Myth Busters
Myth Busters Compiled by Beth Templeton, 3.30.18 Based on Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, Mariner Books, imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015 Not...
Sobering Facts 2016
The 2016 federal poverty level for a family of 4 in South Carolina is $24,300 and is $11,880 for one individual. The area median income in 2014 is $45,238 (SC) and $44,783 (Greenville-Mauldin-Easley)....
Prophetic Ministry: Not me…or Me
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” — From Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination...
Self Sufficiency Hourly Wage in Greenville SC
According to the Self Sufficiency Standard, the hourly wage for one adult with one preschooler in Greenville, SC, is $15.67. This breaks down to $750 rent, $567 childcare, $362 food, $271 transportation, $405 healthcare,...
New Study on Financial Self-Sufficiency for South Carolina Familie
New Study on Financial Self-Sufficiency for South Carolina Families Columbia, SC (January 19, 2016) – A new report takes a realistic look at how much is actually needed to support a family in South...
Budget Scenario
Based on very conservative spending assumptions Wages: $11.00 an hour job, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. Net take home: $8.25 /hour or $1430 a month. Housing: ...
Back to School for Angelika
August 1 Journal Entry I’ve been feeling a tightness in my insides. I look at Mama and she says that she’s already eaten when she gives us our supper but she looks skinnier and...
Definition of Rich
The Bible talks a lot about the rich and the poor. The Bible never talks about the middle class. One is either rich or one is poor. There seems to be no in-between. This...
Comments from the Poverty Simulation
Last week I facilitated a poverty simulation for the MedEx Academy sponsored by the Greenville Health System. Participating were high school seniors and college juniors and seniors who are planning careers in the medical...
The Poverty Tour Changed for Me
The poverty tour that I take interested people on changed forever for me on Thursday. It’s not that we went anywhere different or that I changed what I said…okay, maybe a little. However, we...
Systems Issues
I was recently asked to comment further on a statement that I made publicly about dealing with Unseen Greenville. I said that change requires dealing with structural and systems issues. The person who asked...
What Can I Do?
Edward Everette Hale penned these words that I’ve seen on posters and quoted many times. That must indicate that he said something significant! You decide: “I am only one, but still I am one....
What High School Students Learned from the Poverty Simulation
On April 21, I facilitated a poverty simulation for 146 students at Hartsville High School. Here are some of the comments from the students: I think that the most successful part was learning how...
How Our Eyes Were Opened Got Its Name
Sometimes I’m asked about why I named my company Our Eyes Were Opened, Inc. Well, the Inc. part is just part of being a company. The name, Our Eyes Were Opened, however, has several...
Are You a Thermostat or a Thermometer?
When I was cleaning up some files, I found this quote. I don’t know who said it or where I got it from. “Most people…are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority...
Affordable Housing Can’t Be Found for Many
The National Low Income Housing Coalition just released a report about the shortage of affordable rental units for people who are deeply low income (DLI= household with income at or less than 15% of...
The Cost of Winter Weather
With our area’s ice, sleet, snow, and below normal temperatures, many things have come to a halt. Schools, childcare facilities, medical practices, businesses, service organizations, and churches have been closed or opened only for...
When is a baby no longer cute?
A recent report released by the Children’s Defense Fund reported that one in five children in this country is poor (12.2 million children) In South Carolina, more than 1 in 4 (26.9 percent) were...
Life’s Curve Balls
Sometimes life just throws you a curve ball. You are expecting certain schedules, happenings, relationships. Your well-considered plans simply cannot materialize. The weather may not allow you to go on the hike or bike...
In SC, 58 Percent of Students are Low Income
Number of Low Income Students GrowingIn South Carolina, 58 Percent of Students are Low Income The number of low income students is growing nationwide according to a new research bulletin by the Southern Education Foundation...