The Jaguar that Barely Worked on the Street that was Invisible

On a street that I stayed for a while, I was reminded of the pulse and pace

of urban life and all of its colors of skin, languages, ages and lifestyles;

definitely NOT homogeneous, except that poverty has a way of showing itself

as a common denominating shadow that can’t be escaped.

Every-day people in the Struggle living every-day lives; unnoticed by the  

better-off and privileged masses. Invisibly cloaked because the truth

of under-resourced is hard on the eyes.

Low wages, mental health problems, crime, lower educational levels,

housing disrepair, health disparity, generational addiction, and the

constant low-grade hum of the underground world and bustling economy

of being poor.

ALL of this has a reverberating taint, heard most loudly in the aftermath.

On the street that I stayed for a while, what causes me the most worry is

the consuming frailty, vulnerability and creeping generalized dysfunction -

to overuse a term that encompasses a huge range of humanness,

forgivable and otherwise.

Like that house across the street, which sings with screams of unattended

children running outside late into the night with diapers always full.

It raises my maternal alarm bell.    At least there’s a fence.   

Their yard is strewn with rotting dining room furniture, couches,

tables and desks; a vast treasure island for the young at heart.

As evening arrives, the screams from the mother never seen are telling her

lot in life to go to bed; she yells until lights are out by 11, or later.

Outside their house, a once-pristine silver Jaguar automobile sits on

street display, and every night a young man walks out to check on it.

A prized possession, indeed, even if it doesn’t start. One day

the happy family will get it repaired and will drive away satisfied

into the sunset of style and status, or so they plan for.

On that street that I stayed, I see young black boys hotwiring a car

at 4 AM and by noon a mother walks down the street swearing and

yelling at her crying child for getting sent home, for who knows what.

By early evening, the wild children are released again into their yard.

This street of concerning realities and potential outcomes exists

everywhere; like a pot of neglected stew that has been boiling a very

long time.  Shame is, it was already rancid when you lit the fire

to reheat it.

The mesh of these sights and sounds are uncomfortable beautiful and

stirs helplessness in me.  But mostly, it all feels unseen.

Yet,

irrespective of the pandemic of poverty, life is still life, and life is

always lined with goodness if we choose to see it. Because also

what I saw on the street that I stayed were residents who took pride

in their dwellings, happy alternative families, a sense of neighborhood,

creativity, and connection – all bonded by their invisibility, together.

On that street that I stayed, late night Latin music accompanied neighboring

on front porches, with old-timers keeping an eye on things.

Comradery amongst the ashes, I suppose, where people appreciate

one another at the basic people-level and say - without words-

“hey, I see you”.

Seeing one another at a real level in the midst of it All is the magic

healing balm, or so it seems, on the street that I stayed for a while.

Maybe that is the solution;  finding one another more often.

 By Georgia Reash from the Home Within (Winter 2022)

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Reflections:  Poverty is a problem of great interest to me, both personally and as President of BrightSpot Communities LLC. While there are proven strategies that alleviate and eradicate poverty, as civic leaders and earth stewards, we haven’t been able to solve it in mass.   

Whether due to a lack of interest, fear at the overwhelming prospects of it all, or other priorities, the face of poverty is hard to look at and even harder to organize around; especially because it seems like there are new levels of poverty every day, including the millions of ‘housing poor’ jumping from cheap dwelling to cheap dwelling – just to avoid the shelters or streets.

But, as my Social Work education taught me (thanks Cleveland State University OH) - like any big social problem, especially one of such great global magnitude, it is important to go back to the beginning to gather data and take stock of the assets there are to work with in any given community, region or solution endeavor.   

Looking at the external assets of a poor neighborhood - its business, public system, housing, creative class, education and workforce assets – is the practical place to start, with plenty to discuss and many grass root improvement solutions to be found. Indeed, the systems in community are part of the essential fabric of its own recovery.

But in practical and hands-on truthfulness, I have learned the solution to poverty is rarely in a project, organization, product or program, albeit all valuable resources.

Looking deeper, I contend, that the real solution to poverty is in the building up of positive assets that cannot be seen. In other words, the wealth that is within every person.

To name a few of these inner wealth assets –

self-respect, respect for others, experiences of home, faith, emotional intelligence, thirst for learning, creative, civic-minded, resilience, hope, enthusiasm, positivity, wisdom, protectiveness, tenacity, unwaveringness, resourcefulness, limitless, open minded, curious, endurance, humor, kindness, self-love, compassion for others, solution focused, integrity, trust, helpfulness, respect for the environment, a core spiritual foundation.

This beginning list of assets are the INNER INFRASTRUCTURE within human beings that silently holds up the streets and neighborhood in which people live; the emotional, mental, spiritual, creative, relational, energetic, intellectual, and enterprising selves in every person that are rarely cultivated with collective intention. This wealth within what influences a person’s potential and the prosperity of the community in which they live.

As intrinsic qualities, these unseen assets are the fascia supporting sustainability in healthy families, neighborhoods, workplace, economy and culture of vitality.  It makes sense, then, to financially invest in solutions that build this essential inner infrastructure, albeit invisible.

As they say, the power is in the people.