Poverty in California: State Needs to Step Up

Approximately 30 percent of Californian families do not earn enough to pay for basic needs. Many of them are struggling with inadequate resources and are forced to make hard choices between hunger, housing and health care. Although often described as, "falling through the cracks" this group is neither small nor marginal but rather, it's a substantial proportion of our society and yet little is known about the challenges and difficulties they face.

To build awareness of the facts and to fight poverty more effectively, Catholic Charities of California launched Step Up California, Campaign to Cut Poverty in September of 2009. A coalition of organizations is working to educate legislative members and staff about poverty and self-sufficiency. As part of that effort, Step Up is sponsoring a poverty simulation workshop at the state capitol on February 3.

The simulation is a unique tool that illustrates the day-to-day realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. During the simulation, participants role play the lives of low-income families trying to maintain their self-sufficiency. The poverty simulation workshop can open people's eyes to the human cost of poverty. This unique learning resource creates, like no other method, an insight into the state of chronic crisis that consumes so many working poor families.

Check out www.stepupca.org for more information.

-P.I. Perez

Ok guys here’s my first post, watch out because I am gunning for the extra sandwich at B4H!! (If you want to know what that’s all about, just ask.)

On a serious note, I often ponder the goals and aspirations of our foundation, as we are in the newborn stage with so much ahead of us. I think about what we have in common with fellow organizations and also which aspects set us apart. If you are someone who doesn’t know much about our foundation, you may be thinking the same thing: “what are these people all about?” Whether you are reading this as someone who is contemplating volunteering with us, a potential donor, someone who followed the Twitter link (thanks!), or you just stumbled upon this blog via a random search, I have a question for you. When you learned (or if you are for the first time) that the 25/35 Foundation has as its primary goal to alleviate homelessness in San Bernardino County, what was your immediate reaction? I’ll give you second to think about it.

I ask this because there are times when I am describing our foundation to someone for the first time, and although they are listening intently, I can tell by their expression that they are thinking something along the lines of “ok that’s great, but another group that wants to help the homeless?” It is not hard to fall into that frame of mind, and it doesn’t necessarily imply indifference on behalf of that person; it is simply a reaction. This experience brings me to the aspect of the 25/35 Foundation that I find so unique, which is the contention that on some level, we all suffer and experience the homeless condition, and more importantly, by recognizing this, we can do much to positively impact the time and space we occupy.

For me, as of late I have been experiencing the poverty of loneliness. A little background is in order. I have been living “on my own” for just over five years now. I first lived in a house in Upland with a roommate that was rarely there for about a year and a half. I then had my own apartment in Pomona for 2½ years, and now I live in a house in Chino with a roommate I rarely see (again, but not the same one from Upland). So it’s been interesting that ever since I moved out of my parent’s house I have essentially lived alone. Now, I have a great group of friends and a big, fun-loving family, but as my friends and I have “aged” we now see each other much less frequently, as is to be expected. Over the years, coming home to an empty, quiet residence has mostly been a blessing, but over the past year, as I have devoted more time to my business and my friends lives have gotten more and more busy, the quiet, empty nights have had the reality of being desolate. It has been during these times, while difficult, that I have reminded myself how lucky I am. With my involvement in 25/35, I have recognized a small sliver of the feeling of material (or “traditional”) homelessness, specifically the inability to share one’s hopes, joys, fears, and doubts with a fellow human.

Almost simultaneously with me experiencing these feelings would be encounters in daily life with people whom I could tell were also lonely in some way. Whether it was an elderly man who came into my shop, a single mother at the post office, or a middle-aged woman at McDonalds, being in tune with my homeless condition of loneliness allowed me to temporarily set aside my wants and needs to engage them, from a simple “Hello” to a conversation about whatever. The beauty was that it was all so subtle. To me that is very empowering and mutually beneficial.

There is something innately in human instinct that by being aware of our deficiencies we become able to detect those same deficiencies in others, probably because we see a little bit of ourselves in them. Embracing this simple idea can go far to alleviate the homeless condition of individuals we meet in the daily course of our life. It is a way all of us can perpetuate the mission and goals of the 25/35 Foundation, and you don’t even have to write a check or give your time! By accomplishing these small, unnoticed goals, we assure ourselves of the success of larger ones.

-P.I. Perez