After looking for advice from Fr. Barré, John Baptist was told that he had to take an interest in the teachers in the schools and to do that, as Canon and gave up his family wealth. This was worth about €500,000. He brought the teachers into his own house and lived with them.

But the teachers pointed out to De La Salle that if the schools failed and had to close, that they would be back in poverty and he would still have his nice house. He thought about this and realised that they were right, so he sold the family home and all his belongings and used the money to buy supplies for the schools and food for the poor. Now, he was just as poor as his teachers. They even had to beg for food themselves. This was a very important time in the life of John Baptist de la Salle as it was then that he realised that educating the poor was what God wanted him to do.