A Life-Changing Choice

Poverty isn’t just about being poor. In fact, poverty isn’t the best synonym for “lacking money.” As David Shipler writes in his book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, poverty is also a state of mind, a state of being. It is a sense of hopelessness and helplessness all in one.

Poverty is generally not the result of a single choice, no matter what you might think about the drug addict down the street or the single mother next door. It is cyclical and interlocking. Poverty comes from a series of linked circumstances and generational traps that are not easily overcome. People do not choose to live in daily hardship, oppression, and suffering. They do not choose to go to bed hungry, they do not choose to earn minimum wage, they do not choose for their electricity to be shut off, but that is often what they get.

People don’t choose poverty. Well, some people in particular do.

Enter the Americorps VISTA, or volunteer in service to America. Some people liken Americorps to the PeaceCorps, except its members serve domestic interests as opposed to foreign ones. VISTAs dedicate about a year of their lives to eradicating poverty and building sustainability in the communities where they are placed. It’s difficult, rewarding work, but being an Americorps VISTA is not a job—it is a stint of service to the United States. Instead of wages, volunteers receive a meager living allowance set just above the poverty line. Why? Because VISTAs must genuinely experience poverty to fully connect with the people they serve.

Three weeks ago, I began my stint at the Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield, Ohio. Over the coming year, I will write about my experiences—the good, the bad, and the ugly—as an Americorps VISTA in Southwest Ohio. I welcome you to follow me this year, and I hope you’ll gain new insights into critical social issues facing our communities. I want this to be a place of networking and social exchange, as well, so if you have ideas, tips, questions, or experiences to share, please do!

Here’s to the journey.