What it's Like to be Poor in America

The day before had been long. I arrived in Denver in the early morning, unpacked the rental car, and moved into the worst apartment I had ever lived in. I was exhausted, bruised, and in need of food.

The walk to the grocery store took longer than expected but I used the time to connect with Spirit and walk mindfully. I enjoyed the autumnal colors of the trees and discovered a stream and path that ran across the neighborhood. The warm sun and cool breeze felt restorative. I was grateful to be back in the city I love.

At the grocery store I methodically reviewed my carefully planned list. I had a $25 budget to get a few ingredients for cooking and some cleaning supplies. Prices and budget didn't allow me to get everything so some things were postponed but for one splurge item. Bacon.

I needed comfort food and I decided to make baked potato soup. It had been months since I had bacon and I was craving it. With the Instant Pot on the floor of my room in the boarding house, I began to gather ingredients. Potatoes, green onions, water, canned milk, bouillon, black pepper. cheese to sprinkle on top, and…no bacon.

I checked the grocery bags, the fridge, and the room. No bacon. The store was far away and I had no more energy to walk back. I tried to hold it together. I tried to not let it get to me. But I was devastated. My splurge item, a quarter pound of good bacon, had not made it home. The flavor and comfort I craved was not going to happen and the money was wasted.

This is what it's like being poor. Everything in life is a little harder. When you live in the worst apartment you’ve ever lived in. When you don't have a car the grocery store is too far and you’re too exhausted to go back. When money is tight and the groceries don't make it home. It all adds up and not in a good way.

The stress of life - spiritually, emotionally, and materially - is compounded when you're poor. Faith is tested frequently. Trauma is frequent or even constant. Money and health are a constant concern. Nothing is easy for the poor of America. It's the way the system is designed.

Spiritually.

The most faithful people I know are also some of the poorest people I know. I met a family this year. All the men had jobs, but the women were unable to work. All of the members of this family were disabled but for one of the men who had just been officially declared cancer free. 

They all navigated their health and wellness in different ways, but the matriarch led the family with deep and profound faith in God and church. When a medical or mental health crisis occurred she led with wisdom and practicality. Then, in the quiet moments, she poured through her Bible looking for strength and peace.  She prayed her way through life. It gave her strength.

When she was unable to attend church because of her disability, church came to her humble home. Prayers were said over the family in the small living room. The aroma of coffee mingled with the sound of hymns.

During my spiritual awakening and as my life deconstructed, I became poor, destitute. That family took me in. They saved me from homelessness. It wasn't easy. Adding another person into the small home and family with so many disabilities made life even more challenging. 

When the current president and legislature began cutting the social safety net, life became harder and even more stressful for the family. Wages were cut with the slowing economy. Jobs were lost. Life became more challenging and the prayers became more frequent, more intense, more tearful. 

For many of us faith is a way of life. Something to focus on rather than our lack of resources. The fellowship it sometimes brings is a lifeline. In times of need our faith carries us forward. 

Finding myself homeless I too found strength and peace in my faith. I spent more time in meditation and affirmation. Deepening my trust of my spiritual path and my awakening process. Connecting more deeply with my soul's purposes. I learned to pray from that family who prayed through the challenges of disability and diminishing resources.

Poor peoples’ faith is tested frequently. We work the same hours but our wages are cut. We have healthcare but still can't afford medication or treatment. We navigate health challenges and disabilities with public assistance and then have it taken away by a cruel administration.

Maintaining our faith while being poor can feel like both a Herculean task and the only thing that holds us together. We pray and read seeking truth and wisdom. Sometimes our spiritual life is the only thing that keeps us moving forward.

Emotionally.

The stress of being poor impacts every area of our life including our emotional life. Poverty is traumatic. The challenges are many. It's not about the lack of things. It's about uncertainty and insecurity. 

Food insecurity, housing insecurity, health insecurity, period insecurity, lack of financial resources, lack of opportunity are traumatic experiences. All impact the health and wellness of the people who experience them.

There is no security when you’re poor. Not even the illusion of security is available when you know your life can fall apart at any moment. There is a constant threat of having a health crisis, a financial challenge, or becoming unhoused and sinking further into poverty

When you're poor and have no family connections, no friends, no church community, the stress of being poor is compounded. There is no one to help you. No one to rescue you. No soft landing. There is only risk and uncertainty.

