Niles Area Meals on Wheels Celebrates the Holidays and 39 Years of Service

 

The Niles-Buchanan Meals on Wheels was first established 39 years ago. Since that time, volunteer drivers have travelled almost one million miles to deliver nutritious meals to elderly and shut-in individuals.

 This Christmas, in appreciation of their work and with a desire to serve and cheer their clients, an Edwardsburg woman decided to decorate recipients’ Christmas tables. In the true spirit of Santa’s elves, she chose to remain anonymous when donating the 40 handcrafted, one-of-a-kind Christmas centerpieces. Her work was greatly appreciated by all those who received her handiwork, this week, in addition to their daily meal delivery.
Taking to the road with Meals on Wheels director Thom Christie and new board member Marcia Rifengberg as they traveled, delivering some meals and the holiday centerpieces, gives one a special appreciation for the program and those they serve.

First stop: Four Flags Plaza and Dotty Waterbury.

“Oh my land! Thank you so much. That is so beautiful. What a nice Christmas gift!” Waterbury said, adding, “If it wasn’t for these people I don’t know what I would do. I can’t cook anymore. I get a nice balanced diet but then I have to put up with that!”

She laughs as she motions toward Christie. They have a special relationship and each gives as good as they get.
“Life is too short to be too serious,” Waterbury said.

“She’ll haul off and take a poke at me if I get out of line,” Christie said.

 www.nilesstar.com/2011/12/22/on-the-road-with-meals-on-wheels/

Another face of the U.S. recession: homeless children

As her moth­er sat in a home­less shelter in downtown Miami, talking about her eco­nom­ic struggles and loss of faith in the U.S. po­lit­ical system, 3-year-old Aeisha Touray blurted out what sounded like a new slogan for the Occu­py Wall Street protest move­ment.

"How dare you!" the girl said abruptly as she nudged a toy car across a confer­ence room table at the Chapman Partner­ship shelter in Miami's tough and predom­inantly black Overtown neighbor­hood.

There was no telling what Aeisha was think­ing as her 32-year-old moth­er, Nairkahe Touray, spoke of how she burned through her savings and wound up living in a car with five of her eight chil­dren earli­er this year.

But how dare you indeed? How does anyone explain to kids like Aeisha and count­less oth­ers how they wound up home­less in the world's richest nation?

www.ongo.com/v/2619528/10586/32EA3B8072364161/another-face-of-the-us-recession-homeless-children

Hospitals That Serve The Poor Struggle With Readmissions

Hospitals across the country are trying to clamp down on frequent readmissions in anticipation of new penalties Medicare is readying. But it's a bigger probolem at hospitals that treat lots of low-income patients.

Poorer folks are more likely to be readmitted, so hospitals that treat a lot of them face special challenges at the same time those hospitals often have fewer resources, researchers have found.

Indeed, places that have the highest proportion of poor patients are nearly three times as likely to have high heart readmission rates, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis. That's the case with New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Howard University Hospital in Washington and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. (KHN has an interactive chartwhere you can look up hospitals in your region to see their heart failure readmission rate and the poverty level of their patients).

www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/12/20/144008734/hospitals-that-serve-the-poor-struggle-with-readmissions

NY Times: Now That the Factories Are Closed, It’s Tee Time in Benton Harbor, Mich.

On the northern edge of Benton Harbor, just beyond the grim grid of housing projects, shuttered storefronts, boarded-up homes and junk-laden yards that dominate much of the town, sits an emerald oasis known as Harbor Shores. As the name suggests, Harbor Shores is a resort development. At its heart is a pristine Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course that meanders along a river and creek; through woods and wetlands; and, most striking, across tall, white sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan.

The golf course was built largely on fallow, polluted land that was once crowded with factories: holes No. 4 and No. 5 were the slag pit for a company that made automobile brakes. Holes No. 14 and 15 were a former Superfund site once occupied by a company that used radium and mercury to manufacture components for fighter planes.

www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/magazine/benton-harbor.html

Niles Food Drive Today

The Niles Athletic Department has combined forces with the Niles High School SADD, N Club and Athletic Booster Club to help support the Niles Salvation Army.

If you would like to join Niles Community Schools in their fight against hunger, please bring non-perishable food items to this Friday night’s matchup between the Niles Vikings and the Benton Harbor Tigers. By joining in the support of the Salvation Army, donators will receive a discount for entering the game and complimentary popcorn.

