For my problem pitch project, I was placed in the poverty group. I actually did not choose the poverty group on my selection, just because I did not view it as something that was “interesting,” or I thought I understood because I grew up in a place with a large amount of poverty. After finding out about my placement, however, I decided to dive in. I went into the project feeling like I could not be educated, and that I would know everything that we researched, but I was completely wrong. For our interview, we chose to interview an employee from the CityLink Center. This center is a company that works to reduce poverty in Cincinnati, with it being one of the highest rates in the country. Our group specifically decided to explore why this was true. In talking to Salem, the employee at CityLink, we asked a series of questions surrounding the solutions to fixing the problem of poverty and how we could help. The main idea that Salem taught us was the idea of reducing handouts. This is what truly shocked me. We were taught that giving money or opportunities can actually hurt those in poverty. This is the opposite of what we are taught and shown In the media. We are taught to give to others that are less fortunate than us. Yet Salem actually taught is that by giving handouts to those in poverty, you are inadvertently hurting them. This is because they begin to get comfortable and complacent with the idea of people giving them what they need. It makes them feel like they don’t actually have to do the work to get where they want to be, but it will just be given to them. The solution to this problem Salem says, is education. She explains that CityLink focuses on educating impoverished communities on financial literacy, or helping with a resume, or how to find a job. She says that rather than doing the handwork for them, you must help set them up to do the work on their own. She states that you can’t help someone who does not was to help themselves. This really spoke to me, because I never really thought about a handout in this way, In my mind, giving a homeless person a dollar or two was actually helping them and setting them up for the future. I truly felt like this experience broadened my thinking an gave me a new of thinking about the world. In this, it also made me much more passionate about the problem of poverty.