Community leaders begin seeking solutions to Sanford's high poverty rate

from the Foster's Daily Democrat

By Shawn P. Sullivan

SANFORD — The student needed a bath. He was offending the other kids with the way he smelled.

Some teachers told Becky Brink, the principal at Sanford Junior High School, to make the young man wash. Brink didn't think the situation was that simple.

She visited the student's home. She found heartbreak there. His father had been laid off from work, and his mother was ill and dying. The family's car was broken down in the driveway, and they didn't own a washing machine. And they had no money to bring their clothes to a laundromat.

"That was the start of our staff knowing that they had to do something" about the poverty at the junior high school, Brink told a gathering of town officials on Tuesday night.

Teachers at the school raised money and bought a new washing machine for the family.

The school's quest to understand poverty and lift up those who struggle in its shadows had begun.

During a Town Council workshop on Tuesday, Brink delivered a presentation on poverty in Sanford. According to Brink, 65 percent of Sanford residents live in poverty. Children of poverty are at a disadvantage at school, Brink said, because schools tend to operate within a middle-class culture.

"We have to show our children and train them to move into the middle class to be successful," Brink said.

The workshop attracted a cross-section of local officials that included members of the Town Council, the school and finance committees, and the Planning Board. Brink even had some assistance with her presentation — Town Manager Mark Green and Planning Director Jim Gulnac, for example, helped pass out materials to the audience.

The workshop kicked off what will be a three-week exercise for community leaders to develop a better understanding about the language, mindsets and lifestyle of those in town who live in poverty. At the centerpiece of the discussion will be "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," a book written by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D.

Brink handed out copies of the book to town officials and then — like a born educator — outlined a course of study and gave them homework.

During the next week, town officials will read the book's first three chapters, which define "poverty," explore its language, and reveal the "hidden rules" among the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

Officials will spend the second week working through the next three chapters. The first chapter discusses generational poverty, the kind experienced by families for decades or longer. The other two chapters focus on the role models and resources that those in poverty seek out, as well as the support groups with which they surround themselves.

Officials will finish the book during the third week by reading chapters that provide a blueprint for improving the lives of those in poverty through teaching discipline, inspiring achievement and creating relationships.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, Brink and the town officials will gather once more, for a full discussion of the book during a council workshop in the town hall annex at 7 p.m. The public is invited.

Anyone who wishes to join the discussion is welcome to pick up copies of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" at either the town's planning office at the Town Hall or the Sanford Junior High School. Brink said there may soon be copies of the book available at the local libraries, too.

During Tuesday's workshop, Brink handed out a questionnaire to help everyone in the audience determine how effectively they'd navigate their lives if they lived in poverty, existed in the middle class, or found themselves among the wealthy. Specifically, the test called for each person to check off tasks they know how to perform in the three categories of poverty, middle class and wealth.

The "poverty" section of the questionnaire, for example, asked the individual if he or she knew how to find the best rummage sales; locate garbage bins at grocery stores that throw out food; bail someone out of jail; physically fight and defend themselves; entertain their friends only with their personality and stories; move to a new place to live in half a day; use a knife as scissors; manage without electricity, a phone, a car or a checking account; prevent their clothes from being stolen at the laundromat; and so on.

The "middle-class" section of the quiz asked the individual if he or she knew how to set a table properly; help their children with their homework; decorate the house for each holiday; get a library card; get the best interest rate on a car loan; use a credit card or a checking or savings account; discuss college with their children; evaluate different kinds of insurance; carry out repairs at their house or call a professional who can do it for them; explain the differences among the principal, interest and escrow statements on their house; and more.

Finally, the "wealth" section of the exercise asked the individual if he or she knew how to read a menu in English, French and another language; hire a professional decorator to help decorate their home during the holidays; name their preferred financial adviser, lawyer, designer, hairdresser and domestic-employment service; enroll their children in their preferred private school; support or buy the work of a particular artist; own two homes and keep them staffed and maintained; name their favorite restaurants in countries around the world; read a corporate balance sheet or analyze their own financial statements; and more.

"I am definitely stuck in the middle," one member of the audience noted upon completing the questionnaire.

Brink is hoping the questionnaire — and the reading, discussing and strategizing to take place in the weeks ahead — will help make people in the community aware of the poverty that surrounds them. Furthermore, she hopes such efforts will inspire them to help others move out of poverty into a better life.

The student with dirty clothes, an unemployed father, and a dying mother is not alone. On Tuesday, Brink talked about another youth of the many she has encountered at her school.

This teenager had a coat that he refused to hang in his locker, no matter how many times his teachers instructed him to do so.

The student's teachers took his refusal for defiance and asked Brink to make him hang his coat in his locker.

Again, Brink handled the matter by first visiting the student's home. She found living quarters without flooring and furniture. She saw holes in walls. And she learned that the student needed his coat because he used it as his bed.

"If that kid let go of his bed," Brink said, "then somebody might take it from him. It was very important to him."