Currently the biggest needs for the Salvation Army are: powdered milk, anything canned with meat (tuna, Chili, Dinty Moore beef stew/chicken and dumplings) and cereal.

“The Salvation Army food bank is at an all-time low, and it is the goal of the Niles Community Schools to help in whatever way possible,” said Taylor Campbell, N-Club President and varsity voys basketball student athlete. “This a great opportunity for Niles High School students to give back to the local community in ways we didn’t know we could. There is a direct impact by our donations to the food bank right here in our area. It is a good feeling knowing we can help make somebody’s holiday season a little better."

www.nilesstar.com/2011/12/08/niles-food-drive-friday/

Coalition for Community Development in Muskegon Heights Works to Re-Open School Libraries

“Will you read to me?” the small girl with large dark eyes asked politely.

Five-year-old Tunna Gay was standing among other excited kindergartners at Martin Luther King Elementary School's new library. Eyeing the woman who had just entered the library, Tunna approached, holding out the book she had chosen.

Soon other students crowded in to hear the stranger read a story on a bright morning at the Muskegon Heights school.

Around them other women were reading to clusters of children — women who volunteered their time to reopen the school's library that had fallen victim to budget cuts.

Muskegon Heights school officials, faced with deficit spending, were forced to close all the school libraries last year. There was no money to pay librarians, so books were boxed up, library rooms put to other use, and schoolchildren were left without that mainstay of learning.

www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/12/closed_muskegon_heights_school.html

State's child poverty rate is shameful

For the first time ever, the federal census of 2010 will produce demographic data for each school district in Michigan. In the past, census figures were available with detail data for all counties, cities and townships, but not for school districts. When the data is fully released for the first time the census will present details on population, poverty, income, etc. for each school district in the state.

Poverty in Michigan has increased in the past decade. Dramatically. In 2009, the U.S. Census estimated that one in five school-age children in Michigan were poor. That's more than 340,000 school age children living in poverty. The final release of the 2010 census will or will not confirm this number. Still, if the census estimates were even close to being right, and if one child living in poverty is a shame, 340,000 Michigan children living in poverty is tragic.

The federal poverty guidelines defines a family of four as being poor if their annual income is $22,050 or less. That isn't a lot of dough to pay the rent or mortgage, buy groceries, put gas in the car in order to get to work or grocery store, let alone buy school clothes and school supplies for the children.

In the past, the best gauge of the number of poor children in a school district was the district's total free and reduced lunch count participation. This data has been available for more than a decade and is published annually by the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information in Lansing. The federal free school lunch guidelines are only slightly higher than the poverty guidelines. A child from a family of four qualifies for free school lunch (and breakfast in most districts) if the child's family makes $28,665 or less per year.

While it is true that in the United States our poverty is not the same kind of poverty one finds in third world countries, it is also true that a family living on less than $28,665 per year probably isn't living the life of Bill (Gates, Cosby or Clinton).

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/11/30/opinion/editorials/7508108.txt

Note: source of the above graph:
http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=467

Friar in Detroit puts soup kitchen on wheels

As reported by the AP:

A Franciscan friar lost the brick-and-mortar headquarters for his Detroit-based charitable operations earlier this month.

But that hasn't stopped Brother Al Mascia from serving the homeless, elderly and others in Detroit.

Mascia raised $4,000 to buy two specially designed tricycles with vendor carts in front and storage trailers in back so he wouldn't miss a beat in serving his clientele.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, Mascia pedals into the outdoor waiting area of the Rosa Parks Transit Center on the tricycle.

He comes loaded with hot drinks, sandwiches and fruit, small packets of toiletries and clothing.

Mascia tells the Detroit News he wants the disadvantaged in Detroit "to know that someone is thinking about them."

detnews.com/article/20111124/BIZ/111240393/Detroit%E2%80%99s-Brother-Al-Mascia-puts-soup-kitchen-on-wheels

Class and the courts

There, perhaps, is no moment in life when the difference in class is more apparent than when you are accused of a crime. The wealthy hire the best lawyer they can. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided. But, the kind of attorney you get in Michigan all depends on where you live.

