Good Friday Interfaith Stations of the Cross for Social Justice
Poverty, like homelessness, is something no one thinks of themselves as suffering from. Yet, statistically, 13% of Georgians are poor, according to the federal government’s definition. The definition for a family of four is that they are trying to live on less than $20,000, for example. (You can see that many people not officially counted as being poor also have trouble making ends meet. )
Poverty, like homelessness, is something no one thinks of themselves as suffering from. Yet, statistically, 13% of Georgians are poor, according to the federal government’s definition. The definition for a family of four is that they are trying to live on less than $20,000, for example. (You can see that many people not officially counted as being poor also have trouble making ends meet. )
Those of us who believe in the importance of helping our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate have been shocked to watch our government--the one we support with our hard-earned money--reduce benefits in all areas: health care, child care, public transportation, affordable housing, welfare--while costs continue to rise.
Imagine that you are the mother of two young children. You love them deeply, you want the best for them. The children’s father left town last year to look for work, but you haven’t heard from him in a while. Fortunately, you have a steady job taking care of the elderly. You make more than minimum wage, say $8 an hour. (as you math experts can quickly calculate in your heads, that means about $1400 per month, before taxes). According to most guidelines, you should onlyspend about a third of your income on rent. That means you can pay $462 a month on a 2-bedroom apartment in a nice safe neighborhood, with the children sharing a bedroom. Your Mom helps take care of them 2 days a week, but you still have to pay about $100 for child care the other three days. Inexpensive food for the family costs another hundred dollars. You don’t have much left to pay for clothes and diapers and transportation. But you’re lucky, things are going okay.
Until one of the children gets sick. she has to go into the hospital and you have to miss work. Or your car breaks down. Even though your boss is tolerant about giving you as much time off as you need, your job doesn’t have any paid sick leave or other benefits, and you can’t afford to reduce your paycheck by even a day.
You don’t know what’s going to happen to you and your children. Everything is falling down around you. you try to get help from the “safety net” you have heard so many are taking advantage of. But you find it difficult to apply and nearly impossible to qualify for benefits--and they are not enough.
There but for the grace of God go I. Many of us would like to help, but we feel discouraged, and do not have much money to spare.
In Athens, there are many groups working together to help those suffering the effects of poverty. I am on the board of a new non-profit organization called the Stable Foundation. Our mission is to end homelessness by providing housing to families and individuals in need in Athens and the surrounding areas. The Stable Foundation provides housing, in partnership with landlords. Other agencies provide ongoing case management, a care group from a church provides caring support. Our goal is to surround the family with a strong network to help them overcome any barriers to success that are put in their way. If you want to find out more about this group, look at our website: www.thestablefoundation.com.
thanks,
Patty Freeman-Lynde
