Poverty is a problem not only in third world countries but also here in the United States. Interviews were conducted with 74 families with school-aged children, including 44 families living below 150% of the federal poverty level and 30 families living above 150% poverty (Heymann 5). In 1997, over 14 million children in the United States lived in poverty (Sherman and Sandfort 555). Many times it is easy for people to hide certain aspects of their lives. However, poverty is not one of them. When a person is poor, it is humiliating for himself and his family and is very difficult to overcome. While poverty is not always a choice, in today's society it is a preventable problem that can be solved. If people had the ability to recognize that this is a problem that affects everyone and were willing to do something about it, the percentage of people affected by poverty would be reduced to almost zero. Thousands of books and essays on poverty, causes and possible consequences have been written corrections for others to understand and pocket some knowledge so that the problem can be solved soon. There are millions of organizations in the world today asking for money, clothes and food so they can be sent abroad to help a poor child in Uganda or Haiti. Helping on a national level is always a good thing to be a part of; however, there are many things that can be done in each person's community, which is always a great place to start. As a group, we have all spent time with children in our community who do not come from the most economically affluent families. As with most small communities, Anderson took a hit economically when money was lost and the entire nation took a turn for the worse. More people lost their jobs or became paperless… and lived in poverty in 1997, more than in any other year from 1966 to 1990” (Sherman and Sandfort). This article focuses on the importance of ending poverty at all levels. To be able to do this, it would take the collaboration of people at every level of the system. It would be necessary to implement or intensify government policies to represent the people and return what they constantly take away. Each state can take similar measures to reassure people in their regions that they will be well cared for. However, the last level is where the average person can start getting involved: their community. Each community involves a number of people responsible for studying and documenting poverty data who provide assistance to different community leaders and will enable community leaders to reach more people affected by poverty.