Everyone has a role to play in alleviating the despair and daily needs of our fellow Kansas citizens

Poverty affects too many people, writes Rebecca Lyn Phillips. And it will take everyone to eradicate it. (Getty Images)

Poverty. Crime. Fury. Despair. Confusion.

They are everywhere. The pain is deep and widespread in Kansas and beyond these days. When I am near downtown Topeka, I shop at a store that serves people with great needs. I often see homeless people with stolen shopping carts, which they use to store their belongings.

A local nonprofit called Let’s Help is opening a location nearby, and I can already see the people who will be seeking help there. But I truly care about you, and my compassion gives me strength in a time when desperation and need threaten to overwhelm us all.

Last month I got a tour of the Lois Curtis campus on Indiana Street in southeast Topeka. They renovated an old elementary school to provide services to people in need, especially people with disabilities. They have a food pantry, a durable medical equipment room, and other support spaces. The people who work there are amazing.

That’s the way it is with people. Poverty affects too many people, but it especially affects those who have an additional struggle, such as a physical or mental disability. It also affects people of color and those who struggle with addictions.

There are those who say that Jesus is the answer to the problem of poverty, that churches are the answer, not government. While my faith is vital to my life and very, very important, I think Jesus would ask all of us to lend a helping hand. That includes local nonprofits, homeless shelters, and federal, state, and local government.

It absolutely takes the cooperation of all of us — everyone — to eradicate poverty.

One of the issues I think about a lot is food insecurity. If we see someone in front of us at the grocery store checkout using a food discount card, I would say that is the time to offer a smile and a kind word, or even a prayer. We don’t know that person’s story.

I just finished another gift card drive for the housing specialist at a local mental health nonprofit, and my friends donated $300 worth of gift cards to vulnerable clients. The housing specialist emailed me and told me how happy she and the case managers were when they took their clients to the store to use the gift cards to buy food and other necessities. That made me happy.

My grandfather was a minister for 60 years. I often wonder, what would Grandpa do? My grandfather gave to people in need. He and my grandmother lived in a big house in Americus, Georgia, but they were not snobby or proud. They always helped people.

I want to make a difference like my grandparents did. I volunteered at Doorstep, a nonprofit in Topeka that provides food, clothing, and rent and utility assistance. I also helped provide food to a friend in need. I bring sandwiches to her door for lunch.

We can all work together to address the poverty we see. We can work together to address the needs creatively and courageously. We need the courage of people like Barry Feaker, who has been helping the homeless for years. He and LaManda Broyles and their team at the Topeka Rescue Mission truly offer hope and health.

Sgt. Matt Rose of the Topeka Police Department and the officers there really care about homelessness. Rose has been given a great job of helping to deal with the complex needs of individuals and he and the officers on his team really reach out to help people in crisis. I have the honor of speaking to law enforcement every year at the Crisis Intervention Team training. It is very important.

Yes, it is time to gather our courage and our strength and work together to address these enormous problems in our communities and our state. There is no easy answer, and we should congratulate ourselves if we find even part of an answer and if we help even one person in need.

Let us face the future with hope and heart and embrace the needs with strength.

Rebecca Lyn Phillips is a published author, speaker, and mental health advocate. Through its Opinion section, the Kansas Reflector amplifies the voices of those impacted by government policy or excluded from public discourse. Find information here, including how to submit your own commentary.

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