Poverty from a middle-class perspective
“If you have come to help me, you can go home again. But if you see my struggles as a part of your own survival, then perhaps we can work together.”
This is a quote from an Australian Aboriginal woman, Lisa Watkins.
There are amazing people and organizations working tirelessly to disrupt poverty, but we must be mindful that if those of us with adequate resources offer middle-class solutions, they will most likely fall short. This is because the experts on poverty are not included in strategic problem-solving. Who are the experts? Those who have experienced poverty. They have lived the stressful realities, the barriers to success, the frustrations, and the perils of poverty.
When poverty is approached from a middle-class perspective, then those in poverty are seen as needy recipients of assistance. Their talents, insights, experience and abilities go unrecognized as a community resource. If we are ever going to truly disrupt poverty, then the value of those seeking to move beyond it must be respected.
They must be respected as individuals and we must be respectful of their process of change.
An example of a middle-class solution is a personal one that I’m not particularly proud of. When my husband and I were in our mid-20s, we became aware of a family in our church that was extremely under-resourced. We wanted to help. Our intentions were noble and our motives were good. The only problem was that we had no idea what this family was experiencing. We had never been in their situation and thought we knew what they needed.
It was Thanksgiving week and we were preparing for the feast. This family was heavy on our hearts, so we shopped in order to give them a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were so excited about “blessing” them. We knocked on their motel room door. About six people were living in that one room. We handed them a huge frozen turkey, canned and fresh foods, and stuffing mix that are part of the traditional holiday meal — as we knew it. They looked bewildered and their gratitude seemed almost forced. At first, it was off-putting but after we drove away, it dawned on us that they had no stove, no refrigerator, no cooking utensils, and no space.
We had thrown a middle-class solution at a situation with no understanding or consideration of this family’s circumstances. This became a powerful teaching moment for us and it changed our perspective on the experiences of those in poverty from that moment on. As our community wrestles with the issues of poverty and how to effectively disrupt it, we must be ever mindful that what works to solve middle-class problems, may be inappropriate, irrelevant, and even harmful or degrading to those we honestly want to help.
Sallie Culbreth is the executive director of Cooperative Christian Ministries and Clinic, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve life for those who are under-resourced. That mission is fulfilled by focusing on three areas of human need: charitable health care, advocacy services, and poverty disruption programs, such as Getting Ahead.