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Nearly half of Americans, 140 million people, live in poverty or are one emergency away from economic ruin. In the U.S., close to 50% of those experiencing homelessness currently hold jobs, but they remain underwater due to stagnant wages and rising costs.
The Working Poor Radio Hour is an informational broadcast on KHEN-LP 106.9 providing an evidence-based analysis of the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, sexism, poverty, militarism, and ecological devastation. By implementing the Poor People Campaign's Moral Audit locally, we bring the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final work to the specific policy choices facing Chaffee County today.
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Who are the working poor? We are. Your friends and neighbors are. Nearly 1/3 of the residents of Chaffee County are 1 $400 emergency away from financial ruin. The Working Poor Radio Hour exists to center these unheard voices and provide a platform for the lived expertise of those navigating systemic barriers.
This program defines the working poor as anyone employed formally, under the table, or in our invisible care economy, who still feels they are struggling to thrive.
According to the data, the majority of Chaffee county poor and low-income residents are white, working age adults, and their children. The federal government lists our residents living below the poverty line as 9.6%. Anyone who loves this valley enough to stay knows that's telling a fraction of the whole story. The number of us living below 200% of the federal poverty measure is somewhere between 5,700-6,000. To meet basic needs in Colorado a household with 2 adults and 2 children needs to earn more than $28/hour. Put this fact alongside the fact that 26.8% of the Colorado workforce is being paid less than $15/hour and you start to see the trap your most vulnerable neighbors are being forced into.
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In the Upper Arkansas Valley, the natural beauty of Colorado mountain country masks a structural crisis. The Working Poor Radio Hour is designed to educate the public on social, cultural, and civic matters through the lens of those who keep the community running. Poverty is a policy choice. Across the United States, 140 million people, nearly 43.5% of the population, are living in poverty or are one $400 emergency away from economic ruin.
This hour serves as a righteous witness to the lived expertise of our neighbors. We move beyond the distorted moral narrative that blames individuals for their economic condition, focusing instead on an empirical analysis of the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, sexism, poverty, and ecological devastation. You will hear local residents navigate the long distances of rural life, from the high costs of housing to the struggle for healthcare access in a landscape where rural hospitals are increasingly vulnerable.
If there is a throughline, it is the pursuit of simple justice and solidarity. This program highlights how community members are building a web of trust through mutual aid, being better neighbors, and the sharing of systemic knowledge. Whether it is helping a neighbor understand a complex form or stocking a local pantry, these acts of community care are essential to a resilient food and social system.
The Working Poor Radio Hour is a small attempt to make this quiet labor visible and to provide a platform for the unheard voices of the Upper Arkansas Valley.
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Our first guest describes Salida as 'Utopia' while reminding us that most of us are one catastrophe away from losing everything. In times like those, it helps to live in Utopia. Salida is like that because we choose to make it like that, every single day. As we learn about resources in the community, we will add them to a list so listeners can act on the things they learn from the broadcast.
Hosted, researched, and written by Evan Meier. Theme song 'Every Man Has His Gun' by The Ghosts of Extraction, used with permission. The Working Poor Radio Hour, title, concept, and production ©2026 Evan Meier. Available exclusively on KHEN-LP 106.9 Community Radio.
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