hungerandhomelessness-blog

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Flat.

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Adjuncts in Poverty: When Hunger has a PhD

“How is it that a solid work ethic is not an adequate defense against extreme poverty?” ― Kathryn Edin, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbWFcqbefMs

(Watch the video before reading)

I am an immigrant. I came to this country because my parents believed that there would be better opportunities for me. They wanted me to have a better future. Of course, I grew up being taught that going to college and getting an education was a way to have financial security for the rest of my life. You can imagine my surprise over the summer when my professor showed this video in class and explained to us that over 30,000 PhD holders and university professors are on food stamps.

That shocked every part of me. I could not believe it. It did a couple of things to me and created a couple of thoughts. The first thought I had is described above in the qoute by Edin. I could not believe that people who worked at universities and taught classes were on welfare. How was it possible that their job was not enough to keep food on the table? They were not uneducated people who had to hold a starter job. They were professors and PhD holders. They had as much education as they could get, but it did not stop them from having to figure out a way to make ends meet.

The second thing I thought about were stereotypes. Sometimes we think that hunger only has one face. It’s the mentality of “if you look hungry, you must be hungry”. We do not think that maybe people who dress well are also struggling with food insecurity. That maybe those people are also struggling to pay their bills. In the same way that you don’t always have to be poor to be homeless. you also do not have to be homeless to be poor. Poverty and hunger have many faces, but we refuse to see them. We like to ignore them. Because it’s just easier. Poverty makes us uncomfortable but not in the way it should. We get uncomfortable when a smelly person walks up to us and ask us for some money. That’s not what should make us uncomfortable. What should make us uncomfortable is the fact that there are people who have to live that way.

I also found myself going back in time and thinking about all the professors I had had in the past, all of the adjuncts I had had. Had they been on welfare? Did my professors ever come to class hungry? We sit in classes and joke about the fact that we are all broke without realizing that maybe our professors are on that same boat. How did we get to this point?

What I’m I supposed to do? How do I tell my parents that maybe there is no worth in my education? Maybe there is no worth in getting a PhD.

The system has to change. Colleges have to change. We must hold them accountable for this. This is not fair. Not to us as students, and certainly not to our professors.

I urge you to sign the petition below and donate to the cause if you can

http://www.bravenewfilms.org/professorspetition

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A fascinating look at some medical research done by university students in Alabama. People in the U.S seem to think that deep levels of poverty only exist in the third world. In reality, they exist in our neighborhoods as well. Hookworm is an intestinal parasite that affects energy level. This fact alone helped create the stereotype of the lazy and lethargic southern redneck. In reality, these people are not lazy, they are sick because they do not have adequate access to clean water. None of the people tested in the study had traveled outside of the United States. They consumed the parasite through the water system in their own neighborhood.

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This is an interesting article that highlights the different ways in which people experience poverty even though they come from the same environment.

The author critiques a book that talks about poverty in the geographical area that she grew up in. The book seems to reinforce the notion that all you need to do in order to get out of poverty is to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. This was not the author’s experience. To quote the article:

“Yes, I worked hard, but I didn’t just pull myself up by my bootstraps. And neither did Vance. The truth is that people helped us out: My public school’s guidance counselor encouraged me to go to college. The government helped us out: I received scholarships and subsidized federal loans to help pay my educational expenses. The list of helpers goes on.Now that so many people have read “Hillbilly Elegy” this summer, I hope they draw this better moral from the story: Individuals can make a difference in others’ lives, and by providing opportunities for all, our government can do the same. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be legitimate expectations for everyone, “hillbillies” included.”

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Homeless Youth: A Merchandise

“A recent study has estimated that 1 in 5 homeless youth have been trafficked. Within 48 hours of leaving home, 1 in 3 minors are approached by a trafficker. People of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and other factors can put specific youth even more at risk.”

There is a page on Facebook that I follow. It is called The Abolitionist Movement. It is directed towards ending human trafficking. Recently they posted this picture with the statistics you see above. I was not shocked by it, but I was broken by it.

