Data: Extreme poverty

Last week an unsettling report came across my desk.

Prepared by one of our Neighbor Support Services team members who engages directly with the thousands of people who come to us for assistance of one kind or another at our Resource Center on Haskell Avenue, the report noted that 64.17% of our neighbors who receive case management services learn less than $10,000 annually.

An additional, small group, (6.84%) earns between $10,001 and $20,000 annually.  An even smaller additional group (4.23%) earns between $20,001 and $30,000 each year.

Almost 80% of the people we touch live in Dallas County.

We work with the poorest of the poor, and the vast, vast majority are not homeless; they are the working poor who understand the toxic stress of the constant pressure of extreme poverty.

Ignoring this challenging reality will not serve us or our community well.