Poverty in America can be the result of so many social, institutional, and personal problems. Just as Jacqueline Novogratz said, poverty is complex and what we need to do is educate ourselves and others about the issues. She was obviously talking about poverty in other countries, but the same goes for poverty in America.

As people with privilege it is not our place to become angry with those who are less fortunate. Instead we should do our best to be compassionate and culturally competent and educated about barriers that these people face. It is hard to put yourself in another's shoes but those with low SES do not have the tools to better themselves. We cannot really know what someone goes through if we have not truly experienced it. So it is easy to get frustrated but we need to REALLY try understanding without prejudice.
Many in poverty are so down and out they have a defeatist attitude. This makes complacency easy. There are many barriers to getting out of poverty (too many to list) but I believe the most important barrier is lack of education - Both education of those less fortunate and maybe more importantly the education of those fortunate enough to help. We need to be educated about poverty and the people in poverty and ways we can start to act.

The educated/more fortunate should become less focused on the materials (fancy clothes, an expensive car, etc) and more focused on becoming an advocate for the less fortunate- helping to fight for equal education, equal healthcare, an equal chance. We need to take our education and put it into action, into REALLY trying to make a difference.