Generally when we think of human trafficking, we do not think about the United States. Last year, the Abolitionist Movement released a report stating that the busiest day for human trafficking in the world happens to be SuperBowl Sunday. The biggest location where it happens? Mall of America. These are striking statements to Americans, because we forget that these issues happen at home. But they do.

This is real life for 34% of the homeless population in America. We are failing them. We are LETTING them be trafficked and abused. We are letting these kids become merchandise. Often times we forget that a high percentage of homeless youth is parenting as well. They become parents at a young age and end up on the streets for a variety of reasons. In that case, it is not one, but two people who are homeless. We scoff at them and judge them before we even think of understanding them. We judge them and become unwilling to help them. When we pass them by, it does not cross our mind that maybe in 48 hours they’ll be approached by a pimp and become a victim of human trafficking. They will go from being homeless to being a slave.

But they do not have to. These are not all the options they could have.

They are not a problem that we need to solve. They are people that we need to help. These children need to be provided with options, with housing, with decent wages, and mentoring opportunities. They need to be taught how to cope with trauma. Communities need to come together to solve these issues for homeless youth. Homelessness is never black and white. There is no one way to solve things. But it requires people who are willing to try. It is inhumane for us not to find solutions to this. If we want to fight human trafficking, we need to help homeless youth.

We need to change the way we think about poverty in America. We need to change the way we think about youth in America. Change begins in the mind first. We need to educate ourselves on this issue. On the link below you can read up on some more facts about homeless youth. Fight back against human trafficking, fight against homelessness.

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-homeless-teens

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I’m echoing Carol Aldape, a homeless Chicagoan, said“We can turn around and take a children’s hospital, tear it down and build up a complex for luxurious apartments, but we can’t take care of people that need a little help?” And she’s right! Chicago’s already closed schools and mental health clinics in many low income communities since 2013 because we don’t have the money to keep them open, but they have money to spend on “construction” on viaducts (that probably don’t even need construction) and kicking people out. Not to mention the disparity in TIF funds (among other funds) in the Loop versus the rest of the city.

We have the money.

But Chicago, are we prioritizing it right?

#tentcity

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Contact.

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While poverty levels are still higher in urban cities than rural parts of Illinois, the number of people living in poverty in rural areas rose by 12 percent between 2010 and 2015, compared with a 5 percent increase in cities.

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“Illinois experienced slightly more modest improvements. The state's poverty rate declined to 13 percent from 13.6 percent, and median household income in the state rose to $60,960, up 1.4 percent from the year before.”

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“The Annie E. Casey Foundation report found 1 in 5 children — 22 percent of children nationwide and 21 percent in Illinois — were living in poverty in 2013. That’s compared to 2008, just after the recession started, when 18 percent of children nationwide and 17 percent in Illinois lived in poverty.”

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Great ministry to serve with in the Chicago area!

Looking forward to volunteering at the Midnight Ministry!

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I will be volunteer with Cornerstone for our community service project. I have worked with them in the past and I am excited to gain more experience learn different ways to make an impact in my community.

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Great resource!

Services the City of Chicago offers.

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In no state today does a full-time job paying minimum wage allow a family to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent.

Kathryn Edin, $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

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Such an incredible documentary about the food insecurity crisis here in the United States. If you haven’t seen this, please watch it. It’s on Netflix. I’ve seen hunger. I’ve had children at my old Boys and Girls Club job come in with bags of chips for lunch and always hungry. It’s everywhere and it’s devastating that there are 50 million people suffering. Donating a can of food to a soup kitchen doesn’t solve the issue - it may make you feel better,  but people need actual permanent change. Our government is so backwards. They’re letting the future leaders of this country go malnourished.

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Food stamp recipients did not cause the financial crisis, recklessness on Wall Street did.

President Barack Obama speaking at the 2016 SOTU address (01.12.2016)