• Global rates of poverty are steadily declining, but the number of people at risk for impoverishment is growing daily?

• Estimates from 2008 show that there are 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day in the developing world? (That's one out of every four people!)

• Approximately 4.6 million people in the United States---a record high in 2009---are estimated to live in poverty?

Poverty has many causes and comes in many varieties.  Its faces include the father of three who lost his job in a recession, the single mom who works three jobs but still lives paycheck to paycheck, families who lost everything in an earthquake or a drought, kids living in shanty towns, and so many more.  Poverty often becomes a generational cycle where struggling to get by is just the normal way of life, passed on from parent to child.

Looking at the problem of poverty as a whole can be daunting. Overwhelming.  It's easy to lose hope completely.  But, if you start with a single child, feed her, clothe her, and show her the world of possibilities a good education can bring, you can bring one life out of the chaos.

That's what we do every day.  At the Christel House Learning Centers, our students learn the skills they need to take control of their lives and be successful, breaking the cycle of poverty they know so well.

One by one, we're making a difference.  Ready to join us?