IncomeinequalityintheUnitedStatesisamajorelectioncampaignissue.Itisanissueofinteresttomanypeopleacrossthecountry.
Studieshaveshownthat49millionAmericans--includingoneinfourchildren--arelivinginpoverty.TheUnitedStatesCensusBureausaystherewere43.1millionpeopleinpovertylastyear.Thatis3.5millionfewerthanin2014.
AcommunitydevelopmentprograminGeorgiaisworkingtoimproveneighborhoodsandhelpliftfamiliesoutofpoverty.Italsohelpsyoungpeoplefrompoorfamiliesgetagoodeducation.
TheEastLakeFoundationdirectsthecommunityredevelopmentprogramsintheEastLakeneighborhoodofAtlanta,Georgia.DanielShoyheadsthefoundation.
“Sobyhavingahigh-qualityeducationpipelineweareabletoprovidefirstclassopportunitiesforourchildren,andreallyfortheirfamilies,tohelpthemmovebeyondtheintergenerationalcycleofpoverty,toexposethemtowhatIconsideraworldofpossibilities.”
Theprogramprovideseducationtochildrenfromtheageofthreeallthewaytocollege.Thethree-year-oldsattendclasseswheretheyfocusmainlyonreading.Theprogramworkstoensurethechildrencanreadwellbythetimetheyenterthethirdgrade.
Astheygrowup,theirprogressisfollowedandtheyareurgedtoworkhard.Theyattendthesamepublichighschoolwhichhasaneducationalcurriculumthatrequiresmathematics,scienceandtechnology.
“I’dsaythemoststaggeringresultthatwe’veseenisforouryoungpeoplegofromhavingonlyaboutfivepercentofits5thgradersbeabletomeetorexceedthestatestandardinmathtonow95percentofouryoungpeopleacrossallcoreacademicsubjectsmeetandexceedthatstandard.”
Shoynotesthatthechildren“areperformingwellcomparedtotheirpeersacrossthecountry.”
Theeducationprogramisjustoneoftheactivitiesofferedtoyoungpeoplewholiveinthecommunity.
JalilSpearmangrewupintheprogramandisnowinthe11thgrade.Hehopestobecomeanengineer.
“Havingallthesedifferentextra-curricularactivitieslikeengineering,dance,band,like,reallyhelpsyouto,like,decideonwhatyouliketodorightnowinhighschool,sowhenyougoofftocollegeyoualreadyknowsomethingthatyouwanttodo.”
Manyofthestudentsfrompoorfamiliesareperformingaswellasmiddle-classstudents.
TerezChapmanandherfamilymovedtoEastLake15yearsago.Shenowattendscollegeandworkspart-time.
“Knowingthatsomeoneelseotherthanyourfamilyhastakena(n)interestinyou,itreallyencouragesyou--andmakesyouwanttodobetterandsetthebarhighforyourselftomakeyourownaccomplishments.”
TerezChapmansaysthatsupportfromteachershelpsthestudentsgetthepreparationtheyneedtobesuccessfulinschoolandinlife.
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