"We had to live at the poverty level, with a $300 a month stipend and food stamps," she said.

The facility serves 600 local children from the Westside neighborhood, 85 percent of whom live at or below the poverty level.

An estimated 73 percent of its 2,600 students, who come from throughout the city, live at or below the poverty level.

They are living at the poverty level because wages are so low.

A family of four making $16,036 in 1996 dollars is considered to be living at the poverty level.

Most of the families who receive subsidies under the 30-year-old Section 8 program live at or below the poverty level.

The percentage of persons living at or below the poverty level in 2009 as 15.4%.

Women and children comprise the majority of those living at the national poverty level.

Income: 92% of students live at or below the poverty level.

Almost all of them live at the poverty level and receive free school lunches from the Federal Government.