Understanding Poverty: An Unseen Global Issue

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Poverty is defined as: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Poverty does not care what age, sex, race, or religion you are, poverty is not just what you see on television, it doesn’t just happen in third world countries, it is real and can be right in front of your face. I remember hearing stories on the radio and television of celebrities that were homeless before they made it big. After Jim Carrey’s father lost his job, they found themselves living out of a van. Charlie Chaplin was homeless and searching for food at the age of 14 after his father died and his mother was committed to a mental asylum. It can happen to anyone. Data taken from the US Census Bureau in 2015 …show more content…

According to the World Health Organization, the relationship between mental health and poverty is particularly important: the poor and the deprived have a higher prevalence of disorders, including substance abuse. Society does not take well to poverty especially to individuals living in poverty that have a mental illness. In some instances, mental illness can be a cause for individuals living in poverty. When individuals cannot afford health insurance how are they going to afford medication for the …show more content…

Continuing to develop and evolve the plans in place to aid those living in poverty, while weeding out the ones taking advantage of the system and programs, preventing those who really need the boost from obtaining it. A good example is Habit for Humanity, where the disadvantaged individuals are required to put in work to build their home. Then they are strongly encouraged to support the construction of additional homes in the area and respect the hard work they put into building those homes. This not only gives them a home to live in at a reduced cost but trains them in a new skill that they would not have the opportunity to learn otherwise. We as citizens can take action, but we only have so much we can do alone to help reduce poverty. Volunteering our time as homeless shelters, feeding the hungry, donating money to non-profit companies, these are ways any one can get

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