the poverty mindset into Transforming

By Susan Walker

Every Lent brings the possibility of hope to the forefront of our lives.

Most of us choose something to work on during Lent — and that “something” often has to do with changing habits or automatic ways of thinking. Forty days of intentional focus offer the hope that we will emerge at Easter as a new, better person.

Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. However, the brain’s executive command center does not completely relinquish control of habitual behavior. A 2012 study from MIT neuroscientists has found that a small region of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, where most thought and planning occurs, is responsible for moment-by-moment control of which habits are switched on at a given time.

Professor Ann Graybiel, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, noted that her team’s findings offer hope for those trying to kick bad habits. It shows that though habits may be deeply ingrained, the brain’s planning centers can shut them off.

Good news! Habits can be changed and old ways of thinking replaced. Bad news: it’s not easy.

Change is hard when life is stable. However, when facing the barriers of poverty, change can seem insurmountable. When someone is chronically living in poverty, their mind-set shifts from one of growth and opportunity to a sometimes desperate seeking of survival. Individuals in poverty have to overcome a barrage of negative beliefs about wealth (it’s unattainable, my family has never had money, money is the root of all evil, etc.). These negative beliefs cause patterns of behavior making it nearly impossible to do what is necessary to attain self-sufficiency.

Moving from a poverty mind-set to an “I can do it!” mindset is a personal journey unique to every individual. Each person moves at their own speed, as we are all at a different place when it comes to willingness to learn and the commitment to do.

Those individuals find help and hope at Catholic Charities. In the Welcome Center, we meet clients at their commitment level and encourage them to participate in our barrier-reduction services when they are ready. For some of our clients, it takes multiple visits and conversations with our staff before they decide they are ready to take the steps toward self-sufficiency. Some of the most common reasons clients stay in the poverty mind-set are:

• It’s been passed down generationally and they’re accustomed to meeting their own needs in other ways.

• Because life is chaotic and needs present as a crisis, there’s little chance to plan. Without a plan, other people and circumstances dictate the direction of their lives.

• Planning around extremely limited resources is difficult and takes a lot of time and learning new ways of meeting life’s needs. Individuals can quickly become discouraged when stability isn’t immediate and the path to self-sufficiency is delayed.

At Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, we’re working to change this mentality. We know the poverty mindset is something learned, and our brains are adaptable enough to learn better, healthier patterns and behaviors.

As we work with clients, we see them grow in their capacity to not only focus on the present but see the reality of a more positive future.

Isn’t that the Lenten gift that we all are seeking?