Charlotte, North Carolina is not much different than many U.S. cities. In this map, the darker the blue, the greater the concentrations of poverty. The red dots represent the homicides there in 2022. Where we allow high concentrations of economic struggle — and fail to invest in resources and create opportunities — we condone violence and murders. That’s what the data shows, year after year.

Memorial Day weekend is one of the deadliest weekends in our country, every single year. Not deadly for everyone, but deadly for our neighbors who live in economically distressed neighborhoods, for children and young adults who already face more challenges than we ought to tolerate for our fellow human beings across this country.

If you truly want to help this season, connect with families directly - or find an organization that will connect you directly - so you can build a relationship that helps families to not need holiday help. Listen as the parents tell you how you can best help them gain greater access to health and employment resources or how you can help them build their professional networks…Don't go to their house on Christmas Day and don't try to be the hero of your own story and theirs.

To contribute to a problem that requires a commitment is a recipe for failure. Making an online donation seems helpful, but what if that actually lulls you into thinking you have done your part? What if each of us accepts clichés that don’t apply when it comes to the poverty of our neighbors, such as “every little bit helps.”

It hasn’t helped yet, not nearly to the level that we have the potential to help. Sixty years after we said the issue was so serious that we needed a war to address it, conditions are far worse. As one of my colleagues says, everyone “doing their part” has led to no one doing enough. But a commitment to our neighbors is a path to success.

Truly helping kids takes a commitment; not a contribution. That is the opportunity before us today.

Shootings and homicides will increase significantly this summer around our country and mostly in low-income neighborhoods. And the people who get shot may be guilty of simply sitting on their front steps or just taking a shower. If there are windows in the bathroom, they are at risk. We would each be wise to take note of why. And the best people to whom we can listen are those involved. In their words, “We need resources and programs. We need investment in our communities. We want to work; we need jobs. Without all of that, we reach for guns. It’s survival.”

Ending poverty is not about finding resources. We have plenty of food, space for housing, and all the supplies needed to ensure people have their basic needs met. We know how to build healthy communities; there are thousands of them in every state. It is simply about will. More specifically, it is about a decision you make and a belief you can choose to have — or not to have.

Sunday night, a good friend whose family has lived in DC - and in poverty - for generations called me to say that he needs to get his family out of DC now.

Civic associations can help poverty stricken communities.

The key to ending poverty is not a specific program or safety net initiative. The key is simply to understand how we exist.

In this series, we are exploring ways that different sectors & institutions can work to reduce poverty in their communities. This article outlines actionable steps local businesses can take to create a permanent shift for the better.

Loving each other means taking action to end poverty instead of talking about whether or not it is possible to do so.

Now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done for America’s children. It is time to ask what do under-resourced children and families need? And how can I provide for these needs?

Nearly 60 years after the US declared a war on poverty, rates remain persistently high. It is a myth that the government alone can solve it. We have identified ten ways that institutions can take action to reduce poverty in their community.

Just as you are only healthy when well-nourished, a community is only healthy when all its members are well-nourished.

Loving each other means taking action to end poverty instead of talking about whether or not it is possible to do so.

Wherever you live, whatever you do, and whatever you think about your fellow human beings, the way that we will ensure our country lives up to its potential - that we find our way to being united - is by you thinking bigger about what is possible.

It is our opportunity as human beings - perhaps our charge - to make that gratitude a verb, to show our thankfulness by extending far and wide the love that we give. By ensuring that we tolerate no suffering, not when it is so easy to relieve.