More than 37 million Americans are living in poverty — living lives that are hard for some to imagine.

Insight
Life below the poverty line is a constant struggle. Every day is full of tough decisions and difficult choices. We needed to bring it to life so people could grasp the urgency of the situation.

Approach
Make the poverty line an actual physical line — with people hanging on to survive. Then tell the story with the real numbers and the hard choices people make to keep their grip. The urgency is impossible to miss — and the appeal to get involved is hard to ignore.

Results
The campaign launched during Poverty in America Awareness Month, January 2007. Since then, more than 30,000 television and 67,000 radio broadcasts have been reported, which equate to a total media value of more than $8.7 million. It was in the top 10 percent of all PSA airings for 2008.