As an employed single parent, I probably have hit my lowest
poverty level this year. It’s been a year of transitions, as I’ve gone down to
part-time at one non-profit due to financial constraints and have picked up a
part-time position at Trusted Mentors (which I am so thankful for!). Child
support, as many single moms know, isn’t always steady. And finally, my roommate,
who has helped me in more ways than one and brings in some extra rental income,
has moved out.
Therefore, as I explore the Bridges Out Of Poverty
framework, I have some serious context to draw from my own life. Recently I had
an interesting discussion with Afia Griffith, director of community development
at St. Vincent Health, who will be coordinating our Bridges training later this
month, about some of the dynamics of poverty that I’ve been experiencing…or am
I?
Sure, I’ve gone months without a paycheck. Sure, I’ve
learned not to rely on child support. Certainly, I’ve given up on the idea of
saving for retirement anytime soon. Yet, I still realize that there is a great
divide between my situational poverty experience and those experiencing
generational poverty.
The poverty I’m experiencing, albeit relative, (I’m not
exactly living on $2 a day like most of the world), is temporary. I have my
degree, I have my house, and I have already bounced back enough to replenish
most of my savings that I carved into this year. The two primary things have
going for me that folks in generational poverty don’t have are: resources and relationships.
I thought seriously about one way my resources/
relationships played themselves out this past year. I have a daughter who has
been diagnosed with a developmental eye disorder that requires weekly therapy
from a developmental optometrist. Of course, there are only three in the entire
city and the one who takes our insurance is located in Brownsburg. Now, I live
and work downtown and my daughter attends a school that is also downtown. For
me to take her to this appointment would require me to leave work three hours
early every Wednesday, thus missing out on roughly 12 hours of pay per month.
Add in gas money and you can see that this endeavor is getting a bit pricey.
Keep in mind that this is therapy my daughter needs in order to do things like
read, so it’s not exactly optional.
So, digging into my resources and relationships, I am
fortunate that I have not one, but two grandparents who are able to take the
time and energy to drive from their north-side homes downtown to pick up my
daughter and take her to the far west side so that I don’t miss work and so
that my daughter can benefit from needed therapy.
As a social worker, and previously a school social worker in
IPS, I think about all of the students whose parents don’t have the blessing of
multiple sources of support to help them get their needs met.
Keeping with the subject of my daughter, I have had the
benefit of countless key resources to help in raising her that others living in
generational poverty simply don’t have…here I will name a few: 1) Health
Insurance, 2) Grandparents who are healthy, mobile, live in town, and were able
to retire, 3) A background in social work, which led me to know what resources
are out there for my child who was labeled “ADHD” even though I knew there was
something deeper going on, 4) A church community, including a friend who is a
physical therapist and helped me figure out what was going on with my child, 5)
Two understanding employers who are also friends and give me freedom to take
off work when I need to ( instead of firing me when I have to miss hours or
days as I’m taking care of my daughter). My list of resources and relationships
is actually too exhaustive to complete here.
As I contemplate poverty, I see how close I am to it, yet
how fortunate I have been to remain out of its clutches entirely. Through my
work at Trusted Mentors, I hope to help others gain a new perspective on the
realities of poverty too. We will gather several of our mentors and agency
partners later this month as Trusted Mentors hosts a workshop on Bridges Out of
Poverty. I am thankful for our mentors as they are indeed providing a key
relationship and connections to resources that our mentees so desperately need.
