On Poverty

On Poverty

Created by God- The rich and the poor have a common bond, the Lord is the maker of them all. Proverbs 22:2 The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. I Samuel 2:7

A constant presence- For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you saying, “You shall freely open your  hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land. Deut. 15:11 For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me. Matt. 26:11

Commanded to serve- “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.” Luke 3:11  34 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matt. 25:34-40

 

Statistics-

2017-

·       US Population= 324M

·       US Employment= 154M

·       Employment Rate= 60%

·       US Unemployment= 6M

·       US Disability= 9M (1996 4M/270M/1.5%, 2007 7M/302M/2.3% 2017 9M/324M/2.8%)

·       US Homelessness = 554,000 (0.17%)

·       Spokane County poverty- 16.3% of population Spokane Poverty- Over the period 2010 to 2014, 16.3 percent of the population was living below the poverty level in Spokane County. (.163* 470K= 77K). Unemployment = 6.7%/ 16K. Homelessness = 1090 homeless in Spokane one-day count in January 2017 (0.3% based on 350K population)

WSJ: As a consequence, the number of people on disability has risen from a bit more than seven million in 2007 to almost nine million now. Normal growth associated with a larger population may account for a share of that, but about three-quarters of the increase, 1.5 million, represent missing jobs. This does not, however, explain the entire problem. Among young men, whose employment is low by historical standards, disability is not a major factor. Evidence suggests that many young men are opting to spend their time at home in leisure activities, perhaps because their job opportunities are poor. That reflects a lack of skills suitable for a modern economy.

 

 

The Circle

Jesus said that the poor will be with us always-

              • John was born out of wedlock to an alcoholic mother and absentee father.

              • John bounced from oster home to foster home until he was a teenager.

              • John hit the street and developed addiction to drugs and alcohol

              • John was homeless and addicted.

              • John slept with a homeless girl named Sue with a meth addiction and got her pregnant.

              • Sue had a little boy named Sean.

              • The circle continues.

 

The problem starts with broken families. WE know of very few homeless men at the mission who came from healthy

stable families. Almost all came from abusive addicted broken families

The problem continues through a cycle of addiction and homelessness that begins in adolescence.

The problem repeats itself ad infinitum.