Sept. 19-25 is Poverty Awareness Week

Banner Graphic/Chelsea Modglin Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory (front) recently proclaimed Sept. 19-25 Poverty Awarenss Week. From left: Erin Sprinkle, founder of Poverty Awareness Week, Dean Gambill of the Putnam County Community Foundation and Judi Purvis of Transformers.

Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory recently proclaimed Sept. 19-25 Poverty Awareness Week to help residents become more aware of poverty in Putnam County.

Special events are to include Bridges out of Poverty presentations at Myers’ 5 East from 10 a.m.-noon on Tuesday and from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday; a poverty workshop for 8th grade students by The Castle; and a free movie -- “Flubber” -- at Robe Ann Park at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Free goodies will be available and booths for local organizations will be set up before the movie starting at 6:30 p.m. A DVD with local stories about poverty will be shown by area churches during services on Sunday.

Reservations can be made by emailing gctransformers@gmail.com.

Poverty Awareness Week is the brain-child of Erin Sprinkle, a single mother working to move out of poverty. When asked what inspired her, she said, “Hearing numerous times that poverty’s a third world thing. It’s a Putnam County thing. Poverty is a problem. So I decided to raise awareness.”

The awareness week is supported by Transformers, a local organization dedicated to helping the impoverished find resources and bringing other organizations and resources together to make Putnam County a better place to live.

According to www.stats.indiana.edu, Putnam County received a poverty rate of 13.5 percent in 2014, ranking it as the 47th most impoverished county in the state. For individuals under 18, the poverty rate is 17.6 percent (56th in the state). The poverty rate had been set at 8.5 percent in 2000.

Also in 2014, the average income of a Putnam County resident was $31,565. Meanwhile, according to www.livingwage.mit.edu, the living wage for one adult and one child in Greencastle was calculated to be $35, 717. And in 2015, 1,529 Putnam County households received food stamps and 24 families received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Poverty can be a powerful deterrent to life success by inhibiting higher education, quality workplace performance and other aspects of a person’s economic, social and spiritual life. Poverty is often passed down to the next generation, and studies have shown that persistent poverty can destroy hopes and dreams.