life on the edges
Life on the Edges is our regular blog series and a first person account of poverty that chronicles the life and journey of a family and their daily life for a year. The series give a detailed look into the experiences that those in poverty often face, including hardships, struggles and celebrations. Each blog post topic is chosen entirely by the writer and contains an unfiltered, unedited look into their life and the role poverty plays in their decision making, their opportunities, and their choices.
Through this recurring series we hope to bring a real picture of poverty and the challenges and hurdles that families face on a regular basis to the public. We want to show where gaps in the social safety nets are, and what families are doing to get by and why they may sometimes fall over the edge. With Life on the Edges, our goal is to educate those who are unfamiliar with poverty so they can join us in the work to end poverty.
Follow along with Life on the Edges in our blog ‘TOLF In-Depth’
We’re always looking for families to contribute to the series and welcome inquiries. For more information or to submit a inquiry, click here.
Money - RE-FRAMING the Taboo Topic
One of the last taboos in society is discussing money and our personal financial habits publicly.
Money is something we all use and need, yet it is one of the few remaining topics that doesn’t get discussed as it relates to each of us personally. Too often we speak about money and whether we have it or not, how much we have or what we owe in hushed whispers.
This year in 2020 we’re taking a spotlight and shining it on our personal relationships to money in hopes of ending the silence of misunderstanding why we spend money in the ways we do, the silence of guessing how to manage money, the silent judgment of ourselves and others, and learning how to have healthy relationships to money and spending.
We’re removing the shame from debt and past financial decisions that are now looked on with regret.
Get in on the conversation on social media where we’ll ask a question of the week twice a month to navigate our emotions and get to a healthy place with money and our finances. Join our special Facebook group where we’ll take a deep dive into our personal relationships with money and have special guest psychologists talk through and give tips on how to change our emotional connections to money.
Learn more about our 2021 project: Money the Taboo Topic
Join the Facebook group: Money - Reframing the Taboo Topic
We carried this project over from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020 causing us to change course and channel our energy into ensuring the most financially vulnerable people were protected from eviction, hunger and unsafe work environments.
THE LANGUAGE OF POVERTY
In 2019, our annual project takes a look at the language of poverty and how we can redefine poverty in a more constructive way to help find solutions that help in ending poverty.
Join our weekly discussion on different words as we:
1. Define words associated with poverty – we likely aren’t all using the same definitions
2. Discuss our reactions to poverty related words and start breaking down why we react in certain ways and how that affects our perception of poverty
3. Learn about the historical context of terminology related to poverty
Join the discussion on social media and/or submit your thoughts via email at: projects@theonelessfoundation.org. Contact us to do a short video interview.
Get involved. We’re looking forward to having you joining the conversation. Get more information
Make sure you follow our #StandInTheGap project on social media throughout the year and see contributions from supporters like you and why they are standing in the gap with THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION.
#StandInTheGap #TOLF
STAND IN THE GAP
Stand “In the Gap” with The One Less Foundation and help create pathways out of poverty for those striving for a better way of life. Part of our work is to ensure that policies and regulations are in place to provide access to resources and financial protections for those in poverty. We’re asking you to use your voice, time and talents to stand in the gap with us and build a bridge for the financially vulnerable.
Five things you can do in 2018, to ”Stand in the Gap” with The One Less Foundation to help end poverty:
1. Participate in our online advocacy days on social media
2. Donate to support our programs that provide training and resources for individuals, families and communities
3. Sign on to advocacy letters to state and federal politicians
4. Join us for our advocacy chats to explore the issues. RSVP
5. Volunteer your time, talents and voice!
For more information and dates and places of where and how you can get involved with our #StandInTheGap project click here.
Behind every statistic there's a story - learn more with What Poverty Taught Me
what poverty taught me
In the US, we often talk about poverty as a debate between the “haves and the have-not's”, or “them vs. us” in terms that create division and builds barriers rather than creating solutions.
Our goal is to bring the focus of poverty back to what really is important – each individual. We’re moving the conversation away from academia and politics to real stories of poverty. We’re putting a face to poverty; faces you see, faces you may know, and faces you may not recognize. Poverty is our neighbors, our co-workers, college students, teachers, office workers, and people we walk by on the street every day. Poverty affects the educated as well as the uneducated. We’re bringing the reality of poverty to the front lines so we can all work together to find solutions that work to end poverty.
Find our more about What Poverty Taught Me and how you can get involved as a participant, volunteer, supporter and/or donor and together we can shed a light on poverty and solutions that work to create paths out of poverty.