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Find Someone Who. Poverty Awareness. Paula M. Hella, Family Living Educator, UW Extension, Calumet County Pierson Kohrell, Community Educator, UW-Extension and AmeriCorps, Calumet and Outagamie Counties. Workshop Objectives. Gain insight into how life circumstances shape personal paradigms.
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Poverty Awareness Paula M. Hella, Family Living Educator, UW Extension, Calumet County Pierson Kohrell, Community Educator, UW-Extension and AmeriCorps, Calumet and Outagamie Counties
Workshop Objectives • Gain insight into how life circumstances shape personal paradigms. • Examine myths about poverty. • Examine personal access to power and privilege. • Learn how poverty is measured. • Gain knowledge of poverty data. • Commit to personal, workplace and/or community action steps.
Personal Reflection Recall the first experience you can remember regarding poverty. • What emotion do you recall feeling at that time? • What impact did that event have on you then? • What do you think of that situation now? Have your feelings or perspectives changed?
Poverty Defined • “Having an income below a federally determined poverty threshold.” • “Represents the Federal Government’s estimate of the point below which a family of a given size has a cash income insufficient to meet basic needs.” • “Any family/individual with total income less than an amount deemed to be sufficient to purchase food, shelter, clothing and other essential goods and services is classified as poor.” • “The state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.”
Poverty Defined • Insufficient means to provide, in a socially acceptable manner, the basic necessities of daily life in order to live healthfully. • The difference between what will we eat for dinner and will we eat dinner.
Federal Poverty Guidelines: 2015 aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guideline
Poverty in Wisconsin the poverty rate in Wisconsin increased by more than 50% over the past decade
Wisconsin Poverty Rates, 1970-2010 Who is in Poverty? children are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as are the elderly from 2005 to 2010, child poverty increased 3 times as fast in Wisconsin as nationwide
Living Wage in Wisconsin aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guideline http://livingwage.mit.edu/states/55
Making Ends Meet in Wisconsin1 Adult and 2 Children, 2014 $23.44/hr $12.50/hr $7.50/hr
What Makes Poverty so Harmful • Few financial resources • Lack of nutrition • Decrease in mental health • Home environment • Neighborhoods struggling • Stress
What Makes Poverty so Harmful • Brain on Poverty • “Responding to constant, urgent, immediate needs prevents us from getting out of crisis mode to be able to make clear, long term decisions or implement a plan.” Paulo Freire
Poverty Call to Action How can you address poverty: • At a personal level? • At a professional level? • At a community level?