Some stats

In my third week as Director, I’m doing my best to familiarize myself with the areas in which we serve.  Some of the data I found is startling.

Over 1 in 4 persons living in the community around Baptist Community Center live in poverty.  Over 1 in 3 live in poverty around the Baptist Friendship House.

Wow.

However, the unemployment rate is much lower than those numbers.  Each center is surrounded by what’s called “the working poor”.  They do in fact work, but their income is not enough to make ends meet.  Add in a couple of children, a sick parent, or an unexpected illness, and the situation can get dire.

Further complicating things is that the high school graduation rate is 20 percentage points lower than the rest of the city. Barely half of the residents over the age of 25 graduated high school in the 24013 zip code area around Baptist Community Center.  Compare that statistic to 89.2% of adults who graduated high school in the more affluent 24015 zip code around Raleigh Court.

Please pray for these communities as we continue to learn about them and about how best to meet their needs.