So, imagine this. You’ve been accused of a crime. You know you didn’t do it. But, the police think you did. You cannot afford a lawyer. So, you are appointed a lawyer. In a few counties, it might be someone from a public defenders office. In other counties, your lawyer might be someone who was appointed by a judge- which some see as a conflict. The lawyer got the job because of the judge which puts the lawyer’s independence in question. In almost half of Michigan counties, it might be a lawyer who put in the lowest bid for a contract with the county. Critics say for most counties, not enough resources are provided to a public defense lawyer to put together a proper defense.

“We are out to prove what everybody knows and that is the public defense system in this state is broken.”

That’s Michael J. Steinberg with the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has a case before the courts to get adequate legal defense for low-income people charged with a crime.

In a 2008 report, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association found Michigan ranks 44th of the 50 states in public defense funding. That means only five states spend less.

In fact, state government doesn’t pay for public defense. Michigan requires each county to pay the cost. And for most counties, it’s just not a big priority.

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/class-and-courts

Michigan Radio: Bridging the Gap Between Benton Harbor and St., Joseph

We've been talking a lot about class, what it means, and how we define it.

We took a trip to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. They’re called the Twin Cities, but they're different.

In Benton Harbor forty-three percent of families live below the poverty line.

In St. Joseph it’s six percent.

And, families in St. Joseph earn more than twice as much as their neighbors across the river.

www.michiganradio.org/post/bridging-gap-between-benton-harbor-and-st-joseph

Tallying the homeless Berrien consortium cites progress

Five years into a plan to end homelessness in Berrien County, many people are still without a permanent place to live.

But over that period, a coalition of more than 50 agencies and nonprofit organizations working as the Housing Resource Network of Southwest Michigan made important strides to help people who are on the street or in danger of losing their homes.

The gains were made despite a struggling economy, HRN official Alysia Babcock said during a progress review Wednesday at First Church of God, but a lot of work remains to be done.

A point-in-time count of the homeless in Berrien County in January tallied 594 people. The number included 363 children, 65 disabled people, 25 who had been subjected to domestic violence and 15 veterans.

Babcock, executive director of Emergency Shelter Services in Benton Harbor, presented data showing that homeless children were found in all K-12 school districts in the county.

"That was an eye-opener for us," Babcock told the group of people representing agencies, nonprofits and religious groups that joined to combat homelessness. "These numbers, I think, are pretty shocking."

The count, done at one point of time around the country, may have overlooked some homeless people in Berrien because the winter cold weather drives many into any available building.

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/11/17/local_news/7315990.txt

Michigan Is One of a few States Raising Taxes on Working Poor

Michigan is among just a handful of states raising taxes on low-income working families while cutting taxes for other groups, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said in a report released Tuesday.

The Washington-based group notes that Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin all have scaled back tax credits for low-income workers in recent years while cutting business taxes. In Michigan's case, low-income families will see their tax breaks shrink starting next year by about $260 million annually while businesses will get a $1.1 billion tax break starting in January and a $1.7 billion tax break the year after.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder originally wanted to eliminate the state Earned Income Tax Credit, but agreed to reduce it from 20 percent of the federal credit to 6 percent for tax year 2012. He said earlier this year that the state needed to make cuts to balance the budget and noted no cuts were being made in Medicaid programs providing health care to low-income working families. He also has said the business tax cuts will create jobs.

But the Michigan League for Human Services, which opposed shrinking the EITC, said the change is bad policy.

www.cnbc.com/id/45314876

Additional information and the full report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at:

www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3620

Class segregation

The divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is not just a matter of bank accounts. More and more it determines where you live.

We’ve all heard about racial segregation. Whites live one place. Blacks live in another. There are all kinds of ethnic neighborhoods. But in the last 40 years, racial-ethnic segregation has moderated somewhat- although it is still high. But socioeconomic segregation, segregation by class, is on the rise.

“Well, the biggest change is, of course, the shift in the income distribution. We’ve become a much more unequal society in the past three decades."

Douglas Massey is a Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton. He was the lead author of a study about this trend toward class segregation which was published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He says in the past few years, you can really see the shift as people lose their homes to foreclosure and have to move.

“As fewer and fewer people are in the middle and more and more people are in the extremes, housing markets tend to produce higher levels of social class segregation, higher levels of segregation on the basis of income.”

