At the recent Black Country Healthy and Housing Conference, Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan, acclaimed author of Poor and Associate Professor of Psychology, shared her deeply personal and powerful story of how belief and support from key individuals in her life transformed her journey from poverty to success.
Her speech was both moving and inspirational, offering a raw and honest look at the realities of growing up in extreme poverty and how, despite the odds, she rose above it all to achieve more than she ever imagined.
The Reality of Poverty
Katriona began by explaining that her upbringing was defined by what she calls “poor-poor”—a life completely dependent on welfare, growing up in a household where neither of her parents worked and both were battling heroin addiction. She described how poverty impacted every aspect of her life, from the lack of basic necessities like food and clothing to the emotional and psychological toll of feeling constantly unsafe and unloved.
