Our nonprofit team is supposed to be serving low-income communities but most of us are middle-class professionals who've never experienced poverty ourselves and there's this weird dynamic where we talk about 'our clients' in ways that feel patronizing. The few team members who have lived experience keep trying to push back but the conversations get uncomfortable and we end up avoiding the real issues.
More people experience this than they realize.
Teams serving communities they don't belong to avoid confronting their own class privilege and its impact on their work.
“Where Are You with Poverty and identity?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.