River of Light Enterprise, Inc.

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Weaving a Tapestry of Compassion, Commerce and Community

"The poor always lived from hand to mouth, depending on one day's labor to supply the wants of another." 

Letters of John Andrew, Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1864 A.D.

Early Euro-Americans generally agreed that anyone dependent on the aid of the others (excepting wives and children) was poor. The first dictionary printed in Philadelphia in 1789 AD defined the poverty as a description of "those who are in the lowest rank of the community, who cannot subsist but by the charity of others."[1]  Yet, as the initial phrase of that definition indicates, poverty encompassed people other than those who relied solely on charity. 

More than 200 years later, Americans still generally agree that “being poor” means living hand-to-mouth with little or no reserves to carry them from one day to the next.  Today, nearly 36 million Americans – that’s one in eight citizens - are living in government defined poverty and tens of millions Americans considered the “working poor” living “day to day” existences. In fact, according to a 2003 survey by the country’s Mayors, housing in many cities is so unaffordable that although 39 percent of the homeless are working, they can’t pay for even a substandard apartment.

The shock of any one of a hundred different circumstances can throw an individual or entire family into crisis and the “safety net”.  Agenetic propensity to disease; financial ruin due to family breakup or business failures; a lack of employment opportunities with wages sufficient to maintain even a modest lifestyle; even natural disasters and acts of violence that are well beyond anyone’s control – all these things can and do force people to restart their lives from scratch.  Consider the following:

• Over half of all Americans will experience poverty for a period of more than a year during their lifetime and nearly two-thirds will use at least one income qualifying public welfare program at some time between 22 and 65 years of age including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Aid to the Needy Dependent, Social Security and Medicare.
• For every American – whether soldier or civilian contractor - killed since the start of the Global War on Terrorism, another 15-20+ are returning home with physical, emotional and spiritual wounds and require lifetime care and support – in some cases for 50+ years!
• While the most severe forms of malnutrition and starvation that prevailed through the 1960s have largely disappeared, some 33 million people live in households that aren't sure where their next meals will come from (now called the food insecure).
• About 3 in 10 men and 1 in 4 women leave the workforce before retirement age due to a long lasting or life-threatening illness and are forced to live on little income with limiting income ceilings that will keep them trapped in poverty for decades.
• Social Security makes up about 40% of the total income for people age 65 and older, with about 30% reporting it as their only source of income.  Most Americans report their greatest fear is that they will out live-their savings and spend the end of their days languishing in some institution at the mercy of those who are driven by profit not compassion or worse yet in the hands of the state.
• 750 thousand Americans will be without shelter on any given night and approximately 3 million will be homeless at sometime during the year. Further, more than 5.4 million families are at risk of homelessness due to a lack of affordable housing.
• In 1999, there were 104,000 arrests of people under age 18 for a serious violent crime--robbery, forcible rape, aggravated assault, or homicide. Of these, 1,400 were for homicides committed by adolescents and, on occasion, even younger children.

In truth, when considering the full range of circumstances and challenges each and every human being faces at some point in their life - the reality is WE ALL CAN AND MAY BE COUNTED AMONG THE MOST VULNERABLE SOMETIME IN LIFE!