Promising solutions to replace poverty and inequality with opportunity for all

Every person should be able to put food on the table, have a roof over their head, and give their children a chance at a bright future. Unfortunately, poverty robs people of this right, undermining their access to opportunity. In the United States, there are over 37 million people living in poverty and over 15 million individuals living in extreme poverty, half of the federal poverty line or less. This is a family of four attempting to get by on $10,610 a year or less. To put this number in context, a family making 50% of the poverty line brings home about $884 each month. The market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Illinois is $844. Consequently, the family has only $40 left each month after paying for rent for all other costs – food, utilities, clothing, health care, and other necessities.

People living in extreme poverty are going to be hit first and hardest when a crisis strikes. Over half of those in extreme poverty in Illinois are without health insurance. People in extreme poverty are three times as likely to be living in crowded housing. What might be a minor crisis in our lives – a trip to the emergency room, job loss, a car accident where the family car is totaled – can be a devastating event in their lives that may take years to recover from.

Poverty impacts us all. The existence of poverty means employers do not have skilled workers they need to fill living wage jobs, that our communities are weakened, that our society is expending too many of its precious resources on supports. When work towards eliminating poverty, we are strengthening our schools, our workforce, and our health care system. We are creating a society that reflects the best version of our collective selves.

Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights attends to the needs of the most vulnerable in our society, focusing our energies on those experiencing extreme poverty. Consistent with our belief that freedom from poverty is a human right, we develop innovative solutions that affirm the dignity of those experiencing hardship. The following principles for effective anti-poverty strategies guide our direct service and advocacy efforts.

Offer comprehensive solutions to address complex problems

Poverty is not the result of any one problem – it is the intersection of many different issues. Health care, housing, access to work – you cannot truly address any of these issues without addressing the others. For this reason, Heartland Alliance focuses on integrated solutions that meet individuals where they are at in their lives, attending to this continuum of issues that have manifest themselves as poverty.

Stabilize and increase income

While poverty is about a range of issues, income lies at the core. We must use a responsive system of income supports – cash assistance through the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program, food stamps, housing assistance, and others – that provides stability to those experiencing poverty and adjusts in a responsible manner as families become more financially secure. Complementing these direct supports, we need soft supports in the form of targeted workforce training and caring case management that will provide real opportunities for families to increases their wages, have stable employment, and move beyond income supports.

Build toward the future with a focus on assets

Assets play a key roll in creating lasting opportunities to be self-sufficient. Poverty is not just about how much money you have coming in each month. It is also about the resources you have to see you through a crisis. Families on the edge of poverty too often lack the stability that comes with assets. Assets speak to a range of issues – from eliminating the exceptionally high debt that comes with predatory lending practices, to financial education, to creating opportunities to save. These initiatives, coupled with other important anti-poverty strategies, have a lasting impact on those experiencing poverty.

Structure programs and services to affirm the dignity of all

The ability to move beyond poverty relies not only on tangible supports, but also emotional. Poverty can rob individuals of their sense of self-worth, making it all the more difficult to move towards self-sufficiency. Heartland Alliance believes how program participants are treated – from the care they receive from their case managers to the design of the office they visit – is as critical as the actual service received.  

Enact policy change that integrates best practices and effective solutions

Based on Heartland Alliance's unique expertise delivering services, we support the following policy and funding strategies to combat extreme poverty in communities across the U.S.

• Federal, state, and local governments should adopt specific poverty reduction goals and develop substantive measurable plans to meet these goals.
• Government budgets should reflect poverty elimination as a priority, increasing funding for proven strategies when resources allow and protecting programs focused on aiding the most vulnerable in difficult budget years.
• State and federal governments must invest in short and long-term strategies to address poverty -  including those that stabilize income, such as unemployment insurance and TANF cash assistance, as well as those that help individuals and families build assets, such as financial education, matched savings programs, and tax benefits for lower-income households.
• Programs administered by governments and others should put adequate time, energy, and resources into designing processes and environments that affirm the dignity of the program participants.

Policy Success

Learn more about our public policy successes in the arena of economic security.