Some people are moving on up and others are moving to the wrong side of the tracks.

In some areas, it gets to the point that teachers, sales clerks, baristas, the guy who puts tires on those nice cars can’t afford to live in the towns where they work. They live in less affluent communities and have to commute to work which adds to their financial burden.

So how did we get to this greater divide between classes? It started with racial segregation.

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/class-segregation

Racial Divide Persists in Michigan's Infant Mortality Rate

For nearly 30 years, Michigan has been reducing its infant mortality rate. Still, as of 2009, a black infant in Michigan is three times more likely to die than a white baby, according to the latest statistics from 2009.

In fact, the mortality rate for black infants in Michigan for 2009 (15.5 per 1,000 live births) is roughly the same today as for white infants in 1973 (15.2). In the last decade, infant mortality rates for white infants have decreased from 5.9 to 5.4.

“We’re glad that our infant mortality rates have gone down, but we are still ranked 40th in the nation, which is nothing to be proud of,” said Jack Kresnak, president and CEO of Michigan’s Children, a nonprofit advocacy group for children and families. “We have a serious issue here. Babies of color are not seeing their first birthdays.”

Since 1973, the infant mortality rate for black infants in Michigan has been cut by about half. In the same period, infant mortality rates for whites have gone down by about two-thirds. The statewide infant death rate in 2009 was 7.5 deaths per 1,000 births. Michigan suffered 881 infant deaths out of 117,309 live births that year, according to figures from the Michigan Department of Community Health.

bridgemi.com/2011/11/racial-divide-persists-in-michigans-infant-mortality-rate/

Paid-leave benefits lagging for working moms in US

New census data show nearly half of working women who give birth are forgoing paychecks to care for their newborns as employers become selective about granting paid leave.

Lower-educated mothers are nearly four times more likely than college graduates to be denied paid maternity benefits, the widest the gap has been over the past 50 years.

The analysis released Thursday by the Census Bureau highlights the patchwork of work and family arrangements in the U.S., which, unlike most countries, lacks a federal policy on paid parental leave.

The study finds that while more companies since the 1960s have been offering paid leave to women for time off for pregnancy, birth and child care, the share of first-time mothers who received such benefits more recently has leveled off.

www.wwmt.com/articles/working-1398140-paid-leave.html

Global income inequality: Where the U.S. ranks

It's no surprise that top earners in America make a heck of a lot more than middle- and lower-income Joes.

But the disparity is greater here than in most developed nations.

The U.S. has a higher level of income inequality than Europe, as well as Canada, Australia and South Korea, according to data gathered by the World Bank.

And, while many nations have seen income inequality rise within their borders, the United States has experienced a more rapid increase in recent decades, widening the wealth gap even more.

"The top 1% in the U.S. really receive much more than in Western European countries," said Branko Milanovic, an economist with the World Bank and author of "The Haves and the Have-Nots."

America ranks in the bottom third of the list of 90 countries that Milanovic compiled, which is mainly based on 2008 data of per capita income or consumption in each nation.

money.cnn.com/2011/11/08/news/economy/global_income_inequality/index.htm

Food pantries face constant struggle to meet growing demand

Food pantries across Michigan are struggling to keep up with demand as more people come to them in need.

In Kalamazoo County there are 26 different grocery pantries open on various days of the week, all catering to local families in need.

Each day starts the same way at the more than two dozen pantries in Kalamazoo County, with calls coming in from people looking for help.

“They are entering lots of new households, people who are between this job and the last, it's taken longer to find that job and we know that everybody's got to eat again tomorrow,” said Anne Lipsey, Executive Director, Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes.

The St. Augustine Pantry is open three days a week and also opens an extra day at the end of the month when the need is greatest. When a family comes in, workers use a key to figure out how many items they get, depending on the number of people they have to feed.

www.wwmt.com/articles/food-1398005-pantries-growing.html

For many middle-income families, college is no longer within reach

A smaller percentage of middle-income undergraduate students is attending the nation's elite public universities, raising concerns among experts and college officials that years of rising costs and tuition increases are putting top-tier educations at top public schools beyond the reach of some families.

At the University of Michigan, the percentage of freshmen with family incomes of $40,000-$100,000 fell 13% from 2005 to 2009, a national survey tracking incoming freshmen found.

