The Changing Geography of Poverty Is a Challenge to Everyone – Nonprofit Quarterly
Aaron Wiener, a senior editor at Mother Jones, shared a startling picture of how the geography of American poverty has changed in a recent Washington Post op-ed. Of course, the notion that poverty has suburbanized isn’t exactly new; here’s an article NPQ wrote on the subject in 2010. But Wiener’s article is a good reminder to nonprofits that as more low-income people are forced by changing economic trends to move from the cities to the suburbs, social service and advocacy infrastructure need to follow; this, alas, has yet to happen.
The lag in philanthropic and nonprofit adjustment in antipoverty strategy is mirrored in federal programs which are still, in too many ways, stuck in the urban-centered mode established in the Sixties. And, because many of the services they support (preschools, clinics, and the like) need a physical presence and dedicated facilities, suburban services remain behind their urban counterparts.
Individually, the challenge of moving from city to suburb is disruptive. Aaron Weiner spoke with Benjamin Orr, executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Center on Economic Policy about the personal challenge of moving from city to suburbs. “When people are in new neighborhoods, new counties, that sort of community knowledge that’s been built up is lost. And you have to start from scratch again.”
