MEDINA – According to Melissa Pearce, president of Community Action Wayne/Medina, in her experience, serving poor people in the area suggests sometimes they are lazy. However, she also said others are hardworking, resourceful, smart and proud. The same, by the way, can be said of rich people, men, women, blacks, whites and just about any other demographic group you can think of.

Her point is the causes of poverty are varied, complicated and sometimes difficult to understand.

With that in mind, Community Action hosted an educational program called Bridges Out of Poverty March 16 at the Western Reserve Masonic Community chapel in Medina to address chronic poverty in Medina County.

Although Medina County has one of the lower poverty rates in Ohio, the program attracted interest from more people than the meeting room could hold. The 150 participants who were not turned away included a lot of social workers, but also educators, medical professionals, employers, judicial staffers and law enforcement officers.

Pearce reports about 11,500 residents of Medina County live in poverty and make up about 6 percent of our population. About 15 percent of all Ohio residents (1.7 million) are considered poor, about the same as the national average.

More than one third of those living in poverty are children, a quarter of them are employed or seeking work, about 13 percent are senior citizens or retired and students make up another 12 percent of the poor.

Pearce said poverty statistics are made up of the situational poor and the generational poor. A job loss, illness, divorce or other disruption in our lives can put nearly anyone in the situational poor category. The generational poor grew up in a poor family and remained poor when they became adults.

Knowing the characteristics and challenges facing the poor is considered crucial to providing programs that can help lift people out of poverty. That, in turn, can reduce the social costs of poverty, strengthen the workforce, and build a more prosperous and sustainable community.

The Bridges Out of Poverty approach is based on the book by Sociologist Ruby Payne. The training has been popular around the country for several years but has not been offered in Medina County before. It provides insight into the causes and effects of poverty that can help social workers, educators and employers deal more effectively with the poor people they encounter.

“It helps people better understand the challenges poor people face and change some of the preconceived ideas people have,” Pearce said.

She described a case she encountered of an employer who was about to fire a good worker because he was chronically late. “The boss found out the worker was taking public transportation to work and sometimes the bus was late,” she said. “They moved his starting time back a half hour and the worker was no longer late and the employer was able to keep a good worker.”

Pearce said it can sometimes be hard to find simple solutions like that one because people experiencing poverty are often embarrassed and don’t want to talk about their challenges.

Community Action conducted a survey of Wayne County parents of children enrolled in Head Start and living in subsidized housing. “The most common response we got was that they were hard working people but others didn’t understand or appreciate that,” Pearce said.

Brandy Miracle, a prevention counselor for Cloverleaf Schools, said of the training, “This has made me more aware of some of the issues and stereotypes affecting some of our students. I think it’s going to help me better connect with students and help them overcome some of the challenges they face.”