Help us make sure those voices are counted
Your gift supports people with lived experience of poverty as they bring their knowledge into research, advocacy, and the places where decisions are made.
At ATD Fourth World, we know the value of first-hand testimonies and that no real change can happen if the people truly affected by poverty are excluded from the places where decisions are made.
Because of your support, people with lived experience of poverty can have the practical support, preparation, and trusted relationships they need to participate—and to be heard as experts in their own lives.
Bringing someone into the rooms where decisions are made takes more than an invitation.
1
Practical support
Participation requires transportation, childcare, meals, event costs, and time away from work or other responsibilities. Making these practical needs possible helps ensure that people can actually participate.
2
Preparation and encouragement
Finding your voice and speaking publicly takes preparation. We help speakers write, edit, practice, record in their own voice, and build the confidence and skills to share their experiences in public spaces.
3
Community and relationships
It takes trusted relationships and a community that stands alongside people, listens, encourages them, and continues to walk with them as they make their voices heard.
4
Opportunities to participate
Building partnerships that bring people with lived experience into research, advocacy, events, and the places where decisions are made.
ATD Fourth World is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. EIN 23-7135119.
Donate by Mail
If you'd rather give by check or money order, please make it payable to ATD Fourth World USA and mail it to:
ATD Fourth World USA
172 First Ave
New York, NY 10009
Your donation helps make these opportunities possible. It allows us to pay for travel and other practical needs, and to take time to prepare and support speakers as they step into public speaking. Most importantly it allows us to continue creating spaces where people with lived experience of extreme poverty can grow in confidence to share their story, so no one else becomes the narrator of their experience.
Changing the narrator changes all of us.
When people with lived experience of poverty are heard as experts, we gain a deeper understanding of poverty, and of the systems and assumptions that affect our communities. Making space for those voices helps build a more just and connected society.
Your support helps make that possible. Thank you!
In her own words
“I joined to be part of a movement that had a different approach to poverty. The movement sees me as a partner and an expert in my own life. Joining ATD Fourth World showed me justice wasn’t just a conversation around the dinner table, but it was practice.
I joined a movement that gave me a voice and others like me living in poverty. Having a voice made me feel more powerful and confident. My voice will be counted, not drowned out.”
— Stacy White, ATD Fourth World Activist, New York