Ending Poverty in America

This is an excerpt from an essay published as part of the book Dream of a Nation.

Nearly 44 million people are living in poverty in the United States, over 14 percent of our population. With governments at all levels struggling to balance budgets, it may seem impossible to fully address the growing need given available resources, but the Center for American Progress and many others are convinced it is possible.

By way of example, three young men from the impoverished neighborhoods of Newark, New Jersey—Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins—mutually supported one another through high school and, given where they were raised, achieved the statistical improbable heights of completing college and medical school. During their junior year, a university recruiter visited their school to talk about a program that groomed underprivileged students for medical careers. After the seminar, Sampson, Rameck, and George made a pact to stick together, go to college, graduate, and become doctors. These students not only escaped poverty but all three also went on to become doctors. They have since founded the Three Doctors Foundation, which aims “to inspire and motivate youth through education, to achieve leadership and career success in their community through the formation of positive and peer and mentoring relationships."

Read the full essay here.

This article was originally published in Dream of a Nation.