Uplifting Stories

Below you will find an article that I wanted to share with you all. Before you begin reading this article, take a minute and read my opinions on this topic.

There are always discussions on children and families living in poverty and how "sad" and "poor" these families lives are. Well, what if it was told that a large percentage of these families were resourceful, hopeful and HAPPY. Wow, how can someone be HAPPY when their poor?.. NOTE: Not all families who are poor come from poverty in their childhood. We have ALL suffered in some form or fashion from the economic crisis, if we haven't suffered directly we know someone who has. What if during these critical times families have taken the time to bond and grow stronger as a family unit. How often do we go about our daily tasks and forget about the intangible things. We often become so absorbed in our work that our children are neglected, grandparents are lonely and we often forget how to enjoy life. It is in times of struggle, when people dig deep into their souls and encounter new discoveries. Families who live in poverty may be at a disadvantage from an economic stand point but its not the end of life and no hope should be lost. Faith is strengthened and that's prosperous in itself. I can think of a family who lives in poverty and the children are the happiest children I have ever met. The reason these children are happy is because the family is resourceful, they are encouraged and faithful!

 

Children of Hard Times

New Poor: The Barrett Family

By Marian Wright Edelman with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Julia Cass reporting from New Orleans, Louisiana

The Barrett girls, Anjerrica, 15, Daryanna, 10, and Jaeda, 7, would go hungry without food stamps, free school lunches, and a local food pantry.

As the new year’s news cycles turn to presidential politics and primary contests, there is another story our leaders should be talking a lot about—and acting to alleviate. End-of-year news stories about holiday spending happily reported on the unexpectedly high totals many Americans spent—or put on credit—this year. But for millions of families there was another story: how to provide enough food and shelter and keep alive the spirit, wonder, and joy of the season for their children when resources are scarce? Darryl and Jeanna Barrett are both college graduates who together earned about $60,000 a year. Blessed with three beautiful daughters, they survived Hurricane Katrina and bought a home in New Orleans, eager to help rebuild their city. According to Darryl, they were “on the road to the American dream.” Then he became disabled and Jeanna lost her job. Their current income—Darryl’s Social Security disability and Jeanna’s unemployment insurance—places them just barely above the official poverty level for a family of five.
The family recently qualified for food stamps. The Barrett girls, Anjerrica, 15, Daryanna, 10, and Jaeda, 7, would go hungry without food stamps, free school lunches, and a local food pantry. Darryl has been going to the food pantry at the nearby Community Center of St. Bernard every week and can’t say enough about how “tremendous” the center has been for them. “I called last year our $36 Christmas. That’s how much money we had in the bank. The Center made sure we had a turkey. They got a sponsor who got the girls bikes. We went to their toy drive… if it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have had any Christmas,” Darryl recently told Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Cass, on assignment in New Orleans for the Children’s Defense Fund.
The economic rise and fall of the Barrett family mirrors what has happened to so many Americans who were moving up into the middle class but fell backwards in the past few years. The Barretts’ hard times resulted from the double whammy of disability and recession. Darryl graduated from Loyola University with a degree in computer systems. He worked for a casino company linking up statewide games in casinos around the state. But when he injured his back and a disc in his neck while moving a heavy piece of furniture, pressure from the disc injury severely damaged the nerves in his arms. Two years of physical therapy and a surgery failed to restore the use of his arms and he was approved for Social Security disability payments of $1550 per month.
Meanwhile, Jeanna graduated from Xavier University with a degree in chemistry. She worked as a pharmacy technician and science teacher in a Catholic school before going to work at a non-profit organization providing after-school and summer programs for low-income children in 2004. But she lost her job when the program lost state funding in 2010. In October 2011, Jeanna got what she calls a “part-time part-time” job—working at a cell phone company two days a week, three hours a day at $8 an hour. “Of all my applications, this was the only place that wanted to hire me,” she says. But the Barretts know this job is not even a short-term solution to their tough financial problems.
Sadly, the Barrett children were in the majority this year. In November, the Census Bureau released its first report using a new way of measuring poverty in America: the Supplemental Poverty Measure. This new measure won’t replace the official poverty measure but it’s an important tool to give us a more nuanced picture of poverty today.
The Supplemental Poverty Measure monitors common household expenses including food, clothing, shelter, and utilities and adjusts for regional differences. Income calculations include the value of federal nutrition programs, tax breaks like the Earned Income Tax Credit, and housing subsidies but subtract taxes paid, work and child care expenses, medical expenses, and child support payments. These more detailed calculations yielded some surprising results.
The majority of children in America—a stunning 56.7 percent—are either poor or low-income with these calculations compared to 43.9 percent using the official measure. While there is a substantial rise in the number of children considered low-income, the child poverty rate itself was actually lower using the new measure. This is important because it shows the effectiveness of key programs in lifting children out of poverty especially child and family nutrition programs, housing subsidies, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. These programs had the largest positive impact on children’s lives.
Now that we know the majority of children in America are at risk—including families like the Barretts—and need a lot of help right now to stay afloat, we must act. The details the Supplemental Poverty Measure captures give us a fuller picture of poverty’s reach during these perilous economic times and should serve as a road map to help our leaders and policymakers see what’s helping and what’s hurting. The proof of effectiveness of crucial safety net investments shows the wisdom of expanding refundable tax credits and nutrition programs to stave off widespread hunger. All of us must urge our legislators right now to make the right choices with our tax dollars and use them to benefit the majority of our children struggling to survive and thrive on too little rather than non-needy powerful special interests.

http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/ending-child-poverty/children-of-hard-times-7.html