This week, Selma City School Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams gave the people of Selma a wake-up call to the damages that poverty can cause in students.

“The vast majority of our students are in families that are grappling with these situations,” Williams said, estimating that about 85 percent of students in Selma City Schools are living in poverty. “Any time we’re working with children in homes lacking resources, there’s a number of stressors.”

Hoping to establish empathy, the participants learned about the struggles that some families in Selma and Dallas County face.

Empathy should just be the beginning.

Now that the participators understand, what can be done?

Williams has established the damages that can happen with poverty.

The community cannot afford anymore damage to happen to our future.