By Rhaia Hull, 2014-2015 Rochester Youth Year Fellow
Poverty is a unique phenomenon. It seems to be something everyone in our country has an opinion on, but yet is only truly understood by those who are living in it and those who have overcome it. For many, poverty is thought to be a one-dimensional problem that can be solved with hard work or living within someone’s means. However, this sort of ignorance puts poverty in a very simple box. People who have struggled to provide for their families, have been evicted from their homes, or have gone without presents during the holidays can tell you how poverty affects your mind, body and soul. It isn’t just the state of your bank account, but an all-encompassing state of mind that you wake up and go to sleep dealing with–a sense of hopelessness and lack of control that adults and children deal with every day. It is details like these that are often overlooked and prevent real effective change from occurring.
It wasn’t until I began my year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Rochester City School District (RCSD) that I really began to understand poverty. Despite my own personal experiences and my background in sociology, I wasn’t prepared for what I would see in the Rochester city and its school district. I had never been in an urban city before and my perspective of poverty was limited to rural poverty. So in the beginning, my supervisor gave me a tour of Rochester, where we drove around the city and discussed its different problems. This wasn’t like the tour I had taken during orientation, of the different parks and monuments. This was through the toughest and most impoverished neighborhoods in Rochester. He took me down the most barren streets, pointing out abandoned buildings and lots, numerous liquor and corner stores, people waiting in line for different services, and the number of churches and schools littered in such desolation. This eye opening experience weighed on my shoulders; it reinforced my knowledge of poverty as a multifaceted problem that wouldn’t be easily solved. It did, however, leave me inspired to do something about it.
As the months went by, the solution to poverty became even trickier to figure out. Is it the unemployment rate or the lack of affordable and safe housing? Does Rochester need more services for the poor or are our schools too disorganized or inadequate? Considering my position within the RCSD, the relationship between poverty and education left me trying to comprehend the problems that face the district alone. When we consider that 27,829 students are enrolled in the District, 84% of which receive free/reduced price lunch, that District students speak over 84 different languages, and that the graduate rate is 43%, that is no easy feat. When you understand the significance of those numbers and the problems they carry for the district, it’s easy to feel completely and utterly overwhelmed by it all. But my year of service has shown me the other side of the District that isn’t widely publicized or discussed (especially in today’s media): that there are countless people, adults and youth alike, who are committed to improving the schools and the city.
That’s why, when I think of the solution to poverty and the problems that face Rochester, I think of those people: the different teachers, principals, administrators, community leaders, and inspiring teens that I’ve met this past year. It’s remarkable how many of these successful individuals have lived through poverty themselves—people who came from humble beginnings, have experienced homelessness, or were teen parents. But it seems that it is these experiences that make them the best fit for challenging poverty. They are resilient against adversity, pragmatic when thinking of solutions, and empathetic with the impoverished adults and children of the city. They are really who can get things done.