1. Navigating Poverty Rhea Cramer, M.S.
EI/ECSE Specialist at Early Childhood CARES, Poverty 101 Coach, Raised in Generational Poverty

2. Gienia’s Story No Healthcare Starvation Homelessness Mental Illness
Alcoholism
Isolation
Poverty
mom
Fear
Abuse and Neglect
No Healthcare
Starvation

3. Rhea’s Story No Starvation Healthy Activities No Abuse Health Care
Prenatal Care
Poverty
Raised by single
Teen mom
RHEA
No Physical Abuse
Education
Early Intervention:
Teen Parent Program,
Head start
Acted as
Co-Parent
Community of Mothers
Low-Income
Housing

5. Navigating Poverty
NAVIGATING…?

6. What Poverty Teaches No one cares about me or my family
I am alone
I don’t belong, I am not wanted
I have nothing to offer
I am not smart
I am in a war zone and need to survive
I have no control and neither do the adults in my world
Things are taken away- don’t care about or value personal objects
Jobs can be menial and unfulfilling
Education and learning have no place in the war zone of poverty. Education=Stress
If you are silent or give off an aura of violence people might leave you alone
You must do and say whatever it takes to survive
Mom

7. Poverty and 90 By 30
There’s no doubt that a population that has been oppressed, traumatized and conditioned to live without their basic needs being met, will experience more abuse and have a higher rate of child abuse.
Are people who are experiencing poverty a part of the club/team/etc. when we discuss child abuse and how to reduce it?
How do we include this population?

8. Mentor Characteristics (Beegle, 2006)
Believe in the individual, focus on strengths
Help build networks of support with other mentors and professionals
Believe there is a way out of poverty
Develop a full resource backpack
Teach how to build and maintain their own networks of support.
Have “Poverty Competency”
You must understand the structural causes of poverty.
Gain an awareness of the history of poverty in the US.

9. How to be a Mentor (Beegle, 2006)
Meet people where they are, not where we want them to be
Spend time helping those you serve see that you are just a person
Don’t ignore basic needs! Remember Maslow
Indentify strengths and abilities, and provide opportunities for people to see that they have something to offer
Identify areas for growth and build individual success plans that are doable
Help them build a network of successful people who have benefited from education. Introduce them and expose them to new experiences

10. I find myself more late with every crisis
Curious
By Donna Beegle
I find myself more late with every crisis
More angry with every injustice
More greedy with every deprivation
More rude with every judgment
More disorganized with every eviction
More negative with every untreated illness
More unstable with every insecurity.
I find myself more civil with every bite
More respectful with every kindness
More hopeful with every chance
More grateful with every opportunity
More ready to learn when I am safe
More motivated when there is hope
More happy when I am valued.
I find myself like the 37 million people in poverty responding in a very human way to my environment.