of things have happened that have spiraled a person into poverty. Or maybe they were born unlucky.
Though the United States has a higher rate of people living in absolute poverty than Nepal and other countries, we are the country who blames those who live in poverty. We do not blame the people in India for living in poverty, or in any other country. We find it easy to blame our countrymen.
The just-world hypothesis explains that we want the world to be fair, so when someone does well, we tend to think it’s because they did something right. And when someone is poor, we like to believe they’ve done something wrong that makes them deserve to live in poverty.
If this is true, poverty won’t happen to us, as long as we only do what we think “good” people do. However, the truth is that most Americans will experience at least a year of poverty in their lifetime. That’s the truth.
So what can we do?
Stop blaming and start helping.
Humanity House has a food pantry that is open eight hours a day, five days a week. Donate food. Or donate money so food can be purchased from the Kansas Food Bank. Donate household and personal items. If you have a few extra dollars that you can spare, a bar of soap, deodorant, shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste or diapers can make someone’s day.
If you are an employer, let us know that you are hiring. People living in poverty don’t always have access to computers or newspapers. Also, please remember that though they may not be as well dressed or as clean as you would like, they probably dressed in the best they had and cleaned up with what was available to them. Instead of judging their appearance, tell them what you expect from an employee and ask them if they need help with proper clothing, shoes and hygiene products or utilities. Then call us.
If someone is without a vehicle, offer them a ride. Get to know someone that you know is living in poverty. See their life in a real way. They laugh, cry, love, argue, joke around, feel hurt, worry, and feel regret just the way that you do. They are human. Be humane.
Help us help those in poverty if you can. Be kind in other ways if you can’t. Take one of our classes when our new building is up and running. Make friends.
We are better than letting money be the great divider in our community. And always remember, kindness matters!
