non-profits and poverty

The Waco Tribune had an interesting article last week about McClennan County's poverty rate. The article had the temerity to ask why the poverty rate continues to increase despite the plethora non-profits and social services in the area. It's a great question that is rarely asked.

To be fair, college students count toward the poverty rate, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Students don't have much income and technically fall below the poverty line. As Baylor's student population increases, as I understand it did this year, the county's poverty rate will increase too. For the sake of argument, let's discount the increase in the poverty rate and take it as static.

The lousy economy certainly comes into play as more individuals and families face challenges. That aspect can't be overlooked.

However, the Trib question remains. There are some interesting non-profits and social service agencies doing their thing in Waco and the surrounding area. Are they largely ineffective? The flip side to this is that perhaps they have kept the poverty rate from increasing at a geometric rate. That's a possibility.

I recall my time in Trenton. There were some great non-profits there. Isles, Inc. and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen probably typify the best of them. There were also a lot that served as vehicles to provide jobs to supervisors and staff, rather than trying to get folks to a level of self-sufficiency. The point of every social service non-profit should be to put itself out of business. Some really try to do that; many lock clients into a level of dependency to insure continued funding of the agency. There is a lot of money in fighting poverty.


Calvary is working through When Helping Hurts. It challenges some basic assumptions, many maintained by the Church, in dealing with poverty. Join us on Sun mornings in the Fellowship Hall, 9:30, or on Wed nights in the College SS room at 6:30pm.