Over the last few weeks we have been contacted by other community leaders across the Country interested in finding solutions for their residents who cannot accept jobs because of the lack of transportation.
It is heartening to find other Grass Root efforts to find solutions to this terrible problem. The image of poverty is so misleading. Yes there are difficult issues in neighborhoods burdened by poverty. There are a lot of issues to address. However, if at the end of the day the individual cannot have a job because of fixable transportation barriers , it only breeds despair and hopelessness. Those mindsets do not allow a Community to have a of a good quality of life no matter how many buildings are rehabbed or bike lanes that are painted on the road. Rather, all of us must rise, TOGETHER. The strong must reach out to the weak. We cannot continue to leave people behind by blocking the one thing that can change their life...A Job! To get a job, most people in poverty must have affordable, accessible transportation.
Below is my Letter to the Editor of the Wall st Journal about the reality of poverty:
Food-Stamp Millionaires Are Hardly Typical
The people Ms. Rasmussen writes about who receive food stamps but have wealth are unique.
Jan. 29, 2018 12:55 p.m. ET
Kristina Rasmussen’s very misleading “How Millionaires Collect Food Stamps” (Jan. 16) purports to suggest it is easy to get food stamps.
I find people want to work but lack transportation to get to jobs, and the government isn’t providing the necessary transportation support. We are trying to fill the gap with no government support and limited funding. With a small amount of funding we could help 1,000 people get jobs and off assistance. A family of three, two disabled parents with a teen son, lives on $1,400 a month in disability checks. Although they are well below the poverty line, they don’t qualify for food stamps. I have met others even worse off. Food pantries only provide one bag of groceries a month, enough food for one to two days. The people Ms. Rasmussen writes about who receive food stamps but have wealth are unique. Clearly the average family who is in need is hardly getting by.
It is time to correct the system and make it compassionate and accountable. Eliminate the waste in the administration and help those who really need it.
Deborah Hundley
Providence Services of Syracuse Inc.
Syracuse, N.Y.