POVERTY TRAP is a new film about how big plans to end poverty broke the American Dream. Examining America’s largest anti-poverty efforts—urban renewal, public housing, welfare, and public assistance—the film reveals how sweeping policies reshaped neighborhoods and created lasting barriers.

Concentrated poverty, homelessness, incarceration, food deserts, work disincentives, and bureaucratic penalties left many communities isolated and excluded. Through powerful stories and on-the-ground voices, the film connects these systemic failures to cycles that keep families stuck. Yet it also spotlights community leaders advancing local, human-centered solutions that restore opportunity, strengthen neighborhoods, and redefine pathways to lasting prosperity.