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Ruby Payne Spoke About Poverty In A Framework For Understanding

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Ruby Payne spoke about poverty in A Framework for Understanding Poverty in a way that is helpful for my church to further understand the issue of poverty in our community. The attributes of this book will help my church to better serve and address issues regarding poverty throughout our church and throughout our community. Some of the key points that resided with my thoughts were that “poverty occurs in all races and in all countries.” (Payne, 10) As much as I believe this is common sense, common sense is not so common to everyone. There are so many stereotypes of what poverty looks like. The idea of who poverty affects has been a misleading depiction that predominantly focuses on specific racial or geographical sectors. It is…show more content…
As I have read, “individuals leave poverty for one of four reasons: a goal or a vision of something they want to be or have; a situation that is so painful that anything would be better; someone who ‘sponsors’ them (i.e., an educator or spouse or mentor or role model who shows them a different way or convinces them that they could live differently); or a specific talent or ability that provides an opportunity for them.” (Payne, 79) Emphasizing to my congregation that stereotypes need to be broken regarding poverty is essential in educating them. “Being in poverty is rarely about a lack of intelligence or ability.” (Payne, 79) The necessity of having emotional resources is what I recognized as important as we posted class discussions this week. Also, working in social services I can recognize the impact that emotional resources have on the impoverished people that I have met. “Emotional resources are the most important of all resources because, when present, they allow the individual not to return to old habit patterns.” (Payne, 17) Educating my church about these aspects can help them become positive emotional resources for residents in the community that face poverty. Educating my church about poverty will allow them to be resources in a way that they were not previously. I believe that education is the first step in empowering people to recognize their impact in helping to reduce poverty.
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