Soapbox: Needy/Poor

I arrived at work and started my daily routine where I came across an article about a new program that will hopefully help bridge the gap in higher education and young adults who may face poverty. While the program sounds promising, I was totally caught off guard and fixated on the term ‘Needy’. That’s right this new program title has the word Needy in the title.

A brief background of myself, I was homeless as a child. I remember sleeping in my mother’s vehicle and churches. I remember getting boxes of food from donation drives. I remember not being able to always get new clothes for school. I lived in poverty. My mother had three kids to raise, no degree and worked odd jobs to keep the household afloat. She worked hard to provide what she could to her kids. I never saw me as needy.

Why am I making a big fuss over the word needy, you may ask?

According to Merriam-Webster: Needy – adjective- 1. poverty-stricken; 2. marked by affection, attention, or emotional support.

The context and emotional attachment to the word needy for me has always given a negative demeanor. It often meant that you were poor, need government assistance, possibly receiving welfare and food stamps — all of which are looked down upon/lazy people. While this maybe true for some, others like my mom not so much. She worked hard and couldn’t always provide for her family so she needed the assistance.

I am still fixated on the word needy to describe the low-income class (poverty). The connotation is that the low-income is just lazy and looking for a handout. There is a purpose for each of the terms to describe being poor but let’s move away from using the term needy. Let’s use low-income,.

Thanks for reading my Soapbox.

-WN.