Program Sets Up Poor for Failure

“Poor to Get Incentive to Save” [Sept. 24] tells about a proposal for a matching grant from a group of foundations to help the poor save for education, their future and/or a house. The article might just as well have said that if the poor didn’t have bread, they could eat cake.

If the middle class can’t save in today’s economy, isn’t it absurd to expect it from the poor?

This is a cruel hoax on the part of these foundations that are looking for a tax break in an undoable project. What kind of a house are they thinking of for which the poor could save even half a down payment in four years? This can only set up the poor for failure. They already struggle with a sense of failure. They don’t need this kind of abuse.

PAULETTE MANSFIELD

Canoga Park