Being poor often means we are less likely to have connections and relationships. We can't go to happy hour after work with colleagues. Going out for dinner with friends isn't an option when we can't pay your bills. The shame of poverty keeps us isolated. Connection and community are lost forever.

Being poor also means that we stay in unhealthy relationships longer. Being with our abuser is better than being unhoused. If the abuse is severe, society steps in and a process of recovery is started. But if your abuser is a charming narcissist you're on your own to find a path to freedom. Which seems impossible when you have no resources and so the trauma continues. 

Our society judges poor people harshly. It blames us as if it is our fault instead of the result of a flawed system. A society is supposed to take care of its people. Our government is supposed to be for the people by the people. We are supposed to take care of each other.

Poor people are people. Whether working poor, elderly, disabled, or experiencing generational poverty, we are all people. We have hopes, dreams, talents, gifts, skills, and abilities. They may not fit into what corporations, the government, or society deem valuable, but we all have value. We all have purpose.

Materially.

The poorest people I know have the worst housing. Including myself. Currently I am living in a boarding house which seems to operate outside of any licensing, health, and safety requirements. Payments are made in cash and no background checks are required. It is the worst place I've ever lived and it is what I can afford. Barely. 

The electrical is not up to code. The plumbing leaks from the first floor bathroom into the basement bathroom. There's no heat in my room. There's an active infestation of roaches and I discovered bed bugs as I was writing this. If I could afford better or had any other option I would move. But I am poor so this is what I can afford.

Housing is expensive for the poor and options are limited. If we qualify for subsidized affordable housing, the wait lists for apartments are years long. When I worked in the affordable housing industry in 2020 the wait list for an apartment in Colorado was two years. 

One medical crisis, one mistake, a job loss, or trusting the wrong person can be a financial disaster. Our car can get repossessed. We can be evicted from our apartment or house. It all lands on our credit report. A poor credit score changes your entire life. Bad credit means we can't rent an apartment. We can't buy a car. We can’t move forward with our life.

It's not just housing that's unaffordable. Everything is unaffordable. Poor people can't buy groceries in bulk to save money because we can't save that much at one time. So we buy the small, more expensive options that cost more and create more waste. Our phone service and subscriptions are often the more expensive monthly options.

When you’re poor everything is more expensive. Laundry is taken to the laundromat for $7.00 per wash load. The dryer is another $7.00. Older, cheaper cars need repairs more frequently. Cheaper, poorer quality clothes and shoes need to be replaced more frequently. Which means they are more expensive and worse for the environment.

When poor people have dietary restrictions, like I do, it requires sacrifice and creativity. Gluten free bread and packaged foods are currently an unaffordable luxury. Fortunately I have an Instant Pot and an air fryer to cook in my room. And I have ingredients to cook naturally gluten-free foods. Potatoes and rice are what I cook most often. But the pressure of always having to cook is tiresome and often I just snack. 

Everything is more expensive when you're poor. Housing, groceries, laundry, clothing, food. It all adds up over time ensuring the cycle of poverty continues. 

We Didn't Create the System.

Society shuns the poor. We are invisible to many. Politicians on the right like to shame poor people and actively cause harm. They prey upon us as if it's our fault for being poor. But it's not. It's the system.

We are living in a system rigged against the working poor, elderly, disabled, and the generationally impoverished. Poor people have no power. We didn't create the system. We are just trying to survive it.

The current administration's dismantling of the social safety net makes life harder for the working poor, elderly, disabled, and generationally impoverished. Nutrition assistance (SNAP) is being withheld. The American government fought in court to withhold nutrition assistance and starve its own people, children. The current administration is causing intentional harm. 

Our country, our government, our taxes are supposed to support the people of this country. We the people, not corporations, and certainly not just the wealthy.

In America our healthcare is tied to our employment and is provided by employers. When we lose our jobs we lose our health insurance. We then either pay out of pocket or we go without doctors care and our prescriptions. 

Healthcare is expensive even when you are employed. Some employers only offer inadequate or unaffordable plan options. So many of us are under insured which means we are paying more out of pocket. Some of us choose to forgo insurance so that we can pay our bills. 

Some of us fall through the cracks and don't qualify for healthcare assistance or we are waiting years to qualify. I met people in my stays at a cheap hotel and the boarding house that are disabled. They can't work and have been waiting over a year to receive assistance. The system forces them to be poor while waiting for help.

