Poverty Walk Reflection

Imagine coming home to a house that has no warmth or food. Constantly feeling like you are in a place you can’t get out of. This is how poverty may feel to others. The expeirences from the author Jo Goodwin Parker in the story “What Is Poverty” and the McBride family from the novel “The Color Of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute To His White Mother” show that there are various effects of living in poverty that include emotional problems, adolescent rebellion, and

The text Changing the Face of Poverty by Diana George and the text Homeless on Campus by Eleanor J. Bader deals with the main idea of poverty in its different forms across America. The authors want to prove that people are turning a blind eye towards poverty because many people do not see it in their everyday lives. If the rising destitution in America would be acknowledged, programs such as Habitat for Humanity and the LeTendre Education fund could be more efficient in tending to the needs of those in poverty. The authors explore how homelessness/poverty is inaccurately portrayed by organizations or people, inhumane and abusive conditions in poverty infused homes, and how the two female authors use similar appeals throughout their

By learning about the poverty in not only the city of Buffalo, but also the rest of the country, it inspires me to step up and be engaged in my community even more. We have learned so much about how things like the education you receive and what neighborhood you grow up in can heavily affect your future. In one of the readings from week 4, when the author is discussing poverty, he says, “What I see is the failure of society. I see a society that let that happen, that is not doing what it should. And it’s very sad” (Pilkington 25).

Linda Tirado, author of Hand to Mouth Living in Bootstrap America, tells her story of what it’s like to be working poor in America, as well as what poverty is truly like on many levels. With a thought-provoking voice, Tirado discusses her journey from lower class, to sometimes middle class, to poor, and everything in between. Throughout the read, Tirado goes on to reveal why poor people make the decisions they do in a very powerful way.

Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America was the first book of its type that I’ve ever read, a real life analysis of what its like to “live in poverty,” working minimum wage jobs trying to make ends meet day in and day out. It was an intriguing story of how a woman with plenty went on to document how she lived without and I found that Ehrenreich’s commentary throughout the book offered a refreshing perspective to the usual conversation that surrounds poverty; she never thought that she was better or better off than those she met working low-paying jobs, and she was always conscious of how race intersected with class throughout her so-called field experiment.

The Denver community is working to help alleviate this cycle of poverty from their community. It was great to see that even though this is a huge problem in Denver they are taking steps, however small in light of the current situation, to improve their community. On our trip, we worked with DenUM Urban Ministries which is one such place trying to educate the public and help give aid to those who are homeless. Through this program, our group had the opportunity to learn about homelessness through hands-on activities. Showing the logistics of what poverty looks like on a personal level in a families finances and the tough choices

Poverty hits children hardest in the world. When I was younger, the Armenians had faced the hard facts of poverty after they break up with the Soviet Union, war with Azerbaijan, and a devastating earthquake. My family moved into our motherland Armenia while our nation was going through these huge dramatic changes. Furthermore the poor economy and inflation destroyed numerous hopes and futures. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit, describes his hardships involving poverty living on Spokane reservation. The people on the reservation are stuck in a prison of poverty. They are imprisoned there due to lack of resources and general contempt from the outside world, so they are left with little chance for success. Like Arnold, I also went through hardships regarding poverty and education.

Words provoke preconceived ideas and images in the mind, when it comes to a situation like poverty these preconceived notions can have undesirable and unintended consequences. Diana George examines the semantics and the imagery of the word poverty in her article titled “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation. While also addressing the issue of the perception poverty and what someone in poverty truly looks like (676). Prof. George is arguing that organizations like Habitat for Humanity, which are created to help people in poverty actually perpetuate the wrong image of what someone in poverty looks like (678). Most organizations created to help those in need, especially those in the US tend to portray poverty as what is seen and thought of as living conditions in Third World countries (683). In reality, poverty is all around each and every one of us in this country on a daily basis, and people might not always recognize it for what it is (681,682). Furthermore, the majority of people living in poverty in the United States do not live like or look like someone living in a Third World country. But in reality they are still living in poverty nonetheless (682,683). Organizations that portray people living in poverty here in the US as totally devastated and completely impoverished are doing a disservice to the people they are attempting to help. Consequently, by doing this they are giving a limiting idea of what someone living in poverty

