In Trenches of a War on Unyielding Poverty
But now the number of Americans in poverty has risen again, for the first time in eight years, according to census figures reported last week. The gap between rich and poor is growing. The Census Bureau's report showed that the weakening economy had begun to affect large segments of the population, whatever their race, region or class.

For the largely black population of Pembroke, the report was a reflection of the problems here. Yet it was also a collection of dry numbers that do not fully convey how entrenched poverty can be in places where the escape routes to a better life are blocked — by the lack of transportation, jobs and child care, by geographic isolation, by hopelessness.

Such is life in Pembroke, a hamlet an hour's drive south of Chicago where some still live in crumbling shacks with caked-dirt floors and no running water.

There are half a dozen liquor stores and scores of churches. But there is no bank. No supermarket. No police force. No barbershop. No gas station. No pharmacy.

For decades, people have searched for a prescription for poverty in Pembroke. For most people here, there is only the hope for healing.

In Pembroke, healing poverty is both a natural and spiritual undertaking for Dr. Rodney Alford and the Rev. Jon Dyson. They are poverty doctors. One is in the business of healing bodies; the other, souls — though the preacher often must also help mend houses and fill stomachs before tending to matters of the spirit.

On the front line in Pembroke, the war on poverty is less about government intervention than it is a call for commitment, community and compassion.…
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/29/national/29POVE.html?pagewanted=all&position=top