POVERTY

Poverty
Alexis Guzman
Professor Arietta
April 10, 2016

POVERTY

Abstract
This paper explores five published articles that talk about
poverty. From the research I conducted we see how people fall in
poverty and how they do it to survive. The articles talk about how the
poverty rate has dropped in El Paso and why. One of the books talks
about how a person can be born into poverty or if a tragic event
occurred leading that person to be in poverty. In this research paper we
see how the United States and Mexico collaborate when we have a
border town and how the immigrants cross trying to look for jobs but
end up doing poorly. The government has had a huge impact on the
people in need because the government offers programs to help these
people and their families out. As time goes on less and less people are
on poverty due to the help they get and the help of the community as
well.

Keywords: poverty, community, El Paso, Mexico border, government

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Poverty
Poverty has been a major issue for an extensive period of time and it is
seen in every country, state, and city. It is said by the people who experience poverty that
it is hard to get out of it and it feels like a never ending cycle of being less fortunate and
not being able to take care of yourself. More than 3 billion people live on less than $2.50
and more than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty. The majority of people who are living
in poverty have children and about 1 billion children world-wide are living in poverty.
Poverty has been affecting the whole world time through time not mattering race, color,
or religion, however, in this report I will be discussing the poverty that the community of
El Paso suffers.
El Paso has a population of about 892,695 people and out of these people about
25% live in poverty. Reporter, Crystal Price, mentions that poverty rate in El Paso is
dropping as the years pass and more job opportunities are offered because of the city
growth and the businesses here in El Paso are improving. Even though businesses are
growing there is still one problem and that is the workforce quality that seems to always
fall behind the nation. Other than the problem the unemployment rate is dropping and this
will help the poverty rate for the previous years. The city of El Paso is growing,
especially since Fort Bliss is stationed here and people from every city are moving here,
and more houses are being built in the newer parts of town. On the other hand, we have
our older parts in the city and these parts seem to maintain the people that are in poverty.
One of the poorest areas here in El Paso is the Chamizal area. This neighborhood was one
of the first ones built here and now the houses are aging and there is lack of residential
making the neighborhood a poor community. The majority of the homes here are falling

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apart, the schools in this area need construction, and the streets and sidewalks as well
need improvement.
The city of El Paso is trying their very best to help these people and their
environment. There are programs being offered such as improving the quality of the
homes and they are remodeling the homes the government offers to the people,
community service is offered by nonprofit organizations and government agencies, and
more work is being available to the people so they can at least have a part time job. The
Chamizal community is doing a project helping out the people in poverty. These residents
are donating canned foods, clothing, and hygiene products and giving it to the people
who need it. More education opportunities are being offered at school so they made an
after school program hoping this would make a positive change for the children and their
futures.
Poverty is like a cycle people say that because, if a mother has children and they
are in poverty they have no money to get an education and get out of it, then those
children have children and the cycle continues. According to Roth getting an education is
the best way out of poverty. In the book, Experiencing Poverty: Voices from the Bottom,
there was a story about a single woman who had a part time job and had seven children.
The woman was living in a small apartment provided by the government, and even
though she was getting help by the government she was struggling deeply. Sometimes she
did not have enough money to buy her children new school clothes and shoes and her
kids were embarrassed that most of the times they did not want to attend school. The
mother made sure they attended school and with the little money she would earn she
would save it for when it was her oldest childs time to attend college. This mother knew

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that education was the only way out of poverty and she did not want her children to
struggle like she did. Poverty is an event that a person can either be born into or
something tragic will happen that will leave a person in poverty. There was another story
mentioned in the book about a family of four who owned a company that would sell
belts. Then one day their company went out of business leaving them with no home and
nothing to provide themselves with. After the family lost their company they got on
welfare and the government helped them get a small home and they had to move to
another neighborhood they were unfamiliar with. Eventually the family had to get used to
the circumstance meanwhile they got back on their feet again. The parents found jobs and
got out of welfare and went back to their normal lives. This story opens up our eyes
and tells us that poverty can come anytime no matter what. This book has many more
stories about how people do it to survive; overall, this book opened my mind and brought
out the realities of the live of the impoverished people.
In El Paso we have an equal majority that a person was born into poverty or it was
just a sudden event. El Paso is a border town city because we have the Mexican border
near us and the only thing separating us is the Rio Grande and the fences that were just
built in. According to the article, Homelessness among Older Adults in a Texas Border
Town, written by Bonnie she tells us that when she went to visit the homeless shelter
here in El Paso the majority of people in there were Spanish speaking, Hispanic males
who were form Mexico but immigrated to El Paso. One of the main reasons people are in
poverty here in El Paso is because the people from Mexico move to El Paso thinking
there is better opportunities for them. When in reality they have it more difficult here for
them because they do not speak English making it is harder for them to get a job leaving

