The Power of Your Voice When Voting with a Poverty-Informed Lens

When I met my mentor Dr. Bob Fulford in 1988, I had never voted. People I grew up with said things like, “Going into that voting booth ain’t going to put food on the table.” “Voting don’t matter. Those people are just going to do whatever they want anyway.”

Dr. Fulford began teaching me about the power of the vote. He said, “People who vote, get taken care of. Guess who does not vote: People in Poverty!” He suggested I study Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Dr. Fulford sent me to do informational interviews with local elected officials and made it part of my course work to volunteer on campaigns. He even encouraged me to take part in local politics and apply to be a housing commissioner for Portland where I ended up serving for four years.

I learned that voting can directly impact the lives of people living in the crisis of poverty either positively or negatively. For the first time, I realized that the peoples’ vote had directly impacted me when I was in the crisis of poverty. In 1988, I told my welfare worker I wanted to go to school. She told me that I could not go to school because I had to be available for any job. She said, if I went to school, I would be sanctioned (which meant that my welfare check would be cut from $408 a month to $258 a month). I explained to her that, if I went to school, I would not need welfare. She said, “I don’t make the laws.” When I share that story with professionals they are upset. But the reality is that we the people vote and elect the people who make the laws.

Voting with Poverty in Mind

On Tuesday, November 5, we can vote locally and nationally with a poverty-informed lens. If someone wants your vote, go to a debate or visit a person in her/his office or review their voting record and ask the following nine questions:

1) What is your plan to address the housing affordability crisis in America where, according to HUD, there is no place that a person earning minimum wage, receiving disability, or TANF welfare can afford even a modest apartment?

2) What will you do to increase access to preventative care for the millions of Americans living in the crisis of poverty who die on average 15 years younger than those born into a middle-class environment?

3) What strategies do you have for resolving the fact that we do not have transportation systems to get people in the crisis of poverty where they need to be when they need to be there?

In Paris and London, you do not need a car to get to where you need to be. That is not true in the U.S.

4) How will you resolve the child care affordability crisis?

Middle-class people are struggling with child care affordability and many who can afford to, are leaving their jobs. Parents in poverty often do not have the luxury to leave their jobs. According to research, one year of quality child care is equal to one year at a private university.

5) What are your answers to the hunger crisis in this wealthy nation where one in five children are going to bed hungry, increasing numbers of seniors are digging in dumpsters for food, and our food banks are overwhelmed with demand?

6) Can you share your solutions for creating more living wage jobs?

According to the Census, we have millions of low wage earners who are working more than one job, but still can not afford rent and qualify for SNAP Food Stamps.

7) What will you do to change the fact that in almost ALL communities in America you can call a real estate agent and ask, “Where are the good schools?” I’d love your ideas on how to make sure all schools are the “good” schools.

8) The U.S. has more people in cages than any country in the world and most are from the war zone of poverty. We have more prisons than post-secondary and higher education institutions. How will you reduce incarceration rates and ensure access to authentic opportunities for people to develop their potential?

9) Healthy teeth should not be a luxury for only those who can see a dentist. How will you increase access to dental care for the millions in poverty who lose their teeth by the age of 30?

To Help you Learn More

If you are interested in learning more about the structural causes of poverty and how you can help people move out and stay out of poverty, register for our Beegle Poverty Immersion Institutes (https://www.combarriers.com/povertyinstitute) or Beegle Certified Poverty Coaching Institutes (https://www.combarriers.com/coachinginstitute), or call/email to schedule a personalized training for your organization or community (503-590-4599, info@combarriers.com).

Please vote in a poverty-informed way and share this information with your peers who are also working to make a difference for those living in the crisis of poverty.

Communication Across Barriers | PO Box 23071 | Tigard, OR 97281 US