Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: How The Salvation Army Supports Families Across Generations

The Salvation Army’s Pathway of Hope program goes beyond emergency aid, offering comprehensive care—from housing and job training to emotional and spiritual support—to address the root causes of poverty and help families achieve lasting success.

For those who have never experienced it, it can be easy to imagine poverty as much more temporary than it typically is– something a family can escape as soon as a parent finds stable housing and steady employment.

In reality, the root causes of poverty often result in families remaining in poverty over generations. While some families may fall behind suddenly after a fire or flood, a majority of those under the poverty line were born and raised in a precarious socioeconomic situation.

The Salvation Army treats poverty holistically, recognizing that the cycle of poverty can only be broken after the root causes are addressed. Through Pathway of Hope, we help families with minor children find long-term solutions that help them break that poverty cycle for themselves and for future generations.

What Is the Cycle of Poverty?

Children in low-income families often lack the resources necessary for upward mobility. A child without access to quality education, healthcare, and housing is far more likely to remain in poverty as an adult, and their children will likely face the same circumstances. Once this pattern has repeated for three or more generations, it is referred to as a “Cycle of Poverty.”

How does The Salvation Army work to break the cycle of poverty?

Economic hardship is typically not the only issue a family experiencing poverty faces. By offering spiritual and emotional care along with job training or placement, guidance and support to finish or increase their education, and helping to establish the family in permanent housing, The Salvation Army provides families with personalized action plans that are compassionate, comprehensive and long-term.

Pathway of Hope provides families with:

·         A network of support

·         A sense of community

·         Holistic programs

·         Spiritual guidance

It also provides service connections and community:

·         Job training

·         Health Services

·         Childcare

·         Education

·         Housing Options

·         Legal Services

How You Can Help

Volunteer at your local Salvation Army center.

Donate—whether it's a monetary donation or clothes and toys to your local Salvation Armystore, every donation helps support a family in need.

Encourage your friends and family to consider giving to those who need it most.

Contact your local Salvation Army for available resources in your area

·         Does Pathway of Hope sound right for your family? If you have at least one child under age 18, you could be eligible to find support.

·         The Salvation Army also offers Homeless Shelters and other Homelessness Services in communities around the country.

·         After-School Programs and Youth Services are provided by many Salvation Army centers.

Tips for talking with your kids about families struggling with poverty

Sometimes, kids have a hard time knowing what to think when they see someone in need of help. This can be especially difficult if someone in their class at school or church seems to be struggling with poverty and they don’t understand why. Here’s some language that can help guide a positive conversation with your child about the intergenerational economic challenges some families face.

Why doesn’t Jason’s family have a lot of money?

Every family has different challenges and we don’t know all the challenges Jason’s family may have, so it’s not fair to guess. Jason’s mom works very hard to pay for the things Jason’s family needs, but everyone’s situation is a little different.

Couldn't Jason’s mom get a better job so they can live in a bigger house?

It’s not always that easy to get a new job. Sometimes you need special training, or a family could have other needs that make moving jobs really hard or risky. But we can still be understanding and supportive. 

Jason is always wearing the same thing to school. I don’t think he has a lot of clothes.

That may be true, but that doesn’t mean we need to think or act any differently with him. He’s a classmate and a friend, so we can just be kind and aware of him as a person we care about.

Can we help them get a bigger house or more clothes?

That’s really kind of you to want to help him. I’ll talk to Jason’s mom and see if there’s something our family can help them with. Thanks for looking out for him.