Nelson Mandela once said, “Poverty is not natural it 's man-made.” This quote states that a person can overcome poverty if one has the desire to live a better life. In a novel called Poor People written by William T. Vollmann, the author travels around different countries and places to learn about poor people and to get a global perspective view. While interviewing different kinds of people, Vollmann would ask them one question: why are you poor? Looking at people 's answers Vollmann noticed that some of the people gave quite interesting answers. Vollmann went through a lot of situations where he just couldn 't imagine what life would be if he was ever to live like that. Another novel that has a similar poverty situation is called Let The Water Hold Me Down, written by Michael Spurgeon. Hank, the main character of the novel, experiences a tragic moment in his life. Losing his wife and daughter while drowning, this tragedy left him feeling like it’s all due to his miscarrying about them. His life becomes full of sorrow, and the only way out it was to go to Mexico to his friend’s place and restart his life over. In a new country of Mexico, this story takes place. Even though he had money, a house, and friends’ support, he still experienced lots of pressure trying to survive in Mexico. Poverty has different meanings in everyone 's lives but by reading these two novels, there are three similarities that can be made about people living in poverty.

A strength of this approach was her ability to live, not just research the topics since she was fully immersed. Since she actually works low-wage jobs and lives in low budget places, such as trailer parks, she gains a unique perspective to her research topic. When she compares her fellow workers' living conditions at Hearthside, for example, with her own "$500 efficiency," she exemplifies America's socioeconomic gap with a personal flair, not just merely research scope. Her Introduction directly confronts this issue: "Unlike many low wage workers, I have the further advantages of being white and a native English speaker." Since her data derives from case studies of real people, their narratives make the book more authentic and connect me on emotional, not just academic levels.

The “challenge” of living in simulated poverty is only half of what the Two Dollar Challenge is really about. The other side is doing the fourteen readings, short stories, and blog posts and five films. These readings focused on topics surrounding the “white-savior industrial complex” and how local people are working to solve their communities’ problems. The conversations that took place surrounding these readings and films were also helpful when analyzing some of the more controversial articles.

I attended my 1st Poverty Simulation my Junior year and assumed the role of a single mother with a live-in boyfriend. I was randomly assigned my role and only had the background information contained in the folder to guide my character. There were vendors situated around the room that performed different tasks. There was a police man and a thief that added more stressors to the stimulation. The “weeks” were in 15-minute intervals and there was a total of four weeks. During each week, you were required to do numerous tasks such as pay

Throughout the United States, homelessness and poverty have become an overwhelming issue. From people losing their jobs to others having to give up their homes, nearly 14.5 percent of Americans experience some type of poverty. This could look like a small percentage to some but in reality, it's more than 45 million people. While this number may be decreasing, the stereotype of those who are in poverty still remains. It is often thought that those in poverty are non-educated addicts and are generally criminal people. This, however, fails to be proven true. In my personal experiences, it was believed that the homeless and impoverished were of a lower social level and it was easy to assume the poor were in their walk of life for more reasons than simply not having money. Drugs, crime, and poverty all seemed to have the same definition.

Today I began the first day of my Poverty walk. Prior to start of this experience, I took note of the simple foods I could eat that would remain within the spectrum of $3.25. I concluded that Ramen noodles, applesauce, and black beans would build up the majority of what I will be eating this week. If money is available, I will include a tiny serving of meat to my meal. I am fortunate enough to live in close proximity to my classes and was able to skip the bus fare by walking. For lunch, I ate a generous serving of Ramen noodles that I have bought for $0.29 per one pack. Due to the lack of additional nutrients, my slight hunger never subdued. If one limited meal was enough to cause discomfort in my stomach, how am I to continue a whole week of this process? It is day one of my Poverty walk, and I already have gained a respect for individuals experiencing this calamity on a day to day basis.