50 years of going in the wrong direction. Is it time to change course and start anew?

Who’s to blame? Who can best solve it?
Is it mostly an urban issue? Here are some of our thoughts, and the data behind them.

The Shared Humanity Project was founded to usher in a new approach to poverty in the United States. Contact us to inquire about presentations and keynotes.

This week’s quiz: How much do you know about poverty?

1. How much more likely are children in poverty to experience violence than children who are not in poverty?

  • Incorrect.

  • Nope

  • Still incorrect.

  • Unfortunately, this is the correct answer. Life in poverty — which typically begins at birth for children mired in it — increases the risk of youth violence by 160%.

    It would be inhumane if it were only 30 or 40%. At 160%, not committing to solving poverty is akin to pulling the trigger, ourselves.

    Source: Gitnux

Take the rest of the quiz here.

On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson spoke this before Congress:

“This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America…we shall not rest until that war is won. The richest nation on earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose it.”

We lost it.

And now it is time for something new.

…Or measure it. Or count it.
The federal government defines poverty in an outdated and dangerous manner, and has done so for more than 60 years. This has often sustained poverty more than it has helped to eradicate it. Learn more here.

You can’t solve it if you can’t even define it…

This table shows the current Federal Poverty Guidelines (our de facto national poverty line). How well could your family of three live on $25,820?

The big picture: How important is the way we see ourselves and the world in which we live?

Want to generate greater impact?

Whether you are just starting out or thinking about how to get to the next level of impact,
we can help. Email to get started.

Our National Plan provides unique data and concrete actions that you can take as an individual or as a business or group of any kind. Learn how you can impact nine different areas of poverty.

Inspiration to Action

The Shared Humanity Project was featured in a four-episode series produced by Public Interest Registry, the operator of the .ORG family of domains. In their words, the .ORG Origins series reveals how “one very special organization - dedicated to eradicating poverty across the United States - has grown from a shared idea to a successful force for good that is making a profound impact on the communities and people that it serves.

.ORG produced the series to help organizations understand how to identify and utilize the best tools and resources in following their calling and begin their own journey from inspiration to impact.

A Shared Calling. History of The Shared Humanity Project & why America needs a plan to combat poverty.

A Shared Vision. Learning what's needed from community leaders with a shared passion for ending poverty.

A Shared Approach. Partnering with community members to actively change under-resourced neighborhoods.

A Shared Humanity. Connecting people across the country who have a desire to end poverty.

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“At precisely that moment in history where for the first time a people have the material ability to end poverty, they lack the will to do so… The problem, then, is to a great extent one of vision… there must be vision in the sense of purpose, of aspiration… there must be a passion to end poverty, for nothing less than that will do.” 
- Michael Harrington, The Other America, 1962

Sixty-two years after Harrington shared his observations on poverty in the U.S., his words still ring true. We lack neither the knowledge nor the resources necessary to eradicate poverty; we lack only the will.