Paige Oliverio

1 Hour

Dear President,

As you are aware our society throughout our country is both successful and developing, but one major problem that we're facing as the richest country in the world is poverty and the idea that people cannot provide for themselves or their family. This problem has been presented to us largely when the economy crashed in 2007 and 2008 but it was still common years before and even today. Yes there are options out there to help people in this situation but there is not a steady safe place everyone can go to, to receive help.

As of 2015 there was 45.3 million people in poverty, including 30.6 million adults and 14.7 million children. This means that roughly 45 million people throughout the united states were in the state of being extremely poor and didn’t know where their next meal was coming from and or if they were getting a next meal. People who live and grow up in poverty are often times at a greater risk to live in poverty as an adult. Today 18 percent of children live in poverty and these type of families are mostly Latinos, African American, and families with children headed by single men or women. People living in poverty can live as close as down the street from a wealthy neighborhood or city, or as far as across the state. To the naked eye these people might have more run down clothing or body structure, but they can also be some of the most normal everyday looking people. (1,2)

When people think of doing something to help the less fortunate they often times think they can go stay or live at homeless shelter or go to soup kitchens to help get them back into the work world. For awhile I thought the same thing until I read that homeless shelters are great and helpful for some, but they also very hard to get into especially during the cold months and a usual stay is anywhere from 3-5 days, but sometimes 30 days if needed and then they assess your situation depending the circumstances. A lot of times shelters are not beneficial to others mainly because people that generally stay at them were people living in the streets and couldn't work because of a mental or physical illness, contracted diseases and or abused drugs and alcohol. However there are cases in which families get in, but it is common for a family to get separated such as teen boys going to a all boys shelter and leaving their mom or in the rare cases they can all get in a member getting sick from the unhealthy living conditions. (2)

The biggest time we as a country open our hearts and wallets to the poor is during the holidays when we realize that everyone should be able to enjoy the receiving part equally to the giving part. I’m not saying we should invest hundreds of dollars or toys to those in need, but for the ones working hard to to try and support their families deserve help. Places like soup kitchens get the most volunteers during the holiday months mainly because that's when people think it’s right to do. Often times summer months are low in volunteers or donations due to the busy schedules, and lack of time people have to think about the less fortunate.

Poverty is a bigger role in our country then some think, yes their are solutions such as homeless shelter and soup kitchen, but those are not always the most reasonable and safe for everyone on to go to. The total amount of people in poverty is extremely high and the kids living in that environment should not have worry about where their getting their food from each day and over the weekends. We as a wealthy nation need to keep in mind how to help others on a regular basis and put a plan into action. We do not need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollar, but should recognize this as a major problem and try our best to fix it.

Citations

1: Bureau, US Census. "Poverty." US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

2: "The Definition of Poverty." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016