When Vincent saw a poor person, he saw the face of Christ. What do we see? Lamentably, for many the answer is someone too lazy to lift themselves out of poverty. The Homeless Alliance of Greater Buffalo has come up with an event to help change that perception.

The flyer for the 2008 Poverty Challenge sponsored by the Homeless Alliance of Greater Buffalo, NY, contains several quotes from people living in poverty that answers the “What do we see?” question from their perspective. “Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually lazy.” “Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.”

Attempting to counter such misconceptions and to help raise people’s consciousness about poverty, the Homeless Alliance is coordinating a three-day challenge (beginning today) that asks people to live for several days on a poverty line budget. They start by taking the federal poverty line ($10,000 for a single person), and dividing it by the number of days in a year, which yields $9.25/day after factoring in the cost of housing and clothing. They then provide calculations that allow individuals taking the challenge to reduce that amount to take into account their expenditures on things like transportation. What is left is the amount that can be spent that day on food and other items. Even assuming no deductions, $9.25/day isn’t a whole lot.

The idea is not a game in “playing poor.” Rather, it is an attempt to help understand “how poverty affects the day-to-day life” of so many people.

The website for the Homeless Alliance contains both the flyer and the guide to the challenge. A news article talking about the challenge can be found here.