When we think of poor people in America, we think of flickering black and white images of the bread lines of the 1920s-or of the stark scenes of today-with worn-out people sleeping in alleys, or on the sidewalks of our towns and cities, surrounded by piles of wadded clothes which double as bedding at night. Lost people who gave up long ago and took to the streets-not to protest anything, but just to live each day by giving up. There is no American dream in them. They are the poor we see. The visible ones. But in the early decades of the 21st century, live millions of Americans who are not on display-who aren’t seen because they are different. These are the ones who live lives of poverty just under the official poverty cut off lines. These are the ones who simply try every day to just make it. These are the ones who are one broken down car, one missed water bill, one sick child away from joining the poor we see. These are the stories of the invisible poor in America. These are the stories of good people fighting every day to hang onto the American Dream. They believe it was meant for them too.
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