New Project to Crowdsource Ideas for Changing Poverty Perceptions in America

BETHESDA, Md. - Feb. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- In March, 20 individuals ages 18-34 will depart on the latest leg of the Millennial Trains Project, a 10-day Amtrak train journey for social good. In seven stop cities, these members of the Millennial generation will explore emerging opportunities and challenges while advancing projects that benefit, serve and inspire others.

Filthy Stinking Poor, a project candidate for this year’s journey, aims to generate conversations on both the small steps and big ideas needed to change perceptions of poverty in America.

“Many people tend to think of poverty exclusively as a problem of persons – rather than a problem of resources or of circumstance,” explains project founder Jenni B. Baker. “We assume that if someone is poor or homeless, it’s because of some deficit of character – being lazy, stupid or unable to make good decisions. The social intolerance and indifference people in poverty encounter as they attempt to share their stories and make changes can be just as oppressive as the economic challenges they face.”

In each of the seven city stops, Baker will meet with big thinkers in the poverty space, bright young minds at local colleges and universities, and broken down citizens currently living in poverty to hold brainstorming sessions and generate conversations on how to start changing hearts and minds. At the conclusion of the project, she’ll produce a quick start action guide and white paper to share the ideas generated along the journey.

“Twenty years ago, few people were talking about taking care of the earth; today, even kindergartners can tell you why it’s important to recycle. If we can teach multiple generations to see the importance of environmental responsibility, I believe we can do the same with social responsibility,” Baker notes.

To make it onto the train, the Filthy Stinking Poor project needs to be one of the first candidates to meet the required $5,000 crowdfunding goal by February 15.

Visit http://crowdhitch.millennialtrain.co/campaign/detail/2497  to view the project proposal and video. More information about the Millennial Trains Project can be found at http://www.millennialtrain.co

About the Millennial Trains Project

The Millennial Trains Project is a nonprofit organization that leads crowd-funded, transcontinental train journeys that empower diverse groups of enterprising and civic-minded Millennials ages to explore America’s new frontiers. During the 10-day journey, participants identify, evaluate and explore emerging opportunities and challenges where the trains stop while advancing a project that benefits, serves and inspires others. They also benefit from on-train seminars led by distinguished mentors and workshops with local leaders.