Real People, Real Stories

Poverty is insidious. It can creep in slowly, before you realize it. Even when you know that you have done everything “the right way.” Ann Poehlman is living proof of that. Ann lived a life of service. She worked for 25 years as a Michigan State Police Officer, then left to stay home with their young children. But when her marriage dissolved in 2016, Ann decided to pursue a lifelong dream. “My kids were grown, building their lives,” she explains. “My life’s dream was to be a

It was a spring day in 2017, and Rev. Paula Durren was, as usual, at work at Church of the Mediator when her administrative assistant, Linnea Berg, approached her. ​ Dr. Berg possessed a PhD in communications from Northwestern and had retired from nonprofit work. She was doing consulting work for the Pokagon Fund, which offered grant money. Could their church help? Rev. Durren’s answer was immediate. “I said yes! Money to help people have gas cards, get to the doctor and thei

Phil Trimm moves fast and talks faster. His energy, wit and intelligence are readily evident. But back in 1996, he had decided high school was not for him. He dropped out, tried Job Corps, tried college, then, as Phil puts it, “life happened.” On his 21st birthday, he tried drugs — a choice that would start him on a decades-long struggle with addiction. ​ “I finally got it together four years ago. But as soon as I quit using, I came down with anxiety and depression — everythi

Bob Stine’s life trajectory took an abrupt turn thanks to a simple question from his teenage son. ​ “I’d been working in paper distribution for years, but I didn’t like it,” Bob recalls. “We have three boys, and the youngest was getting ready to go to college. One day, he said, ‘Dad, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? You hate your job. You can’t follow me around with sports anymore. You’ve got to find something to do.’ It was very insightful. I thought, if

In 1996, Marcie Dust fled an abusive husband, taking her two children, their dog, their turtle and nothing else. She suffered from chronic illness that kept her from working. A friend in Michigan said they could stay with him awhile. “In Michigan, even the trees were prettier” she remembers. “I could see a new outlook on life—there was hope.” ​ Marcie spent the next three years moving through 15 different places, including a storage locker. “I hoped I’d be able to work and pa