There are two main ways in which we show mercy. One is in giving, and the other in FORgiving. I want to consider each of those aspects in turn. First, being merciful includes giving materially and spiritually to the poor. Materially, there are always opportunities to be merciful.
Poverty is a result of human sin.
I don't mean the sin of the people who are poor. Poverty is not, as some political philosophy would have you believe, a result of the poor being lazy and unintelligent or not having the right work ethic. Yes I know that the bible says if you are lazy and don't work then you deserve to be poor. But the vast majority of poverty in the history of the world is caused by the sinfulness of those who have, but will not show mercy on those who have not. Since sin will be with us until Christ returns, we will never completely eradicate poverty from the world.