A passage in the Old Testament argues that where there is no vision, the people perish. And Alabama's vision of the poor has been obscured by lots of occlusions. We have a hard time seeing poverty when the faces are different from our own, when the poor live at the end of dirt roads we do not travel, or in shacks in the hollows and hills of north Alabama, or even on the other side of our city. So the task of the Alabama Poverty Project was to clarify and focus our vision of the poor, who they are, where and how they live, the flaws in our education and medical delivery systems, and why there are so many of them.
This report, available online and in printed form thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, offers a glimpse into the lives of the poor. Since poverty and Alabama's 1901 Constitution are inextricably chained together, Greater Birmingham Ministries through their Constitution Reform Education Campaign helped to make the "Picture of Poverty" data interactive. We invite you to get more information about and involved in the Constitution Reform Movement by going to: www.GBM.org
Our hope is that all Alabamians, but particularly people of religious faith, can see the problems of the poor more clearly as a result of this information. This, in turn, can lead to a more intelligent discussion of poverty in Alabama, one rooted more in information than opinion. As the state enters a new millennium, the data we recorded make clear the serious problems Alabama will have providing a well educated work force for the high-tech and information-driven economy of the twenty-first century. But more poignantly, the research reveals the plight of people and places left behind by our progress and prosperity.
One point is certain. No one who carefully reads this material can ever again assume that this is not his problem or the problem of his county or community.
Wayne Flynt
APP Chairman
Click here to go to the interactive version of the "Picture of Poverty" report.
(205) 939-1408