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?

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

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.

There is a lot of energy around justice today. Let’s take that to its rightful end - empowering and supporting people who are the most vulnerable among us. Whatever action(s) you are moved to take, no matter your political or social perspective, let’s support those who have known only poverty from birth, who live each day in economic instability, with all the vulnerabilities that come with that.

We have now lived 58 years in this country since the War on Poverty was declared. Whether or not it has been a success is arguable to some, but it is not an argument you want to have with people who struggle each day because of the violence and scarcity surrounding them.

Every county in the United States has poverty, so you do not have to look far to find where your actions will be helpful. The Action Guide provides clear, concrete actions that individuals, businesses, and organizations from all sectors can take to end poverty and work toward economic security.

Every day, not far from your home, families are living with extreme hunger, while even closer, thousands of pounds of food are being thrown away…. Every day, no matter where you live, there are children near you who are going to school in clothes that do not fit, that make them feel embarrassed, and that lower their self esteem in ways that most other kids never have to experience. Every day, parents are choosing to forego medical check-ups so they can pay their rent. Or because they are not sure where they can go. Every day, access is difficult and obstacles seem insurmountable. You can change this.

Every day that we allow poverty to continue without getting involved, we lose people who live in it. We lose three-year old girls sitting in front of their homes. We lose teenage boys trying to make sense of their future. We lose mothers walking to their cars to go to work. And so many more. All ages, races, ethnicities, and across the entire country.

Don was uniquely intelligent, hard-working, and courageous, but more than all those traits combined; Don was a person who loved others. He made it one of his life’s callings to support causes he believed would best help those who were most vulnerable.

As a part of The Shared Humanity Project, it is our job to see past the smoke and mirrors placed to deflect poverty's responsibility. Evicted does just that. It places the need for sharing humanity with everyone on all of us. I highly recommend this book as a part of anyone's journey to joining the fight to end poverty.

Our best path forward is one in which we look for the synergy of what we once considered to be competing thoughts. This requires confidence in and respect for one another, and it highlights that our connection to one another is in part defined by each of us having our piece of the whole.

Don't be fooled by our country's size or culture's complexity. Ending poverty is about the will each of us has to make it happen. We know how to create economic stability for individuals and families. We have all the resources we could possibly need. Heck, we throw out more food each day than is necessary to feed all of our neighbors who go hungry.

Amidst the tumult of our current time - and dating back years, decades, and generations - poverty and the struggle of millions of our neighbors has been calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach. But, like other crises, it requires all of us to engage, not look elsewhere for solutions.