A Researched

Appeal
Poverty by the Numbers
 What is the problem Houston faces?
● The national poverty rate in the US is 12.3 percent
○ Roughly 39.7 million Americans below the Poverty line
● Houston’s Poverty Rate, as of 2016, was 14.8 percent of the population
○ Out of Greater Houston’s 6+ million people, roughly 840,000 people in Houston are below
the poverty line
● An Austin based nonprofit noted that “Far too many Texas children still live
in poverty; 1.62 million of Texas’ 7.2 million children live below the official
federal poverty line.”
○ 22.5% of Texas children are impoverished, there are 1.5 million kids in Houston. Roughly
337,500 Houston youth are below the poverty line if measured with the Texas statistic
 The Root of the Problem
National:

- Poverty v. Education: The higher the degree

level of a person the better the pay, access
to college difficult
- Poverty v. Health: Poor people have higher
mortality rates.
- Poverty v. Gender: Males still seen as more
dominant than women in the work field

Local:

- Poverty has increased in metropolitan

areas due to gentrification
- Typically happening in historically poor
neighborhoods to drive out the poor
population in turn for rich, “safer” people
The Magnitude of the
Problem
● Even with the Houston
economy growing, the rise in
poverty is still apparent, with
Houston seeing a quadrupling
in the poverty populous
● The fact of the matter is a
majority of Houston
communities suffer from the
growing Houston economy
● Events such as Hurricane
Harvey and the ITC Plant fire
also have contributed to
poverty rates, with citizens
losing assets and economy
losing resources, respectively
 Aligned Organizations
● Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
○ The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston raises money in Houston catholic churches that they
give to raise money to help the poor, such as donating to the food bank or hosting
community dinners at the church
● Kids Meals Houston
○ This program aids in arranging meals for kids and delivering it to kids across the Houston
area, and at this organization you can help organize and deliver these meals
● Meals on Wheels Houston
○ Similar to Kids Meals, Meals on Wheels is an organization that delivers meals to adults in the
Houston area and works much the same.
● Emergency Aid Coalition
○ This NPO aims at aiding people at the poverty line who need counseling in maneuvering out
of poverty. People can volunteer their expertise or shadow an expert to see how to help
impoverished people
 Works Cited
● https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-current-poverty-rate-united-states
● http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/houston-population/
● https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/09/14/237361/censu
s-bureau-texas-incomes-rising-poverty-falling/
● https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/houstoncitytexas
● https://kinder.rice.edu/2016/11/14/these-charts-show-how-povertys-startlin
g-spread-across-houston
● https://catholiccharities.org/poverty-in-houston-closing-the-gap-changes-
the-future/
● https://kidsmealsinc.org/