U-M says it's working to reverse the trend and says there's a misperception that the school is unaffordable. Officials say U-M has increased financial aid the past several years. "We've done everything possible to keep access for all students," President Mary Sue Coleman said.

The national trend and other data indicate many middle-income families are trapped in a bind: They make too much to qualify for significant financial aid for their children, but not enough to pay increasing college costs at some public schools without more help.

www.freep.com/article/20111106/NEWS06/111060474/For-many-middle-income-families-college-no-longer-within-reach?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Berrien County Donations Wanted for Moms Who Need Diapers

The Great Start Collaborative and Parent Coalition of Berrien County is currently hosting a countywide diaper drive through Nov. 30 in order to collect 15,000 diapers for infants and toddlers in Berrien County.

Many families in Berrien County continue to struggle in this economy and those struggles are having an impact on our youngest citizens.

The Great Start Collaborative and Parent Coalition of Berrien County are in need of help to make sure infants and toddlers in this county are not going without one of their most basic necessities.

www.nilesstar.com/2011/11/04/help-out-families-with-diaper-donation/

A picture of food stamp usage

Given what we know about the poverty rate and the current state of the economy, it should come as no surprise that more people are relying on food stamps these days.

But you may be surprised to find who receives food stamps, and where they live.

A new report from the Carsey Institute, which researches vulnerable children, youth and families, finds that 14.6 percent of rural households were relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2010.

That’s nearly the same as the percentage of households in inner urban areas who use the food and nutrition program for low-income households, also known as SNAP.

Both urban and rural households have seen SNAP use increase sharply between 2007, when the recession began, and 2010, as the nation struggled with a weak economic recovery.

lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/03/8601953-a-picture-of-food-stamp-usage

Preschool Tests Take Time Away from Play--and Learning

On a perfect Southern California morning not long ago, a gaggle of children gathered in the backyard of a million-dollar home in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood to celebrate the birthday of twin four-year-old girls. The host parents had rented a petting zoo for the day, and kids jumped gleefully in a bouncy castle out in the driveway. On the terrace, a few parents chatted beside an alluring spread of bagels, coffee and fruit.

Most of the kids at the party attend the same preschool. The father of one child enrolled there, where tuition is $14,300 a year for half a day, was asked what he likes about it.

“I like that my daughter can tell me what kind of whale it is we see in a movie,” said the man, sporting a seersucker jacket. “They seem to be teaching things that other schools don’t.”

“You ask them what they did in school today,” chimed in another dad, “and they’re like, ‘Oh, today we learned about pointillism.’ There’s a whole series on Picasso, a four-month project on Klimt.”

The first father continued his praise. “You go in there, and they’re sitting down, learning something,” he said. “At other preschools, they’re just playing.”

These parents might be surprised to learn that “just playing” is in fact what nearly all developmental psychologists, neuroscientists and education experts recommend for children up to age seven as the best way to nurture kids’ development and ready them for academic success later in life. Decades of research have demonstrated that their innate curiosity leads them to develop their social, emotional and physical skills independently, through exploration—that is, through play. Even animals as diverse as squirrels, horses and bears engage in, and cognitively benefit from, play.

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 people

New census information paints a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots with the ranks of America's poorest poor reaching further into mainstream America.

The poorest Americans have now reached a record high 1 in 15 people, spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shriveled jobs and income.

The new information comes a week before the government releases first-ever economic data that will show more Hispanics, elderly and working-age poor have fallen into poverty.

www.wwmt.com/articles/america-1397836-poor-poorest.html

Challenge prods Americans to shop like food-stamp recipients

Elected officials and activists joined faith groups in a program that challenges Americans to spend one week living like the 49 million food stamp recipients.

For the national food stamp challenge that kicked off at a District Safeway teams that each included a food stamp recipient tried to shop for a weeks' worth of food.




www.wjla.com/articles/2011/10/challenge-prods-americans-to-shop-like-food-stamp-recipients-68425.html

High anxiety, other ills run into low-grade mental health care system in Michigan

From Nichole Kemp’s perspective, West Michigan’s mental health treatment system rates something less than a top grade.

Kemp, 37, was diagnosed 20 years ago with bipolar disorder and borderline schizophrenia.

In August, the Kentwood resident was hospitalized for four days at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services after she found herself unable to stop crying and overwhelmed by feelings of panic.

