Exploring Poverty

On January 20, 2023, The Sharing Center will gather advocates and thought leaders from across Seminole County to explore the critical issues devastating our neighbors experiencing poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, and other unprecedented hardships. During this summit, we will discuss the vital conversations surrounding affordable housing, mental health, job accessibility, education, and the pressures afflicting the vulnerable members of our community.

The Exploring Poverty Summit seeks to inform and educate attendees on the varying levels of poverty and how we can step up to serve those impacted. We will explore the burdens weighing down individuals and families who are one setback from homelessness and poverty.

Together we are shaping our community for a better future! Caretakers, teachers, retail managers, and CEOs alike, have the power to combat these hardships by providing hope and dignified solutions to those who most need it.

To join the waitlist please email Dawn-Marie Ferrante at dawnmarie.ferrante@thesharingcenter.org.

Dr. Thomas Bryer : Nothing Without Us About Us Is For Us: Fighting Poverty Through Empowerment

When policymakers and service providers talk about and design solutions for poverty, the focus tends to be on material and financial concerns, including food, housing, security, and other elements the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Stabilize those who are experiencing poverty; provide access to job training, career opportunities, stable and affordable housing, nutritious meals, and safe environments. These are policies and programs directed at the poor and designed for the poor, but they might not be designed and administered with the poor. In this talk, Dr. Bryer will reflect on two other manifestations of poverty: status poverty (i.e., how others perceive those who appear to be living in subsistence poverty) and agency poverty (i.e., how those who are experiencing subsistence poverty perceive their own power within their communities and society to improve themselves and the places where they live and work). He will issue a challenge to strategize how to change funding streams and standard operating procedures to empower those experiencing poverty.