A small part of your Captain’s responsibilities in ministry
includes assisting people with their past-due utilities bills. As the executive
director of a county-wide ministry, I sit for three hours every Tuesday morning
offering help to anyone who comes. The funds are provided mostly by donations
from area churches.
In this capacity, I meet people from the lower economic
rungs of our community. Many are trying to live off a small social security
check, some a disability check, while others have been laid off and are trying
to make it just one more month with zero income.
Virtually all the clients I see live in rental property, the
rent eating up as much as half their meager income. Many of these domiciles are
poorly-insulated single-wide trailers, thus my clients have no real control
over their utility bills beyond shutting them off altogether.
About half the people who come to me never finished high
school – some by choice, others by circumstances. And because of that, that
“dream job” they aspire to is a flexible shift at McDonald’s.
Or, “I have applied for disability.”
Your Captain often comes away from these sessions tired and
defeated, knowing we have only made a small dent in a much larger problem that
afflicts communities across our nation.
I have had a lot of time to think about the problem of
poverty in our community and what needs to happen to turn it around. I have
come to realize that it would take at least one generation, if not two, to
break the cycle of poverty that afflicts this area.
In your Captain’s humble opinion, the problem is not money. The
government has been trying this for decades, which in many cases has become a
disincentive to productivity and frequently enables bad habits. I give away approximately
$10-12,000 each year, but that has had little impact on the overall problem. I
could give away twice that amount – three times that amount – but it would not
solve the problem. Poverty is persistent.
Captain's Note: Before you start in on me, all assistance is paid directly to the utility company. No cash is ever given out.
That in no way is to imply that what we are doing is a bad
thing. There are truly some people who, due to circumstances, just need a
little help to get over a rough spot in life. It warms your Captain’s heart
when I find such cases.
Breaking the cycle of poverty begins with getting an education.
 |
| Graduation is sexy! |
Your Captain has shared my thoughts on this with several community
organizations already and, given the opportunity, I would relish the chance to
go into the public schools and offer my “Four Rules for a Better Life” to the
students there.
Captain’s Note:
The Captain is not a list-maker. I hate those bloggers who always post “Three
Rules of this” or “Five Signs of that”. It just so happens my thoughts here
have fallen into four main points.
Should I someday be invited into a school setting, I would
address the female students specifically. From my experience, women find
themselves more often trapped in lives of poverty.
But I would admonish the male students to listen closely, because
if the women take my advice, it will significantly impact them as well.
Here are the Captain’s “Four Rules for a Better Life”:
1) Stay in school. At least until you
finish high school. You would be amazed at the doors that will be opened to you
with just that piece of paper in hand.
But without that high school diploma,
you will almost assuredly be confined to working at the bottom of the pay
scale. Hot, sweaty work that no one else wants to do. Consider this: even if
you were able to work full-time (40 hours per week) without having to take time
off for illnesses, family emergencies, or vacations – which most people cannot
do – it will not be enough. In fact, a recent study has shown that a person
cannot live anywhere in the United States on what minimum wage affords. And
ladies, minimum wage jobs typically do not provide health insurance or
maternity leave. But if you can graduate high school and go on to college or to
a vocational school, your potential for earning will grow exponentially, including
benefits that you will need later on.
2) Don’t get pregnant. This is not un-related
to my first rule. You will have plenty of time to start a family – when you are
physically, emotionally, and financially more mature. Don’t let some cute,
smooth-talking boy convince you to have sex with him to prove your love to him.
Sex is not the same as love and you will likely quickly find out that he never
loved you in the first place; he was just using you for his own sexual
gratification. If you feel inclined to give in, insist on using birth control. And,
ladies, that is as much his responsibility as it is yours, but it is a “must”. If
you end up pregnant at 16, 17, even 18 years old, you will most like find
yourself alone, ostracized by both your peers and your family. You will likely
have to drop out of school to care for yourself and your new baby, which is
expensive. At a point into your pregnancy and for a time afterwards you will be
unable to work, so you will need to rely upon federal assistance and help from charitable
organizations for basics like food and diapers.
If you think you’ll go back to
work right after you’ve had your baby, think again. You have important
responsibilities now. You will find that childcare, if available, will eat up
every penny you try to earn while working the night shift at the local Five
Star. As for the boy who got you pregnant, you will likely never hear from him
again.
3) Don’t expect anyone to take care of you.
Many women think they will just find the right guy, get married, and he will
“take care of me”.
Although somewhat old fashioned, that’s all fine and good… until
he doesn’t. Homes get broken up by divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, and crime
(where he goes to prison for a couple years). What will you do then? How will
you survive / provide? And don’t look to the government for help either. Most
who receive financial support from the government do not receive enough to pay
the bills. Many are limited to $700 per month. And as I write this, Congress is
looking for ways to cut even that amount!
Enter into your adult life with the
expectation that you will be able to take care of yourself. Have a plan.
4) Don’t let anyone else determine your future
for you. This final rule pretty much sums up the other three. You – and
only you – are responsible for your life.
Set goals – beginning right now! – then
devote all your energy toward accomplishing those goals. It’s never too soon to
start thinking about adulthood: what would you really like to do with your
life? What kind of work would you really enjoy? Don’t think “job”, think
“career”. Dream. Envision a bold future. Don’t let anyone distract you or sway
you from your course. Never settle for “just getting by”. Make it happen. And
if others won’t support you in achieving your dreams, leave them be and move on
with your life. Because it is your life! You are the only one responsible for
it.
Now Mates, this is not the final draft, but, alas, the Captain’s
got to start somewhere. I would relish a conversation with any of you to help
me refine and expand upon my points, should you know how to reach me.
As for the rest of you, consider what you might be able to
do in your community to help others escape the generations-long cycle of
poverty that ensnares them. This problem is not going to remedy itself; it will
require intentionality upon the part of those who truly care for the least, the
last, and the lost.
