Table 3.

Data supporting the links between Sustainable Livelihoods Pathways

Links	Explanation	Supporting quote
Link 1. Assets to institutional practices and policies	People with financial assets in the community are able to shape practices and/or policies about business development. The decisions made in turn limit business develop and financial capital for others in the community.	One thing for sure is that maybe some people in power, some people that have the money to influence the people in power will keep it…for example, when there are businesses looking at this area to come into and offer wages higher than what’s being paid here, they want to keep that down. And, that has happened in the past.
Link 2. The affect on ways of making a living	When practices keep new businesses from developing, this alters the choices people have to make a living. Some feel they cannot make enough money doing the jobs that exist. As a result, some choose to leave the community and others choose self employment.	So you got boys saying, brother, for me, I can’t buy… how much them shoes cost? P2: $100 shoes P1: Them $100 shoes working for McDonalds. So what do they do? They sell drugs. P2: Self-employed. P1: They get self-employed and they sell drugs. They see that these people that still got these part time jobs are black. And kids say well I’m not going to come here. I got my degree I teach somewhere else.
Link 3. How choices about ways to make a living influence asset development	When people leave the community or choose illegal ways of making a living, the community loses role models. Further when there are few jobs in the community and education does not lead to better jobs, young people look for alternate ways of making a living.	I got my degree I teach somewhere else. Now, you don’t want to discourage them from leaving. Why not come back here, like pastor said, to identify with kids in the neighborhood. You know, and he said, I had a teacher, a sixth grade teacher, Mr. Wiley. Mr. Wiley…we stayed in the projects, Mr. Wiley would come out there with us. He would play ball with us. He would come out there and talk with us. You know, I couldn’t wait to get to his class. You know, because it was encouragement to me and … If you leave education alone you get left behind. They not looking at the education like they saying. They may be looking at the football field. If you are athletically inclined? Got it and you don’t have it up there. They look at that money. They don’t care. They’ll give you money to go to college. Perhaps you goin’ professional.
Link 4. Affect on community health	Despite having assets like education, practices and policies have created a situation in which there are few choices about how one will make a living. Many people feel hopeless and depressed.	And a lot of these people are great people, intelligent people. Just gettin’ doors closed in their faces, like, just lose all hopes and dreams. And you have people that have went to college and have degrees and you know what I am gonna come back to where my family is and you know, you get here and bam. You have been around here a couple years and then it’s like, man things are not happening. You forget about at times, you can fall to a state of forgetfulness of I do have this degree or I did go out and do this. You get caught up around your environment or what’s going on. And for a long, ten or fifteen years will pass by and you find yourself still digging. And you’ll be like man what happened. Because I see people like what happened. And, I guess it’s that state they fall into depression, not able to find the type of work they’re looking for and want to be in this area.
Link 5. The final pathway – the relationship between assets and community health	People who feel hopeless and depressed, stop participating which depletes the power of social capital.	You got a lot of fragmented people. People stop… a lot people just kind of stay to themselves. Don’t have anything to do with anyone. Don’t attend certain functions with everyone. Don’t feel like it. I hear all the time even down to voting. Why should I? They gonna do what they wanta do anyway. This is a depressed person, man. They lost the understanding that there’s power even in that one vote. But, that’s…it’s fragmented. It’s separated. It can shut down. It’s bad but that’s kinda how it is.