In a recent article on the Huffington Post’s website, reporter Susan Sawyers spoke about her conversations with journalist Alex Kotlowitz regarding correlations between crime and poverty. My brother and No More Poverty co-founder, Julian Omidi, and I completely agree with Kotlowitz that more conversation is needed in order to explore this issue in-depth and to begin to devise ways to end poverty, especially as it relates to children. As child poverty rates continue to rise, Julian Omidi, myself, and all of the organizations supported by No More Poverty are not content to allow it to do so without sounding alarms and making everyone aware that this is a global issue that needs to be addressed by every citizen on the planet.
When my brother, Julian Omidi, and I made the joint decision to start an organization to address poverty, we did so as a contribution to all of society. Globally, poverty affects more than a billion people, but we can argue that it also affects everyone living on the planet as it has a deep correlation to crime. Our charity, No More Poverty, hopes to stop the spread of this terrible condition while, at the same time, improving the lives of everyone as we hope to see decreases in crime and poverty related health conditions.
As we are in an election year, plenty of anti-poverty activists have expressed concern about the lack of national discussion regarding poverty and its issues. Partisan politics aside, Julian Omidi and I believe that this concern is justified. Unfortunately, many believe that poverty is an issue relegated to inner cities and third-world countries and is, therefore, not a pressing enough issue to warrant concern outside of these arenas. Nothing could be further from the truth though, which is why No More Poverty works so hard at spotlighting and supporting the charities profiled on our website (NMP.org). Julian Omidi and I understand that crime stemming from poverty is just as important an issue as hungry children and jobless families, and that it affects everyone in every socioeconomic class across the board.
Though poverty does not drive everyone to break the law or harm others, far too often it is a motivating factor in crimes like robbery, kidnapping, child abuse and domestic violence. These issues not merely plague inner-city communities either, but these events also seep into middle-class and wealthy communities until its main factor, poverty, places all of society at risk. Understand that we are not labeling the poor in general as criminals, nor are we excusing criminal behavior. Rather, we must be honest in approaching poverty as a societal issue and not merely an inner-city one. It is only when we embrace this as a problem that the entire world shares, that we can then form a united front against poverty and end it once and for all.
Such is the goal of No More Poverty, and Julian Omidi and I are unflinching in our resolve. It is why we hand-select organizations like Children’s Hunger Fund, The Foundation for Second Chances, Martha’s Kitchen and so many others that we highlight at NMP.org. We want the world to understand the global importance of poverty and the impact that it has on all of society when allowed to go unchecked.
Sawyers, Susan. “Alex Kotlowitz on Poverty and Schools.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-sawyers/alex-kotlowitz-poverty-education_b_1944068.html>.
MICHAEL OMIDI, MD, FACS 