Poverty In the Economy

Source/Website: http://wwwpublic.jcu.edu.au/learningskills/idc/groups/public/documents/journal_article/jcudev_012886~5.pdf
Most of maui county's economy is based on our tourism levels. If the amount of tourism we have annually
goes up, so does our economy. If the amount of tourists we have annually decreases so will the economy.
If the levels of tourism changes drastically, for the worse, in the future, then our economy would take a
huge hit leaving many men and women jobless, resulting in people losing their homes, and overall well
being.
http://www.users.miamioh.edu/shermarc/p412/haw97dem.shtml
http://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=h2adogyK8O8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA115&dq=maui+poverty&ots=U9GMEZKYCc&sig=UQ
7Mb2yJedG1wP-UA7TGNX4Rq44#v=onepage&q&f=false
Story board

Commentary
Hungry For Change
By Sophia Dunn, Jordan Jackson, Sofia Serena

We live in paradise. Gorgeous beaches to lounge on, green jungles to explore, stunning vistas to take in
from every angle, beauty that takes our breath away at every rapturous glance, splendor to inspire us
everyday. But look a little closer. Hidden just under the surface of this tranquil facade is Poverty. Its all
around us, And if we don't look for it, we might not notice it, as it is easily camouflaged. The website:
Spotlight on poverty.org reveals statisictics on the state of hawaiis own levels of people living in
poverty. According to Poverties.org, a think tank on the subject of poverty in our country, poverty is
defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material
possessions. In Hawaii, poverty is measured by a specific level of affluence or wealth that families and
individuals exist either above or below. Although poverty is a problem throughout the entire United
States, in the state of Hawaii where the cost of living is considerably higher than most poverty is
especially egregious as the statistical information used to determine assistance for people of this state are
the same as those used for other states- states where a gallon of milk does not cost over $6.00. How this
manifests in our Hawaii society is that those families that qualify for assistance in the form of SNAP
(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), otherwise known as FoodStamps in the form of an EBT
card (Electronic Bank Transfer [of funds from the Federal government deposited to a credit card-like
plastic bankcard]), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) receive an amount of assistance
that might reasonably help them take care of their families- if they lived in lower cost-of-living states.
The imbalance between what a dollar can buy in the state of Florida (for example) versus the state of
Hawaii, only adds to the problem of poverty in Hawaii.
How is poverty defined in hawaii? In Hawaii, according to the department of Health and Human Services
(http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm) poverty is defined by many statistics, including Income
guidelines: If a person makes less than $13, 420 per year (gross income) than they are below the poverty
line. Sadly, although most families have at least two working members most still can only rent. 41% of
people living in Hawaii cannot buy a home; their monthly payments simply reducing a landlords property
mortgage. This includes people that have good jobs and are fully employed, paying rent (no HUD
subsidies). Many Maui families are one rent payment away from homelessness - with no help on the
horizon.

Continuing efforts to make Hawaii in general and Maui specifically more self-sufficient by growing food
locally, creating more local jobs, and a closer and more compassionate look into ways to help Mauis
families grow their incomes and create new local business that stay in Hawaii and Maui specifically, in
addition to finding real and lasting solutions to the homeless residents are a few ideas for improving
poverty in Maui. There is a lot of work to do.
Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the
actions of human beings. - Nelson Mandela.
PSA
https://drive.google.com/a/kiheicharter.org/file/d/0BzSK-A5ZgETjNnBKLTRxS0RNR1k/view
Reflection
In this project I feel like I used:
~Communication Skills- Check- ins
~Thinking and Problem Solving Skills- PSA outline and how I could make this project to be more clear
~Civic Literacy and Engagement- This project involves the community
~Information Skills- Research, Pie chart
~Interpersonal Skills- Worked as a group
Proud of:
~ This project makes me want to help
~ How well the PSA turned out
How did my 21st century skills improve:
Well I guess they improved because at my old school we didn't really communicate with one another as
much as we do at Kihei Charter School.
What was difficult:
~ Schedules- I know for one that I had a pretty tight schedule.
What would I change:
~ I would Pick the same topic but actually go out and help some people