Since then, Kemp has been stymied in getting the help she feels she needs. She said she was denied case management service through network180, Kent County’s primary mental health agency. She said it also declined to pay for psychiatric consultation and her medications.

“I am very, very frustrated,” Kemp said. “I am very disappointed in the system. I cannot believe there is nothing available to me. I can’t believe that every door is shut to me.”

www.mlive.com/health/index.ssf/2011/10/high_anxiety_other_ills_run_in.html#incart_hbx

Poor, minorities more likely to be obese. But why?

Inside a Quaker meeting house in Lansing's Old Town, 15 or so people sit in a circle of chairs.

It's 8 a.m., and they make quiet conversation while balancing plates of bagels and fruit.

Their names are handwritten in folded cards at their feet.

Pretty soon, a speaker calls for their attention, and the questions begin — questions designed to make them squirm.

• Do people make assumptions about you based on how you look?

• Do you make assumptions about other people?

• Are you treated differently because of your gender, your class, your race?

Those aren't the kinds of questions polite strangers are supposed to discuss, says Renee Canady, newly promoted health officer for the Ingham County Health Department and an adjunct professor at Michigan State University.

But believe it or not, she says, those are precisely the kinds of questions we need to ask each other if we're going to make any breakthroughs on one of the most baffling and frustratingly difficult facts of the nation's obesity epidemic: The amount of money you make and the color of your skin can increase your chances of being fat.

"The structures of our lives — our emotional, financial and support systems — are so different," Canady says. "We're trying to help people see that the choices people make are determined by the choices people have. And some people just don't have good choices."

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20111030/NEWS01/110300491/Poor-minorities-more-likely-obese-why-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

The Box Factory for the Arts
presents
Linda LaRocque’s

Ain’t Tina Turner
Classical Music

November 19 at 4:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

November 20 at 4:30 p.m.

WHERE:

Box Factory for the Arts
1101 Broad Street, St. Joseph, MI

All Proceeds Benefit Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen
Tickets: $10 per person

Please reserve seats at 269-983-3688

or by PayPal at

www.boxfactoryforthearts.org

Background:

The Box Factory would like to share with you West Michigan native Linda LaRocque’s story
of three people who live on the street, exploring their abilities and inabilities to cope with daily life.

Imagine finding yourself having no choice but to live on the streets. What would you do without the simple necessities in life: food and shelter?

In today’s tough times, we felt it was important to tell this story and to do it as a benefit for the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen which faces its own struggles in these economic times.

Rev David Beckmann on Hunger and Poverty and Our Government Budgets

David Beckmann of Bread for the World, a national, religious advocacy organization for the poor, talks about reducing hunger and poverty in the world and in this country. He provides some examples of hope and improvement in places like Bangla Desh.

He talks about how in the United States we have made progress when we tried to do so. "But we haven't made the sustained progress against poverty that other countries have made. Because we haven't made the sustained effort."

"All the food that people in need get from all of the food charities across the country amounts to 6% of the amount of food they receive from federal food programs. "

So, basically all of the churches, food pantries, and soup kitchens in the country would have to increase their giving by more than 15 times to make up for the loss if all federal aid in programs like SNAP were eliminated.

In the middle/latter part of the interview is a plug for donations to the organization Bread for the World. However, I do not feel it diminishes from the overall message of the video which discusses from a religious perspective the need for governmental aid for the poor.

Heating aid cuts could impact many in state

Michigan's winter is expected to be harsh.

And, if the state's allotment of federal funds to help low-income residents pay heating bills is cut as much as 50 percent as expected, things could be much worse for the nearly 41,000 Ingham County households and about 15,000 others in Eaton and Clinton counties who have needed assistance.

"We certainly think people who've been helped in the past are threatened with receiving no help this year and it's supposed to be a cold winter and our economy hasn't improved. It's a huge problem," said Judy Putnam, spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services.

Federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, was cut from $5 billion to $4.5 billion for the fiscal year that ended in September. And advocates believe Congress will approve $3.5 billion for fiscal 2012.

The cuts come as Congress focuses more on other areas deemed higher priorities, such as education, reductions in health care fraud and lowering the national debt.

