Four Faces of Poverty

Forget labels, diagnoses, assessments and categories.  The biggest handicap faced by people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations is their poverty.  Poverty rears its ugly face in 4 distinct but related ways:

1.    Social Poverty – isolation and loneliness
2.    Civic Poverty – the inability to participate and contribute to society
3.    Spiritual Poverty – the lack of meaning in one’s life
4.    Economic Poverty – despite billions spent on disability related services and government benefits little of it reduces the life of poverty experienced by many people with disabilities.

For decades, governments, policy makers, funders, service providers and indeed advocates have been focused on addressing or treating the particular disability experienced by an individual.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

This workshop proposes a new approach – one that directly addresses these more fundamental handicaps.  And one which enables people with disabilities to occupy their place in society as active participants and contributors.