Poverty is more than being hungry, out-of-work and homeless
“How will integrity help race relations?” Helen Blocker Adams, the host at News Radio 1230 AM WNRR in Augusta, Georgia, asked me recently. I gulped. Because I am Canadian, I can talk about snow and hockey, but how could I answer this question?
“Integrity,” I answered, “is every person’s journey, regardless of race. Integrity is wholeness, consistency and objectivity. It is about doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right”.
After the interview, Helen smiled at me and said, “I know the right place to start!”
She joined me the next day in my home to talk. She told me about her non-profit organization and the need she had encountered with single mothers. “I want to do something about the situation I see emerging here in Georgia” she stated.
The poverty within
Helen showed me a quote from Mother Teresa that best expressed her feelings.
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.
Helen looked me directly in the eyes as she said, “There is a sense of inner poverty that has enveloped the lives of many women. In this modern life of socio-economic disparity and media influenced perception of individual beauty, value and self-worth, many women find themselves alone on the outside looking in.”
She thought for a moment and tears formed in her eyes as she added, “Combine this with entitlement and instant gratification mentalities. We are seeing more and more women wrecked by the irrevocable consequences of poor decision making.”
>“Finally,” she went on, “these women understand that they live increasingly in a world driven by greed, bureaucracy and fear; a world governed by political and business leaders that destroy trust through severe lapses in ethical and moral judgment. As a result we have many who have lost trust in themselves, in the world they live and in their way of life.”
“Do you remember what Mother Teresa said about poverty?” she asked me. “We need to make a stand against any poverty that makes people feel unwanted, unloved and uncared for. I believe we need to start within the hearts and minds of women, especially the single mothers.”
I know many women are valued, but there are a growing number of women who are alone, feeling unloved, unwanted and uncared for. “Women and families are the cornerstone that many builders of our society have undervalued in the pursuit of prosperity. This cornerstone goes beyond religion and politics. It goes beyond everything that divides us to something that can unite us all,” Helen told me. “When we positively impact a woman’s sense of self, and her trust in a meaningful and productive way, it can create a domino effect and impact her family, her community, her workplace and her world. This, in turn, will impact her children’s education, the business community and other families.”
“That is where you come in,” she added as she smiled at me. “You are the missing piece of the puzzle that I have been looking for.”
At the core of all our lives is integrity
Personal integrity is a integrating process of renewal and healing that builds self esteem through making the right decision and following through by doing things right. Community integrity is completeness where everything and everyone works together for the individual and collective good of all.
Integrity is inclusive not exclusive. It is built on the value-added contributions of everyone not just a few. More importantly still today, it is rooted in adversity. It is here that the work of integrity is done.
A week later, the Southeast Enterprise Institute launched the first ever ‘Hope is Possible’ program. It is a pilot process created for women facing challenges. It has a goal (integrity), a structure (Seven Tracks of integrity), a well worn pathway (the Hero’s journey) and a process (theme and soul centered dialogs).
If it achieves success, it will not be there in the program. The success will be within the hearts and minds of the women who participate.
It is the right place to start . . . The time is always right to do what is right. — Martin Luther King Jr.
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