Poverty in Buffalo: How It Impacts the Region

from WGRZ

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in three Buffalo residents are living below the poverty level. Their financial situations may be similar, but there are many different faces to poverty.

Patricia and Don Doolittle are the perfect example of that. She's a college-educated mother of two. Despite her best efforts, there are months when the money doesn't go far enough.

"It can be so frustrating you can walk into the house and actually feel the stress," Patricia said.

After graduating from Bryant and Stratton College, Patricia worked for months to find employment. She wanted to be an administrative assistant; but, either no one was hiring or her lack of experience hurt her.

"I don't expect somebody to just hand me a job. I went out there," she said. "I went looking. I did the interviews."

For awhile, Patricia used temp-service jobs to pay the bills. Then, this past December, she was hired for a permanent position at the Boys and Girls Club. There was a catch--the position was only part-time.

"I am very optimistic, and hopefully in a few months my part-time goes to full-time," she said.

At this point, the family relies on her 20-hour-a-week paycheck to pay the bills and feed four mouths. Her husband, who's disabled, also receives a monthly check and the family supplements that with food stamps.

"Poverty doesn't hit certain sexes, religions, races, or anything. It doesn't know discrimination," Patricia said.

No one knows that better than United Way President Arlene Kaukus. She's seen how poverty affects people from all walks of life and she knows that it isn't confined to the home life.

"It's going to show up in crime rates. It's going to show up in healthcare costs. We're going to keep paying for it," Kaukus said.

According to her, that's the real price of poverty and one that the entire community pays.

Many, like Mary Jo Conrad, believe early intervention is the key. As principal of Buffalo's Lydia T. Wright School, she sees impoverished children early in life.

"Unless you intervene early, the likelihood of turning around a person's life, the older they get, is clearly more costly and there's less likelihood of having a successful impact," Conrad said.

Like her, the Doolittles are holding on to hope for better days. For now, Patricia has accepted an important lesson through her job at the Boys and Girls Club. Despite sometimes feeling otherwise, she now knows she's not alone.

"I know there's other people just as educated as me--or more educated than me--probably having the same problem we're having. It doesn't just hit people receiving public assitance. It hits educated people as well," Patricia said.