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3 Responses to Poverty
We see both the needs as well as the
assets of our neighbors who struggle with poverty. While lacking
material wealth, many of our neighbors are blessed with great human and
social capital. Our services utilize these
assets to help our neighbors take care of themselves, their families and
their community.
We say "neighbors" because we do not
believe in treating the poor as "clients." Partnering with thousands of our neighbors each month,
we have three primary responses to poverty:
Compassion
 Our
initial response to people's needs
is one of compassion: we address their most urgent and
immediate concerns, and then work with them to stabilize
their life. Working in this space, we primarily address
the hunger and health needs of those who struggle with
poverty.
We are set up so that very
low-income persons can become first-class distributors of
compassion every day. Our large Resource Centers, on
Haskell Avenue and inside Roseland Homes, actually
function as conveyors of compassion, hope and healing.
We work hard at transcending simple charity in an effort
to move toward an
empowering
compassion
that leads us deeper into
the lives of people and closer to life-changing
opportunities.
Click here
to read our CEO's full explanation of our work in this area.
Connection
 Once a person regains her
balance for living, gets back on her feet and can think
clearly about what might be ahead, we offer the option of
taking essential next steps toward a better life.
We believe that every person has ability, capital and
capacity. The challenge or the question is, what will we
do with our assets?
Working in this space with
those who are serious about their talent and maximizing
that talent, we focus on
opportunity creation.
Here, we
primarily address issues of education, employment and
legal representation.
We partner with our neighbors
to create new and substantial opportunities for themselves
and their communities. In this way, we move beyond charity
and towards long-term, sustainable change.
Click here to read our CEO's full explanation of our work in
this area.
Completion
 Up to this point, we have
walked alongside those who are working to lift themselves
out of poverty. Taking the final step into
self-sufficiency, however, is ultimately the
responsibility of our neighbors themselves.
Working in this space, we
provide our neighbors with access to housing, enrollment
in long-term benefit programs, as well as membership in our
federal credit union.
Beyond this, we we serve as
advocates for the poor.
After addressing the manifestations of poverty, we then
dig deeper to address the root causes of poverty in our
community.
Here, we open forums for
community discussion through our blogs, book clubs and
public events. We represent our neighbors to government
officials, and speak on their behalf to media outlets
covering issues related to poverty.
Most importantly, we challenge
our supporters and partners to take the poor seriously,
and to consider them in all decisions about the
future of our community.
Click here to read our CEO's full explanation of our work in
this area.
Our Programs
 For a full list of specific
programs,
click here.
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