Why is anyone homeless, hungry in the land of plenty?

Does it make you uncomfortable to hear about the grandmother who is homeless after working for years to raise her kids as a stay-at-home mom? Do you squirm in your seat when she tells you her son, his wife and 2-year-old daughter are on the verge of homelessness — and they are expecting another child?

Most of us know nothing firsthand about homelessness or hunger. Some of us have skirted the edges of poverty, but not the kind where being poor means you lack a safe, clean shelter and enough food to nourish your children. This is a blessing.

We are proud and consider ourselves blessed to live in the land of plenty, but we are uneasy about the growing number of our neighbors slipping toward homelessness as prices for gas, rent and food climb while wages remain stagnant.

At the Cardboard City fundraiser this weekend we learned that, according to a recent statewide public opinion survey by the Alaska Housing Trust, 90 percent of Alaskans agree that “it is only fair that everyone has access to a descent place to live” and 89 percent agree that “we have a responsibility to help people who need a place to live.”

Count us among the majority. We see many benefits to increasing the stock of safe, affordable housing in the Mat-Su Borough. Further, we think everyone should be paid a living wage instead of relying on taxpayer-funded government programs designed to provide a social safety net for the least among us. Further, we suggest businesses cover the increased costs by realigning the egregious salaries paid to many CEOs.

It is willful blindness on our part to lay the blame for poverty solely at the feet of the poor. First and foremost, homelessness is a math problem. It is about the division of wealth in the land of plenty; we’ve divided our riches in such a way that some people’s sliver of the pie is simply too small to sustain them.

This is not a new problem, but it is a growing concern in the Valley and nationally. For the first time in history, public schools reported more than 1 million homeless students had enrolled, according to U.S. Department of Education data released in June 2102.

That’s a million kids who don’t know where they will sleep that night, who’ve never had a bed of their own, never owned a book. They are kids we expect to achieve in the classroom at rates equal to their peers with plenty to eat.

The good news is though that unlike cancer or other terminal diseases, we know the cure for poverty and it is within our means to cure.

If we have plenty of food and plenty of houses, it’s time to ask ourselves why is anyone homeless and hungry in the land of plenty?