– Above, Amanda Button and Lisa Merkel-Holguin

By Aya Al-Anizi

On 6 and 8 October 2025, ATD activists Pat Bailey and Amanda Button made presentations at the Call to Action virtual conference, each sharing their lived experiences in the form of powerful spoken poetry. These yearly conferences, organised by Lisa Merkel-Holguin, aim to create a worldwide community that pushes for real change in child welfare by challenging systems and centering families.

The conference includes Skill Building Sessions, Inner Restorative and Resilient Practices, and Strategy Sessions. The focus is always on building connection–and making room for poetry by people with lived experience of poverty is a vital part of that.  In Pat’s session, Brittany Allen also presented an original poem and the two of them engaged in dialogue with the audience. Amanda was the only poet speaking live in her session, but a recording was played of a poem by Karla McDonagh, which can be watched here.

Pat presented her beautifully written poem, “Before You Open Your Mouth“, written from her perspective as a parent navigating children’s social care and facing judgement due to the assumptions of social workers. It focuses on the fear of not being seen as ‘good enough’ by them and how overwhelming that is to deal with while having to take care of children.

The line that stuck out to me the most was:

“Before you open your mouth, they are stood there judging you,

Judging how you’re dressed and how you’ve dressed the kids too.”

Her description shows how much stress their arrival caused and how hard they are to impress in such a tense atmosphere. Pat’s poem opens up a meaningful conversation on the impact that children’s social care can have on families. She shows the importance of making sure that social workers have a positive benefit on families lives by supporting those in need, instead of judging without knowing their full story.

Refusing to be defined by poverty

In a separate session, Amanda delivered her inspirational poem, “To Restore One’s Soul“, about empowering the voices of people living in poverty. It is a really striking piece and an important reminder to those living in poverty that you are not your lack of wealth. There is more to a person than the amount of money they have and the way other people view you because of it. Amanda’s use of large bold lines in the poem emphasises her message, especially her line:

“I will not be silenced.”

It is short and simple but holds so much weight and power. I feel it brings the whole piece together because it shows her refusal to be pushed down by poverty and not letting it define her. Amanda’s poem is an extremely motivational protest to help restore the dignity of those living in poverty.

Well done to Pat, Amanda, Brittany and Karla for showcasing their poems! They were so well written and presented. Everyone at ATD is so proud of you for having the confidence to speak up about your personal experiences. Your voices are so valuable, especially in helping support the aims of this conference. Good job!