I found an enlightening article today (thanks Reddit) on the costs of being poor. Here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053.html?referrer=emailarticle
It made me think, we seem to hear lots of people talk about big projects to help relieve the burdens of poverty but I think maybe we need to take smaller steps. Could churches provide 'not for profit' laundromats? I was without a washer and dryer for a while and it cost quite a bit to get your laundry done. Cities give tax incentives to businesses all the time, how about tax breaks for a grocery store to locate in a low income area, maybe with some agreement that the store keep prices reasonable. How about limits on the cost to cash a payroll check? I wouldn't think that payroll checks would bounce too often. This is pretty off-the-cuff but I think that these ideas make sense. Any thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I totally agree! In fact I was just going to post this article on my own blog this week with my usually ranting. :) It's really the little things that start to go to the wayside and make the big things seem worse. I have volunteered my own home if people needed to do laundry and often serve snacks to neighborhood kids at the park because most of them are home alone and don't have anyone to give them the afternoon snack/drink. It doesn't cost a lot and it is a LOT of help.
ReplyDelete