An Antipoverty Thanksgiving

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http://www.thenation.com/blog/171416/antipoverty-thanksgiving


The hardest thing about the poverty beat is this: getting to know men, women and children who are working to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and knowing the consequences to their lives if those obstacles prove too great. I also meet people in low-income communities, NGOs, think tanks, universities, and government who are completely devoted to the eradication of poverty. They engender hope. I checked in with some of them this week and asked what they are thinking about this Thanksgiving. Here is what they had to say:

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director, NETWORK:

On Monday I was in Louisiana sharing stories from Nuns on the Bus with teachers and those who work in various support roles in schools. One woman told me that she has been doing the same support job for thirteen years in a school district, not had a raise for seven years and is currently making $17,000. She has had to take extra jobs to support her family and at times uses a food bank and other services to even get by. While she loves working with the children, it is a daily struggle for her and her family. She is in the bottom 20 percent of our nation for income, yet she is doing some of the most important work helping to form the new generation. This Thanksgiving, I am keenly aware of so many in our rich nation who are struggling to put food on their families’ tables. We are better than this. My prayer is that the 100 percent will come together, and exercise our responsibility for each other, being “We the People” forming a more perfect union.

Sheila Crowley, president & CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition:

The night after President Obama’s re-election, I left my office near the White House and walked to the closest Metro station. There were fifteen people in the covered entranceway to the station, getting ready to bed down for the night, just like they do most every night. Although I may have felt that the outcome of the election boded well for progressive causes, it did not change the reality that too many people in our country have nowhere to live. I will know that change has come when people are not sleeping outside on concrete in November two blocks from the White House.