For six years as an elementary school principal in Greenville County, Travis Wharton saw the impact of poverty and lack of access to resources on his students.
He also saw how the educational system was not designed to directly address many of those problems. It was this realization that led him to a career change.
Now director of education and economic mobility for United Way of Greenville County, Wharton is in a position to make a difference.
But he realizes the task is bigger than one man or even one organization, and spends much of his time coordinating between different community partners to do the slow, steady work of improving the lives of the community’s most vulnerable and under-resourced members.
He says Greenville’s economic growth has been a boon to those equipped to take advantage of opportunities, but for those locked into poverty it can be hard to gain a share of that prosperity.
“All of those (opportunities) are much harder barriers for people who are starting from poverty,” Wharton says. “It’s not simply income that changes economic success.”
Decades of data show the biggest indicator of economic mobility is home ownership, he says. Residential segregation based on race has significantly hampered wealth building across generations for minority communities, and this has prevented many members of those communities from escaping poverty and entering the middle class.
This is one of the key issues brought up by community members in a series of meetings United Way of Greenville County has conducted in recent years. Wharton says more than 600 people offered input over the course of 48 meetings highlighting issues like transportation, financial literacy and tax assistance, and connecting to resources.
Economic mobility resources
Helping people connect to the resources they need when they need them is one reason United Way launched its 211 Greenville County Resource Line. Families needing help can access the information online or by calling 211 to learn about food and housing assistance, transportation and employment, and healthcare.
Wharton says having access to resources is especially important to single female households.
“The economic health of women in our county is one of the strongest indicators of our overall economic and social health,” he says.
But getting and maintaining a job and handling the myriad other challenges of escaping poverty are not guarantees of success and can often leave families struggling to deal with toxic levels of stress. Struggling to put food on the table, to get and keep a job, and worrying about being able to pay other monthly bills can exact a toll.
“Just because you get a job does not mean that you’re okay with your mental health or your physical health,” Wharton says. “We overlook the amount of toxic stress people are dealing with that can hamper their ability to move forward.”
This is why it’s important to understand people dealing with poverty are exactly that — human beings — and not statistics or data points in some computer algorithm.
For more information about United Way of Greenville County’s initiatives and resources, visit unitedwaygc.org/impact.
