Throughout American history our society has largely viewed poverty as a choice, an unwillingness to work hard and pursue the American dream.
This lens, seeing poverty as a series of bad decisions, a weakness and flaw of character, serves to perpetuate the shame, stigma and generational cycle of economic insecurity. The common myth in America is that with moral fortitude, grit and picking oneself up by the bootstraps, anyone can reach their American dream.
Poverty is not something to “rise above” any more than exposure to lead or asbestos. Just as we treat these conditions without judgment, so too must we treat the condition of poverty.
The reality is that poverty is caused directly by the circumstances an individual or family faces. Circumstances often beyond anyone’s control. A hungry child and the senior choosing between food and medicine are innocent victims. With low wages and limited benefits, even the hardest working among us find themselves struggling.
The science is clear: the condition of poverty is caused by a person’s particular social determinants of health. The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people live, work and grow. These conditions play a profound role in an individual’s physical, emotional and financial health.
As with any other condition, such as medical or mental, the treatment for the condition of poverty too requires intervention based on science and access to viable, reliable support systems, as well as ensuring that individuals have a clear understanding of what recovery looks like in their lives.
Hello friends and colleagues. I hope you enjoy the article showcasing Transition To Success in Memphis. This movement began with one social worker sharing what she learned at a conference with a community leader in Memphis . Today these Champions have engaged an entire community, transforming understanding and response to poverty across a network of care. Be the power of one. When hope meets opportunity dreams become reality.
Yours, Dr. Wilson
Diagnosis: Poverty offers an in-depth, firsthand account of how Dr. Marcella Wilson, founder of Transition to Success, is overturning decades of well-intentioned but ineffective remedies to poverty by approaching it as a “condition” that can best be treated by proper assessment, standards of care and quality-control measures.
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