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them with no money stuck in a country their not from. Many times the immigrant will not
want to cross back to their country because it took them a long way to get to the United
States and they just wait hopelessly for somebody to offer them a job whether it is a part
time or a fulltime job. In the article, The detriments of poverty in the Mexican and U.S
border, it mentions how the jobs offered to these immigrants are mainly field jobs or
housekeeping. So what these immigrants do at these jobs is pick fruits or vegetables out
in the fields, these immigrants also do laborer construction and the majority of the
females who come undocumented to the united states to housekeeping or maid jobs.
These jobs are lower-wage jobs and require a little bit of education and with the pay of
the job a person cannot make it economically especially if they have a family to take care
of. These people dont get help the way people would get help if they were citizens, so
they do it on their own.
Here in the United states about 52.2 million people are on government assistance.
The government helps the poor in many ways: they offer affordable housing, grants and
loans, they give the people benefits, they help the people pay bills, they offer student
loans and they also offer food assistance. Affordable housing is when you cannot afford a
house on your own and the government will provide a house for you with a price you can
afford, the government also lets you take out loans for when youre in really need of
money and need it as soon as possible to pay a bill, the government also helps out by
giving benefits to people especially the veterans, the people in the military, the elders,
and people with disabilities or for the people who have a child with disabilities. These
benefits include getting handi-cap to park closer to your destination and everything you
buy if discounted so you do not pay the full price of something. The government offers a

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program where they can help pay for telephone services, they help with home energy
bills, medical bills, and welfare or temporary assistance for needy families. Each of these
programs are not offered to anybody a person has to qualify for them and have the right
eligibility to apply and actually get the benefits. The government also helps out with
student loans and that is for student who want to attend college or the university and
cannot afford it. In order to get this, help the student must apply on FAFSA and they
submit their application and wait to see what the government gave them money wise to
pay for college. The government also provides food assistance which is called food
stamps for the most part. Food stamps is a card the government gives to a person and
depending on how much help the person needs the government puts in a certain amount
of money on the person ca buy a variety of foods. Here in El Paso there is a program
called BRAVO and it offers free advice and financial assistance for people who are very
close to losing their home.
El Paso is the type of city to help out the people that are in need of it, here we try
not to leave anyone behind. The community and the city offers help for these individuals
by gathering goods and handing them out to the people and the city provides homeless
shelters where the homeless can go and eat, take a shower, and sleep. If everyone keeps
doing their part and helping each other in our community, then El Paso will strive and
become a city that everyone can use as an example for being one of the best cities in
America. As El Pasoens the people who were born and raised here feel as though we
should be the main source for helping our community. We should all want to see each
other strive and become better people not just for ourselves, but for future generations
that come after us.

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References
Carroll, C. (2014). 50 Years later, War on Poverty, rages in El Paso. KVIA.com.
Retrieved
from http://www.kvia.com/news/50-years-later-war-on-poverty-rages-on-in-elPaso/2385718.
Eitzen, S. D. & Smith, E. K. (2008). Experiencing poverty: voices from the bottom. (US)
Pearson Education.
Garza-Rodrguez, J. (2016). The determinants of poverty in the Mexican states of the USMexico
border. Estudios Fronterizos,17(33),141-167
Hatchett, B. F. (2004). Homelessness Among Older Adults in a Texas Border
Town. Journal of
Aging & Social Policy, 16(3), 35-56.doi:10.1300/J031v16n03_03.
Price, C. (2014). El Pasoens living in Poverty speak out as rate remains above national
state
Average. Kfoxtv.com. Retrieved from http://kfoxtv.com/archive/el-pasoansliving-inpoverty-speak-out-as-a-rate-remains-above-national-state-average.