poverty.

I'm in a fight with poverty. It's out there. It's present right here in my own neighborhood. It's overseas, underseas (people below sea level), and in the seas (islanders). Poverty is such a prominent part of the state of Michigan and the city of Lansing, but I have no idea how to handle it. Is poverty something we accept as normal or something we punch out as unacceptable?

It's a tough tough subject. Poverty is debatable, hard for those experiencing it, unimaginable for those who are rich, and disregarded by people who don't want to believe it exists.

Today I witnessed three poverty situations.

First, I was sitting in at an orientation in Ann Arbor in order to start a process of receiving funding for new hearing aids. This program, called Michigan Rehabilitation Services, is a bit tricky to explain. So let's get side tracked for a moment.

What MRS does is fund Michigan residents with disabilities to help them achieve employment and self-sufficiency. MRS works on a county by county basis and from what MSU's Center for Students With Disabilities tells me, MRS will help pay for new hearing aids as long as I show MRS that they will help me in my career. There are quite a few more details, but that is the gist of what you need to know for the purpose of this post.

Well, one can imagine the number of people that were at this orientation. No one had physical disabilities (that I could see besides me), but we mainly seemed to address cognitive/learning/emotional disabilities. Everyone in the room was older than me and I was the minority in terms of skin color. Here comes the reality check: No one in the room had a job except for me. My measly part-time job at Starbucks (that I love but would never dream of doing for the rest of my life) was more then any single person in that room had.

I about started crying when I saw the hands go up for those who were currently unemployed.

Not only are these people unemployed and (I am assuming most) are depending on welfare or unemployment....but they also have a disability that prevents them from performing a job like a normal person would. AND most of the people in that room were well into their 30s or 40s. They are a part of the generation where college wasn't as necessary and their grasp on the technology revolution might not be as up to speed.

As I left the orientation, I wondered who had homes/families/food/all the necessities to survive. How could they apply for jobs if they do not have a home? How can they dress to impress if they have no place to shower? Even if they do get a job, is their disability going to prevent them from performing the job requirements?

Then, as I start to pull into the Arborland parking lot I see a man on the corner. He is standing in the bitter cold holding a cardboard sign that reads:

Former VET
Need Work
PLEASE
Love People and

animals.

My heart broke again. Was this the truth? Was this man really a Vet who lost his job and can't find work? I'm sure there are plenty more details to his story, but the fact that he felt the only way he was going to find help was by standing on a corner just hurts me. I felt helpless driving by, and overwhelmed by a subject that I am constantly oblivious to.

Then I drove back to school and attended my Sociology class..where we talked about Poverty in Society. We chatted about the reasons for poverty. The structural causes vs. the cultural causes. People who are in poverty because of the economy vs. People who are born into poverty and can't find a way out. We saw an interview with the author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, who went undercover to work three minimum wage jobs researching the realities of living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm just baffled by this issue, this reality, this growing situation. Why am I so blessed? What does God say about poverty? What is the world doing to fight poverty? Are they doing anything at all?

Why are there people who really think that if you work hard enough you can climb your way to the American Dream, when there are Vets who had their dream and are now standing on a street corner begging for any kind of work. How does God feel about people who choose to stay in poverty so they can receive their welfare, and about those who go broke because they made unwise decisions? Goodness. I could keep going!

Pray for me as I ask God questions about this. Pray that conversations will help me comprehend poverty and that I will have a clearer vision for what God has planned for me and poverty.