Welcome to Season 11 of the Rethink Community Podcast: The Best Of!
For the past five years, the Rethink Community Podcast has been a space to challenge how we understand and respond to poverty. We've shared stories that move beyond theory and spark those "aha moments" that can change perspectives, relationships, and actions.
In this special season, we're bringing you the best of our past episodes—powerful stories, inspiring conversations, and thought-provoking insights that have resonated most with our listeners. You'll hear from individuals with lived experience in poverty, addiction, or incarceration; people who have built bridges across race and class; and leaders whose understanding of poverty has shifted through real-world experience.
Whether you're new to the podcast or a longtime listener, these episodes capture the heart of what Rethink Community is all about: opening our eyes, expanding our empathy, and sparking new ideas for a more just and connected world.
So, get ready to revisit some of our most compelling conversations and join us in Season 11—the best of Rethink Community.
Original Air Date: Jul 10, 2025
In this episode, John White welcomes Andrea Carter to unpack how personal experience can radically reshape our understanding of poverty. Andrea reflects on her early years as a teacher, when she held common misconceptions about families in poverty, and describes how her own journey through situational poverty challenged and transformed those beliefs. Andrea shares how repeated judgment can create "forced helplessness" and offers practical advice: build real relationships, include those with lived experience in leadership, and move from "us versus them" to a true sense of shared community.
