While Erie County’s unemployment rate and levels of poverty are better than the state and national averages, not everyone is benefitting from our resurgent economy. In fact, many at the lowest rung of the economic ladder are being left behind, and income inequality is now putting at risk the middle class. Poverty plays a profound role in the educational challenges in a city where nearly one in two students does not graduate high school on time. Poverty also contributes to high rates of adult illiteracy, poor health, criminal activity, homelessness, unemployment, and dependency on limited government services.