What's it like to be poor?

Jodi Pfarr grew up poor in in South Minneapolis.
She understands what it’s like to live without middle class luxuries like a car or a college savings account.
She also knows how hard it is — especially today — to escape poverty.
Pfarr now travels the country to educate people about poverty and its impact on communities.
She was in Luverne Thursday through the Blandin Foundation to guide community members through the process of ending poverty.
The Blandin Community Leadership Program recently launched its Leaders Partnering to End Poverty (LPEP) as a way to help strengthen communities.
Pfarr has been the primary speaker at these workshops and she told a gathering at Grand Prairie Events that in order to end poverty a community needs to first understand poverty and its roots.
“Poverty isn’t about individual decisions,” she said. “How many times have you heard, ‘If they would work harder or budget better, there wouldn’t be poverty.’”
She said understanding poverty involves understanding the classes — lower, middle and wealthy — and how they affect motivation for the future.
She said poor people typically focus on the priorities of here and now, like debt, transportation, clothing, jobs, mental health and other pressing issues.
The middle class are centered on achievement and filled with similar, yet different priorities such as credit card debt, car payments, careers and prevention.
Wealthy people are focused on connections, private clubs and associations, lawyers and accountants and traveling.
She said when people don’t communicate across the classes, it perpetuates the class system and makes it difficult to address poverty and its roots.
“I’m passionate about creating sustainable communities where everyone’s voice is heard,” she said.
She said her goal is to help people of all backgrounds see how the class in which they were raised affects their life and workplace.
“True change can take hold when individuals and communities apply this new understanding,” Pfarr said.
 
Luverne delves into poverty
The Blandin Foundation selected Luverne to be part of Leaders Partnering to End Poverty, covering the cost of the program.
In return, Blandin is seeking Luverne leaders who are committed to attending all seven training sessions and to attend as many community events as their schedule allows.
Thursday’s workshops – the daytime and evening sessions — were an introduction to the Leadership Capacity Building Sessions, which will be monthly starting Oct. 26.
A follow-up “community conversation” is set for Tuesday, Oct. 3, at Grand Prairie Events. It’s free and open to the public.
A free light supper will be served from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and discussion is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Register by calling ATLAS at 449-5777.
The goal is to bring a wide variety of people from within our community together to discuss opinions and beliefs about poverty and how it impacts the Luverne community.
Anyone with an interest in addressing poverty is welcome to attend the future training sessions as well.