LIFT

The statistics are appalling. Nearly 40 million Americans, or one in eight individuals, live in poverty with less than $15 per person per day to cover all needs, from food and bus fare to medical care, housing and utility bills.

The implausibility of living on this amount of money in America today
is alarming; however, even more concerning is the reality that the number of Americans living in poverty will significantly and precipitously grow as the impact of the economic downturn is fully realized. In Washington, DC, the unemployment rate for African American teenagers is expected to reach 50 percent in 2010, and the child poverty rate is the highest in the United States at 32%. This tremendous loss of children to poverty --- whether persistent or intermittent --- inevitably comes at a cost to all of us.

Poverty is a complex and multi-faceted problem and all its associated issues - unemployment, hunger, illiteracy, health care costs - are interlinked. LIFTING families out of this environment is the best way to break the cycle of poverty, poor health, and substandard education that typifies the lives of poor children and families. The programs are there: the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicaid, food stamps and child care assistance. Yet nearly 93% of eligible families living 200 percent below the poverty line are still not enrolled in all of the assistance available to them.

Fortunately, for those living in the Washington Metropolitan area, there is help. LIFT offers low-income individuals and families a path out of poverty by helping them find jobs, secure safe and stable housing, make ends meet through public benefits and tax credits, and obtain quality referrals for services like childcare and health care. LIFT's corps of highly trained and dedicated volunteers, most of them college students, grapple with our country's most challenging issues related to poverty, race, and inequality and go on to become lifelong leaders in the effort to fight poverty.

Since the economic downturn began to take its toll, LIFT has been on the front-lines of DC's response to the crisis. LIFT's DC office has experienced a 36 percent increase in client meetings as a growing number of American families face unemployment, poverty and homelessness. More resources are urgently needed --- especially an expanded corps of volunteers.

In partnership with CharityWorks, LIFT will launch a program to help LIFT expand its services to more than 1,000 additional families in D.C. and begin to reach out to families throughout the region. One of the key drivers to positive outcomes is the depth of the relationship between a client and volunteer. By expanding the volunteer corps to include professionals, LIFT will ensure more consistent availability of caseworkers, and clients will benefit from working with more experienced and knowledgeable volunteers.

After losing her job, Maria was struggling to get back into the workforce. With no income and little savings due to a recent divorce, she was falling behind on her rent and utility payments. With the help of LIFT volunteers, Maria updated her resume and secured part-time work. The paycheck was not enough and Maria continued to struggle financially. Things took a turn for the worse when her apartment's rent was increased. Maria could not afford the rent and was handed an eviction notice. Once again, LIFT came to the rescue. Volunteers helped Maria obtain legal aid, accompanied her to court appointments, and helped her find a pro-bono lawyer to negotiate an extension on her move-out date and settle outstanding payments. Then, LIFT helped Maria compile the necessary paperwork for emergency housing and helped her secure an affordable apartment in a safe neighborhood. As Maria said at the time, "LIFT helped mentally, physically and emotionally."