About Me
My decision to write books about poverty was based on personal
and professional life time experiences.
and professional life time experiences.
About Me
About Me
My decision to write books about poverty was based on personal and professional life
time experiences.
As a child, I grew up in the inner city of Buffalo, NY. The area that we lived in consisted of hard working white middle class families and impoverished ethnic and racial groups. At one time, the neighborhood was free from crime and violence but a gradual change led to an unsafe environment with families living in poverty. The setting was my first personal experience with poverty.
When I was nine years old our family moved to a suburban Buffalo town to escape the run down city neighborhood, crime, and its escalating poverty rate. Living in a new environment was welcoming and safe. Most families on our street possessed a traditional 1950’s family structure. Father’s worked in factories, mills, and construction. Mother’s stayed at home and managed the household and in most cases four children.
Our family was no different. Two years after we moved into our new neighborhood, my father died and my mother was left with four children under the age of twelve, little money, and nowhere to turn. She got an office job in a factory, and started our new life. My mother’s income was well below the current poverty line, but she chose not to benefit from family welfare programs.
As a child, I grew up in the inner city of Buffalo, NY. The area that we lived in consisted of hard working white middle class families and impoverished ethnic and racial groups. At one time, the neighborhood was free from crime and violence but a gradual change led to an unsafe environment with families living in poverty. The setting was my first personal experience with poverty.
When I was nine years old our family moved to a suburban Buffalo town to escape the run down city neighborhood, crime, and its escalating poverty rate. Living in a new environment was welcoming and safe. Most families on our street possessed a traditional 1950’s family structure. Father’s worked in factories, mills, and construction. Mother’s stayed at home and managed the household and in most cases four children.
Our family was no different. Two years after we moved into our new neighborhood, my father died and my mother was left with four children under the age of twelve, little money, and nowhere to turn. She got an office job in a factory, and started our new life. My mother’s income was well below the current poverty line, but she chose not to benefit from family welfare programs.
My mother’s income was enough to pay for the house mortgage, utilities, clothing and
food. There were no extras. Looking back, I couldn’t say we were poor, or that we lived
in poverty, but I always felt we were poor. We met all the federal and state criteria to be
classified as impoverished, but my mother would have none of that. My feeling about
being poor lasted through my teens and through college. I finally lost that feeling when I
got my first teaching job.
I retired as an educator after thirty eight years. I taught English, hearing impaired
children, and became a principal for an alternative education setting. MY educational
experiences in New York state and Kentucky led to an exposure to families in poverty.
As a result I have authored three books with story lines that expose poverty in these
states
During the past few years, I’ve done a lot of research on US poverty. I have traced US
state, regional, and city poverty rates for the past sixty four years. A common
denominator among the geographic areas is a double-digit poverty rate. It has
remained above ten percent regardless of safety net/welfare programs and policies
enacted by presidential administrations and congress.
I have come to realize that billions of dollars are spent on welfare programs to provide
support for families and individuals. In 2023, the federal government spent 1.1 billion
dollars for education, nutrition, health care, housing, financial assistance, and disability
programs. Despite annual increases in expenditures the US poverty rate remains above
ten percent.
My research led to a belief that a change is needed. To continually increase
expenditures and add new welfare programs when presidential administrations change
is not the answer to decrease the poverty rate.
I have identified a poverty profile the includes a review of the causes (mental,
emotional, physical health), effects (alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide), outcomes
(homelessness, crime, gun violence, discrimination, racism, hate), and results
(implemention at all government levels) of welfare programs has led to the following
recommendation:
- Programs and policies should be targeted to geographic areas with a focus on the causes, effects, and outcomes of poverty.
- Programs and policies should be monitored and evaluated for success in reducing poverty rates (national, state, regions, cities, towns) for racial, age, and gender, and family categories.
- Program and policy money should be realigned and redistributed in all welfare programs.
- Program and policy elimination or changes should be reviewed for success when government administrations change.
My goal is to continue to write about US poverty and emphasize the importance for
politicians to examine the current welfare funding and make necessary changes to
reduce the poverty rate.
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