Advocate for poor no stranger to poverty

from The Star Press

By JOHN CARLSON

MUNCIE -- Pam Barnhouse has experienced poverty firsthand.

Now, as she works to rise above it, she is also working to see that others overcome it, too.

"When a person is in poverty, a lot of times they don't have folks they can call in the middle of the night (for help)," said Barnhouse, a 48-year-old native of southern Indiana who grew up in Cammack.

In several important ways, she is trying to become someone who can -- and will -- help.

For Barnhouse and her husband, John, his ill health and a series of job losses culminated in the collapse of their financial stability.

"We struggled," Barnhouse said, explaining how in one case she lost her job in a Portland factory while caring for her terminally ill mother-in-law, who lingered a little longer than expected. "I got terminated because she didn't die fast enough."

What spurred changes in her life was working as a facilitator in a series of poverty simulation exercises held here back in 2005. Sponsored by TEAMwork for Quality Living, the exercises were designed to give others an idea of what life was like for the poor.

There was one such simulation that involved some school girls who had actually teased a less-fortunate classmate, a girl whose family finances prevented her from engaging in certain school activities she wanted to pursue.

"She wanted to participate in choir," Barnhouse explained, "but she couldn't afford the dresses."

As a result of the exercise, however, the girls learned to sympathize with their classmate, whose mother had told Barnhouse all about their change of heart.

"She said, 'Hey, they don't make fun of her anymore,'" Barnhouse said. "I realized then there are ways to get out of poverty."

Now a board member of EPIC (the Eliminating Poverty Initiating Committee), she has also been instrumental in staging the Overcoming Poverty Together dinners, which are held from 6-8 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at First Baptist Church.

These meals bring the poverty stricken together with those who aren't, just to discuss relevant issues, such as public transportation.

Barnhouse is also involved in Circles of Support, in which a "circle captain," a person struggling with poverty, is paired with three or four "allies" who provide emotional and moral backing for their recovery effort.

"They're just there for moral support and advice," said Barnhouse, who has dark shoulder-length hair and a confident manner.

Since becoming involved in these poverty-fighting efforts, Barnhouse's life has taken a radical turn for the better.

An enthusiastic reader, she now works 33 hours a week as a circulation assistant for the Muncie Public Library and hopes eventually to have full-time employment there.

"This is the best job I've ever had," she said, taking a quick break from her work at Maring-Hunt Library.

But her good fortune extends beyond employment.

Thanks to the assistance of Muncie's Altrusa Club, she received dentures last November to replace some bad teeth, a fact which often leaves her smiling these days.

And thanks to a joint program of TEAMwork and Christian Ministries, she was also recently given a donated 1992 Dodge Caravan, a vehicle she can use to drive to work and elsewhere.

What does that mean to her?

"The world," Barnhouse said gratefully, urging those who can afford to do so to donate their used vehicles to the program.

Still, perhaps the best evidence of her personal growth came earlier this month, when Mike Yankoski, the author of a book about living in poverty called Under the Overpass, spoke to a crowd of 400 at Cornerstone Center for the Arts.

"I was the one who brought him here," she said with a smile, recalling the effort it took and how she felt while introducing him to that large crowd. "If you would have met me two years ago, I never would have done any of this."

That is not to say Barnhouse is where she wants to be.

"I've lived in poverty and I'm not completely out of poverty," she said, adding that it remains a serious problem in Delaware County.

But things are getting better for her and John.

"This was the first year that we actually enjoyed Christmas," she said, citing the fact that their financial picture is at least more stable.

As for the future, her goal is to play another role in those Circles of Support sessions she mentioned. She wants to be one of the allies who offers advice to others on rising above poverty.

"I'll reach it," Barnhouse promised. "I know I'll reach it one of these days."

Contact features writer John Carlson at 213-5824.