First session

What an interesting and diverse group of people!  It's amazing how a group of strangers worked together tonight.  The aha! moments were popping up everywhere - with the investigators as well as with me.  Being the self-aware (often self-conscious) person that I am, I kept checking in with myself and noticed my middle-class nature wanting to show itself many times.  I thought about how agencies could help the investigators with the numerous stressors that they named.  The counselor in me wanted to interject with insight and guidance, but I held myself back and only suggested something a few times.  

The investigators didn't hesitate to jump in and list the daily problems they have to solve.  It was interesting the way they defined poverty.  Often poverty was defined by comparison - like a millionaire is in poverty if he can't afford a brand new jet and other people are in poverty because they are "poor."  One person said she thinks of the children on TV who live in Ethiopia as being in poverty.  The same person eventually nailed the definition on the head that poverty is the extent to which people do without resources.  

One of the things we learned in training is how people in poverty are exploited, often by scams and/or advance payday loan businesses.  One of the investigators received a check in the mail for doing online surveys.  The check was written for $3100.  The catch is that she had to mail them $2000.  No doubt this situation would have a bad outcome for her.  She was smart and didn't cash the check.  She's thinking about turning it in to the Better Business Bureau.  She was also aware of the dangers of leasing cars and other items such as furniture and electronics.  Did you know the interest rate for a payday advance loan is around 400%?

I am reminded to be thankful for who I am and what I have.  I haven't had the struggles that they have had and I don't ever want to.  I'm excited about what's going to happen during the next several weeks with this group and I'll probably learn as much as they will.