Destitution In Houston

A poem written by South Carolina pastor, Jeremy Rutledge has given readers a lot to think about. The poem was composed after the great Hurricane Harvey tragedy in Houston. In his poem Rutledge mentions the word pray many times but the meaning of it goes way beyond that. When praying for something it is important to know the aspects and struggles of it, and that is exactly what Rutledge is doing in this poem, stating all the things that make Houston unique, diverse, and capable to rise from it all.

A large amount of research exists pertaining to how schools and teachers can address the issue that come with teaching students living in poverty. In Texas, educational policy needs to reflect a commitment to helping our most vulnerable students and supporting the teaching who work with these students. Schools

This article says, “Too many of America’s most disadvantaged children grow up without the skills needed to thrive in the twenty-first century. Whether in educational attainment between income groups or racial/ethnic groups or across geographic locations—inequality persists.” This creates long-term problems within that community. Meaning people who start out with disadvantages, usually don’t have the skills that the upper class more privileged kids do which help them eventually get jobs and maintain this middle to upper class community. The disadvantages people receive bad jobs and

A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne builds a model for combating poverty by tackling it at the earliest level of perpetuation-in schools. Schools, Payne advocates, should be the first line of defense against encroaching poverty and also the most effective weapon to beat it back. Unlike most economic tools, schools should be fine-tuned and deployed according to strict frameworks. Payne identifies two types of poverty and list eight resources which makes one a candidate. The thrust is thus primarily on how to deal with poverty in schools and how to equip the students with tools and education

My life is propelled from my education. While the daily facades of school walls try their best to dilute the distractions of reality, in my community, I see families sorting through clothing donation boxes and teenagers hanging around gas stations instead of school. Along with the wastes I see accumulate on the street sides, I see a more disturbing waste: the opportunities begotten from poverty that perpetuates my community's hardships.

If you ask a Houstonian about the music scene around town, you would get a pretty bleak answer. Many people seem to believe it starts and ends with Beyoncé. It is especially considered “nonexistent” in comparison to another city in Texas, Austin. Austin has this huge reputation of having a phenomenal music scene and it is even billed as “The Live Music Capital of the World.” Yes, Austin has great local bands and many avid music fans but so does Houston. Even though it’s not extremely renowned, Houston has one of the most influential and diverse music scenes in the country.

According to the Census of 2013 the city of Houston, Texas carries a population of 2.196 million. Houston is located by the Gulf of Mexico in Southeast Texas and is part of the Harris County. Houston is best described as having a humid subtropical weather.

Based on the statistics of Poverty on Texas, I concluded that the poverty rate of Texas children is 7.5% points higher than the poverty rate of the total Texas population. At the age of less than 18 years old, 25% of the children in Texas are dealing with poverty. The poverty rate for Texas is 17.5% which is a huge number when it comes to this situation. There are many different causes of poverty in Texas. These include droughts and flooding’s, natural disasters, social inequality and even having to do with the government by having to afford primary healthcare, food, education, housing and essential goods. Health is a huge

Poverty and citizens’ rights are two of Texas’ main concerns and issues. It affects citizens health care and welfare. National policies are being implemented to solve and decrease poverty rates. Over two hundred programs like Medicaid and Medicare have been put in place to help less fortunate citizens and poverty-related problems. Controversial subjects like abortion laws and regulations are still being discussed and revised. The state is trying to protect people’s rights and provide for the less fortunate.

Unfortunately, the school's lack of appropriate education results directly from poor government funding. So even with hard work, the lower-class student is still held down by his socio-economic status. Poverty-stricken parents are unable to offer their children the same attention and motivation as parents of a higher-class can, therefore never providing these children with the mindset that they are able to accomplish the American dream. According to Mantsios, 40 million Americans live in poverty, and the mental and physical affects the low standard of living has on them is undeniable (Mantsios 328). Citizens who live in poverty work long hours for little pay, yet return to a household that in no way symbolizes the hard work put forth. Within this environment, very few people have the positive outlook to mentor children successfully.

Texas cause of poverty is for various reasons, one of them is a single parent household. Being a single parent comes with a lot of responsibility, there is only one income to maintain the needs of oneself and the children. The annual income will need to cover the basic necessities such as food, shelter, and personal expenses. All these expenses add up leading to

One million people moved into Harris County between 1970-1982. This was the greatest boom anyone had ever seen; this was brought about by the increasing value of oil. In 1980 Houston was a one company town with eighty-two percent of its primary sector jobs tied into the oil industry. Oil was in demand at the price of three dollars and twenty cents in 1972 increased to thirty-two and fifty cents by 1980 Houston was booming, however in 1983 the oil industry collapsed causing one hundred thousand jobs to be lost. This would change the world as Houston and Texans knew it, where as in the past people relied on natural resources from the land such as cotton, timber, cattle and oil, they would now have to rely on their knowledge and skills. The

In El Paso poverty, low income, and low educational status within the community represent difficulties to Children in El Paso. The poverty rate for families in El Paso is significantly higher than the Texas or national rates. Unemployment within the community is higher than the State of Texas (Economic and International Development. 2014). The majority of the families approved for the HOPES program are identified as low income, low wage job, and low education. There are barriers in accessing the basic needs of each family, some applicants are known to have low paying jobs as a contributing factor. Hernandez states “We here at HOPES speak directly to the Schools social worker, the staff at these school specifically acknowledges children who

Poverty is the United States is a major issue and continues to worsen as housing is becoming less affordable for many people across the nation. People that do find housing are often restricted to low-income areas that have few opportunities. In the low income areas there are few jobs and the quality of schools are poor and keep the people in the cycle. To offset this cycle money needs to be put into the education system in these lower income areas to offset this cycle. Education allows for people to have more opportunities and would increase the incentive to live in low-income areas. With a quality education that is equal to the suburbs it would give the children much more opportunities to improve themselves and exit the cycle. This cycle is living in low-income areas gives children a poor education due to the schools lacking money and resources; without the needed education the student is not able to get a good job. Without the well paying job that person is not able to afford housing and has to living in affordable housing that is located in the low-income areas. By breaking this cycle with increased education it is possible for people to get out the cycle that ties them to that area. Education is the foundation to success and it very important that is equal and everyone receives similar opportunities through that education.

In this group project, we discuss two cities – Houston and Dallas about their own background, which we called story and the comparison between them as well. Firstly, this paper will describe the Houston city’s history and background, by using the timeline, it is easy to consider the economy, politic, education and transportation for each of the city chronology. In this way, we can finally discuss the characteristic and opportunity for each of these two cities; thus, give them various suitable solutions for the future plan, which we called blue print, to help the city expansion.