Short Summary: Living In Poverty In Houston Texas
Living in Poverty in Houston Texas
The number of Houston-area resident living in very poor neighborhood almost doubled over the past decades which researchers say increase their risks for unemployment,health problem and crime. Some of the increase came as raising unemployment pushed people already living in those neighborhood below the poverty level. Also the lack of affordable housing more affluent neighborhood likely contributed to the increased concentration of the poor,as well. Many of those high-poverty neighborhood defined as those which 40 percent or more of the resident are poor have been the focus of renewal efforts for years.” The Fifth Ward is void of jobs” said Jarvis Johnson whose City Council district includes the neighborhood
east of downtown,home to several of the high-poverty census tracts “there aren't any any commercial grocery stores There aren't any place for young people to hang out or no place to et a decent job. In the Houston-area 10.9 percent of poor people lived in high-poverty neighborhood up from just 5 percent in 2011. Within the city limit,that rose to 19.3 percent,up from 9.4 percent. The metro area ranked 41st in the percentage of the poor who lives in high-poverty neighborhoods. It's not just a big-city problem. Several of the Houston-area high-poverty census tracts were in Galveston where Kennan Bush,executive director of the United Way of Galveston,said the recession has compound damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008.Also the growing poverty on the Bolivar Peninsula and in Montgomery and Waller counties although the concentration of poor people there were generally low,the concentration of the poor in high-poverty neighborhood brings “a number of challenges,from poorer performing schools and higher crimes rates to more asthma and heart disease.” Rachel Kimbro, a Rice University sociologist,said people in high-poverty neighborhood are more likely to be unemployed and less likely to educated. Fear of crime,plus the lack of parks and outdoors spaces keeps children indoors,she suggested,”That one reason we think poor kids are less healthy” Kimbo said and they might see little way out But there is a way out. The Fifth Ward area has started a program by the name “The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program that targets middle-school and High-school boys to encourage success in school and afterward “We're showing them there is life outside the Fifth Ward,”said interim director Connie Whipple Most years everyone in the program graduate from high school she said . Last year,that dropped to 95 percent, although two are back in school and several others earned GED.
The number of Houston-area resident living in very poor neighborhood almost doubled over the past decades which researchers say increase their risks for unemployment,health problem and crime. Some of the increase came as raising unemployment pushed people already living in those neighborhood below the poverty level. Also the lack of affordable housing more affluent neighborhood likely contributed to the increased concentration of the poor,as well. Many of those high-poverty neighborhood defined as those which 40 percent or more of the resident are poor have been the focus of renewal efforts for years.” The Fifth Ward is void of jobs” said Jarvis Johnson whose City Council district includes the neighborhood
east of downtown,home to several of the high-poverty census tracts “there aren't any any commercial grocery stores There aren't any place for young people to hang out or no place to et a decent job. In the Houston-area 10.9 percent of poor people lived in high-poverty neighborhood up from just 5 percent in 2011. Within the city limit,that rose to 19.3 percent,up from 9.4 percent. The metro area ranked 41st in the percentage of the poor who lives in high-poverty neighborhoods. It's not just a big-city problem. Several of the Houston-area high-poverty census tracts were in Galveston where Kennan Bush,executive director of the United Way of Galveston,said the recession has compound damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008.Also the growing poverty on the Bolivar Peninsula and in Montgomery and Waller counties although the concentration of poor people there were generally low,the concentration of the poor in high-poverty neighborhood brings “a number of challenges,from poorer performing schools and higher crimes rates to more asthma and heart disease.” Rachel Kimbro, a Rice University sociologist,said people in high-poverty neighborhood are more likely to be unemployed and less likely to educated. Fear of crime,plus the lack of parks and outdoors spaces keeps children indoors,she suggested,”That one reason we think poor kids are less healthy” Kimbo said and they might see little way out But there is a way out. The Fifth Ward area has started a program by the name “The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program that targets middle-school and High-school boys to encourage success in school and afterward “We're showing them there is life outside the Fifth Ward,”said interim director Connie Whipple Most years everyone in the program graduate from high school she said . Last year,that dropped to 95 percent, although two are back in school and several others earned GED.