This is Part I of the Rethink Community mini-series, Paralyzed In Poverty, an as-told-to narrative based directly on the account of Andrea Harper and her perspective on living life in poverty.
Hi, I’m Andrea, and this is my first-person account of how it feels to suffer from the effects of poverty, to learn to live in it, and to struggle to climb away from it.
Once upon a time, I was an educator, top-rated and vetted by my school district, my state, and even my country. Some bad decisions and other complex factors led me to becoming a felon and I had to rebuild my life, but not before entering into extreme poverty first.
This short narrative is what has been on my mind as I continue my journey out of poverty.
I got my LCDCII (licensed chemical dependency counselor) licensure in the mail today -- a crossroads and pivotal moment in front of me. This could be my way out of poverty.
Why am I even contemplating staying where I am?
Why am I paralyzed in poverty, I am seeing a possible way to financially get out of it?
How in the world do I get out of this?
Do I have the courage to look over the cliff? Is there a way out without hurting too bad?
I have been tenacious and determined to figure living in poverty out. I have used my intellectual gifts to navigate every resource. My experience with material poverty is situational.
My situation today includes -- recovery in addiction and mental illness, a Bachelor's degree in education that is of little value because of my conviction, and every subsidy you can access as an under-resourced mother of three: medical, food stamps, housing, social security, the list goes on.
I was raised with strong middle-class value system around saving money, having a work ethic, and paying bills on time. I believe in higher education.
Why won’t I let this social security check go? It’s like a stronghold. I have been traumatized by the effects of losing it all...of being thrashed into situational poverty from the effects of the disease of addiction.
I lost my career, my home, my vehicle, my retirement, and every cent to my name. I moved into a home that should have been condemned while living off of $350 a month and buying money orders at the moto-mart to pay my utilities (along with two cartons of cigarettes to last me the month). That was my monthly ritual.
I have used resources in poverty to make my earning power be as if I am middle-class. “Ghetto rich,” I call it. I have the experience and license and education now to go on to full-time employment without the check -- but damn, it’s $700/month gone! And 20 more hours of work each week away from my home and my children to be at the same earning power that I am right now.
Is the system a trap?
or
Am I trapped, by fear? Why not take the risk?
Getting out of poverty is not always this glorious move with rainbows and flowers. The change process is scary. The system offers important resources, but can quickly become a crutch to getting ahead.
Sometimes the pain of a comfortable situation is easier to live with than the ambiguity of the future.
That's the pain. That's the truth about poverty.
Andrea Harper for Think Tank, Inc. — to learn more about Andrea’s work, please visit