I grew up dirt poor digging out of a change bottle to be able to buy school lunches. Unless it was christmas or my birthday, I never wore new store bought clothes. I used to have to take a city bus to school because my parents couldn't take me because they only had one car and left for work before school started. We'd have to walk to the grocery store on the corner a mile away and walk back, so by the time we were home nothing was cold. I went to a highschool where our newest text books were at least 10 years old. I still had the opportunity to go to a state school or junior college, but I didn't. I remember not knowing where I was going to sleep at night, being homeless with maybe $10 in my pocket for my next few meals.
You can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps if you have the determination to do it. It's not like these people have to be poor. I've lived in their shoes, and all the people I met were there because of the choices they made. There is a difference between broke and poor. I've been broke and homeless... but poor is a lifestyle, and that, I've never been. If people want to help themselves and get out of that kind of rut, they can.
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