Joseph Wresinski founded ATD Fourth World in 1957 after being inspired by families living in an emergency housing camp in France. ATD Fourth World provides necessities and education to families in poverty. It also conducts research on poverty and creates programs to equip the poor with skills and ensure their fundamental rights are met. Wresinski sought to unite all parts of society, including leaders and organizations, around addressing poverty based on his own experience growing up in a poor family.

1. Joseph Wresinski "The families in that camp have inspired everything I have undertaken for their liberation. They took hold of me, they lived within me, they carried me forward, they pushed me to found the Movement with them."