I have a dear friend who grew up poor. Like not enough food on the table poor. And this year, at a fairly young age, she has been diagnosed with advanced osteoporosis. Her doctor was surprised by the findings and asked my friend if she ever struggled with an eating disorder. She had not, but as the doctor asked her more questions they were able to see that the food insecurity and lack of certain elements in her diet at key moments of development had the same sort of long term health impact that an eating disorder would create. While now quite comfortable economically, that childhood in poverty continues to affect her day to day life.
In our country we sell the dream of upward mobility, of making it. We seem to think that we can put poverty behind us through hard work. The reality many of us know is that economic status is a better indicator of future success than work ethic or talent. This means that most “successful” people in our country came from “successful” families. And even the most hard working and talented people never leave behind the health impacts, or the trauma of poverty.
My friend’s family was smart, kind, loving, and hard working. They are descended from white europeans so have a societal benefit there. And yet they struggled, often times unseen by the people around them at school and in the neighborhood. As we begin a new year and discern what is next for our faith community this story weighs on my heart. How can we be present to our neighbors, many of whom might also be silently struggling with food insecurity, long lasting trauma, loneliness, and so much more?
We can’t always see what is happening or the things people are dealing with. God can and guides us to be aware of how we might love and live a little differently so that we can truly care for our neighbors and begin to reset our systems which allow children in our nation to go to bed hungry every night. One small step our parish is taking is to provide a $100 grocery gift card to 7 families at Woodstock school. If you would like to contribute to help support these families you can do so via our paypal here.
-Eilidh
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