America, one of the richest countries in the world, doesn't have universal healthcare. Americans are caught in a for-profit healthcare system that costs more and provides worse outcomes. And it's all about to get worse as the current administration tries to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.

I lost my health insurance in December of 2024. Which means I don't have an oncologist, and my breast cancer treatments ended two years earlier than scheduled. My health is at risk without coverage. Fortunately, I am healthy now, but my health is always at risk because of where I live and lack of resources.

Poor people who require life saving medicines have to pay cash and sometimes sacrifice other needs for their prescriptions. They sometimes have to make choices between groceries and medicines. 

One person I know is forgoing treatment for a heart condition to pay the property taxes on their home and other bills. Another person I know ran out of their life-saving medication. When a health crisis occurred their medications were refilled by the emergency room doctor. These are choices that poor people make and live with every day.

It's not just the government or the for-profit healthcare system that is making life harder for America's poor. While corporations are making record profits, they are refusing to pay a living wage. 

According to a 2020 study by the Government Accountability Office, 70% of working adults enrolled in both Medicaid and SNAP worked full time. Which means in our country we can work a full time job and still qualify for public assistance. Walmart, McDonalds, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Amazon and more are increasing their profits by paying inadequate wages. By doing so they are asking the federal government, our tax dollars, to subsidize their profits.

The American government is actively participating in corporate America's suppression of wages. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. It has remained unchanged since 2009. In the meantime, the cost of living has continued to increase. To be fair some states have increased their minimum wage requirements, including Colorado. 

Until wages keep up with rising costs, the working poor will always require assistance. If you don't like the idea of welfare subsidies being paid to Americans, then start advocating for increasing wages and taxing or fining corporations for suppressing wages.

The problem has never been about how poor people spend their money or subsidies. That isn't impactful to the economy. The problem is employers refusing to pay a livable wage. The problem is corporate greed increasing shareholder returns by suppressing wages and reducing workforce. The problem is billionaires hoarding wealth. Poor people are the small fry compared to the whales of corporate and billionaire greed.

Don’t allow politicians, media, or anyone else convince you that immigrants or poor people, leftists or women, are “the problem” with America. Corporate greed and power hungry politicians are what is wrong with our country. Remember this country is for the people by the people. 

There is plenty of blame to go around for the harm that is being caused, but the working poor, elderly, disabled, and the generationally impoverished are not at fault. The system is rigged against the poor. We didn't create the system. We are trying to survive it. 

I have been unemployed since 2020. At first it was a choice. I tried to change careers rather than continue in one that caused me to burn out twice. I thought self-employment would be a better choice for me. It wasn't. 

My spiritual awakening made going back to a corporate environment impossible. Even though I have tried for years to find work nothing has happened. I have attracted no opportunities and I am sinking further into poverty.

Being out of the work force for so long has made me an undesirable candidate. Companies prefer to hire people who already have jobs. Ageism may also be playing a part in my inability to find work. I am 58 which means I'm either “over qualified” or “not a good fit for company culture”. 

Nothing I've done has improved my ability to create or attract an income. After being poor and watching my life disintegrate I'm not sure I can mount a comeback given the current socio-economic environment. 

Regardless of what is happening in this country, I know my value even if no one else does. I am kind and loving. I am talented and spiritually gifted. I am conscious, awakened, and grateful. I contribute to society in a positive way through my writing and how I move through the world. I am a human being. I am a soul. I am a child of the Universe and of Spirit.

I didn't create the system. I am trying to survive it. And maybe, if I'm fortunate, one day I will thrive again.

As for the baked potato soup, I did make it. I was resourceful and creative and used what I had on hand. Instead of bacon I used hotdogs sliced into thin rounds and fried crispy. Because that's what we poor people do. We do the best we can with what we have.

The soup was warm and comforting. It felt like a hug. And I felt fortunate and grateful for it.

Gratitude and Connection. 

Thank you for reading this far. I know this isn’t what I usually write about, but it is what I needed to write about. 

I am still looking for an opportunity for work. Email me at NikkiDeForestConsulting@gmail if you have anything in the Denver metro area.

Remember to bookmark the Exploring Spirituality main blog page. I invite you to come back soon and often. 

Follow me on social media to get links to all new blog posts on Mondays and most Fridays delivered to your feed. 

I'm grateful you're here. I love you. 

Be well, beautiful human and soul,

Nikki