Let’s observe Poverty Awareness Month by having an honest conversation about poverty in Janesville, and how the church can address it.

As United Methodists, we believe that every person in Janesville is a sacred part of God’s creation and deserves a life of agency, self-determination and dignity. A large segment of the population is not able to realize the fullness of that life. They work, sometimes at two or three jobs, but they do not earn enough money to support themselves or their families without public and/or private assistance.

Ascend is a Guaranteed Income Pilot program, with the goal of collecting empirical data demonstrating that regular, direct payments to the working poor in Janesville will give them the financial freedom they need to pull themselves out of poverty.