Churches helping schools meets important needs in Alabama’s high-poverty areas

With the third highest child food insecurity rate in America, Alabama ranks as fourth highest in the nation in a recent WalletHub study for percentage of children living below the poverty level.

As part of Child Support Awareness month, the personal-finance website WalletHub, released the findings of its annual report on Aug. 26.

Results indicate that Alabama children in need experience more risk than usual due to COVID-19.

“In order to bring awareness to the condition of underprivileged children throughout the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 27 key measures of neediness,” said WalletHub communications manager, Diana Polk. “The data set ranges from share of children in households with below-poverty income to child food-insecurity rate to share of maltreated children.”

The full report revealed Alabama as 20^th in percentage of maltreated children, 8^th for infant mortality rate, in the 7^th percentile of children in single-parent families and ranked 27^th for child and youth homelessness.

Alabama ranked 13^th overall among states with the best health infrastructure for coronavirus, according to WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

Churches can help bridge the gap

And with Alabama children presenting greater needs this year, churches can help to bridge the gap for families in need.

“Churches can help underprivileged children and their families by providing emotional support,” Gonzalez said. “Where possible, churches can make their facilities accessible to their local families. They could offer meals or places where children can stay while their parents are at work.”

Gonzalez added that helping schools is a great way to support underprivileged children.

“It’s important that schools have the necessary resources to be able to provide quality education in a safe environment for children. This takes a lot of weight off parents. Knowing that their children are well cared for while in school can help and encourage parents to find better jobs and improve their situation.”

Click here to view the WalletHub report.