Imagine a child not being present to school all week. He is not on vacation but rather he is terribly sick. People however, don’t know that this child has been lacking food and that the child’s family does not have health insurance. This child is suffering from many backlashes of poverty. There are 43.1 million people living in poverty today. Out of that 43.1 million, 15 million are children (Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). These numbers show that poverty is affecting many people especially children which is very startling. Poverty is a very serious issue today and I chose to research how it’s affecting a child’s development. I am working with children at Burr Elementary School in the Village after-school program. Burr is in Hartford where the poverty rate is over 30% (“QuickFacts,” n.d.). Some of the children I work with may come from a poor environment. My research has taught me what effects poverty has on a child so I can better understand some of the children at the Village. I focused on how poverty affects children mentally, physically, and emotionally. Many of these topics intertwine with one another. However, I was able to take note and remember some very important key points that contribute to my capstone. How poverty affects children mentally has benefited me due to the fact I can better understand some of the obstacles children face in regards to their academics. One of them is that children who live in poverty have a strain on their mental health due to stressors. As a result, that strain hurts the development of the brain for children which causes them to have poor academic performances. According to a study done by Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Greg J. Duncan (1997), “The poorer children scored between 6 and 13 points lower on various standardized tests of IQ, verbal ability and achievement” (p. 61). Children living in poverty have small access to academic assistance, go to less competitive schools, and have a minimum of help at home due to their circumstances which causes them to be academically deficient. I am a firsthand witness to many of these difficulties children face. At Burr Elementary School, there are 2nd graders who still don’t know how to read and this may be due to their financial circumstances. The Village Community School is one of the many places that help children who live in poverty. It’s offers free programs that not only help children but parents as well. I am part of this effort to assist children in their academics, give them snack and dinner that some may not have, and provide them with activities that can brighten up their day.