Most of what you think you know about poverty is wrong.

Wow. Was all I could think of after finishing Mauricio Miller’s book “The Alternative.” Never had I felt more inspired to take action than when hearing the stories of people who have struggled and then had some semblance of “making it" only to have concerns that maybe their “helping” isn’t so “helpful” after all.

This was a delightful read about letting people do what they do best: help each other. Centered around Miller’s nonprofit, the Family Independence Initiative, this was a human and data driven read that poignantly illustrates that our current safety-net services at once both help and hinder those that they aim to make poverty more “tolerable” for.

I highly recommend this book, and if you are interested it is available here.