The state's Department of Human Services, which helps administer the LIHEAP funds through the Home Heating Credit, could see its federal heating assistance funds slashed by anywhere from one-third to one-half. Last year the state received $276.5 million in LIHEAP funds.

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20111024/NEWS01/110240318/Heating-aid-cuts-could-impact-many-region?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Empty houses? Needy families? Time to mix

There are certain sounds that are pure childhood joy. One is the clomping of little feet up the stairs. Another is the squeal of delight.

This past week, in a freshly renovated house in Detroit, those two sounds came together. Seven children. Running up the stairs. Running into bedrooms.

Cue the squeals.

"I call this one!" ... "This one!" ... "I got the top one!" They were laying claim to something every child ought to have -- a bed -- but they were giddy because they had been sleeping three to a mattress in a dingy house infested with mold.

Now this?

"I got top bed!" ... "I got bottom bed!"

Their mother, Kristy Wilson, followed in behind them. Her eyes were wider than a moving truck, and she kept turning left and right, putting her hand on her heart or her cheek.

"Whose room is this?" she asked, entering a bedroom with a queen-size mattress on a new frame.

"Yours and your husband's," she was told.

She fell to her knees, laid her head on the bed and began to cry.

www.freep.com/article/20111023/COL01/110230441/Mitch-Albom-Empty-houses-Needy-families-Time-to-mix?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Racial Disparities in School Discipline Feeding the ‘School-to-Prison’ Pipeline, Report Finds

Public schools are suspending Blacks and Latinos and students with disabilities at much higher rates than others, according to recent findings by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC).

In a newly released report, "Discipline Policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice,” NEPC documents that suspension rates for non-Whites have more than doubled since the 1970s, while the Black-White gap has more than tripled.

Civil rights advocates are concerned that such racial disparities in the educational system perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline, i.e. the funneling of students — primarily children of color — out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.



www.unfinishedbusiness.org/20111021-racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-feeding-the-school-to-prison%e2%80%99-pipeline-report-finds/

11,000 Michigan families confront the unknown

The roles Sharon Matthews has fielded so far are hardly the stuff of cakewalks: high school dropout; single mom; gunshot victim.

But her toughest role yet begins next month: Guinea pig.

The 41-year-old Detroit resident and her 15-year-old daughter are among the 11,000 Michigan families banned from welfare, as the state of Michigan begins to enforce a 48-month lifetime cap on cash assistance.

Matthews knows her benefits likely will disappear forever in November. What she and others, from the office of Gov. Rick Snyder down to local soup kitchens, don’t know is what will happen after that.

The changes wrought to Michigan’s welfare system by Snyder and the Michigan Legislature are unprecedented nationally. No other state has kicked so many people off assistance in such a short amount of time, with such little notice. The result is a volatile social experiment that could help transform the state’s economy, or fill the beds of homeless shelters and prisons.

bridgemi.com/2011/10/11000-michigan-families-confront-the-unknown/

Employers challenged to help victims of domestic violence

When there's violence at home, it typically happens behind closed doors -- but has profound effects in many other places, including the workplace.

That's the conviction of Jennifer Fopma, executive director of SAFE Place in Battle Creek.

"It's a true dollars-and-cents issue," Fopma said. "An employee distracted by troubles at home is unlikely to be fully productive."

Statistics distributed by the shelter during Domestic Violence Awareness Month support her view that domestic violence has a negative impact on local, state and national economic sectors:

» One in four women experience physical violence from an intimate partner at some point, and 85 percent of domestic-violence victims are women.

» Three-quarters of women killed in non-robbery situations while working were murdered by a former intimate partner.

» Nationally, homicide is the second leading cause of death for women on the job, with 20 percent of those having been murdered by their partner.

» Businesses nationwide lose an estimated $727.8 million in productivity, with more than 7.9 million paid workdays lost annually because of intimate-partner violence.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20111017/NEWS01/110170302/Employers-challenged-help-victims-domestic-violence

Immigration expert tries to dispel 'myths' about Hispanics in U.S.

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco flashed a slide showing the 5.5 million surge in under-18 Hispanic population in the United States during the last decade, which, to the noted professor and immigration expert, underscored a stark reality of the future.

“These are the teachers, the firefighters, the cops, the scientists — this is the future of the United States. These are your new citizens,” he told a crowd of Seidman Business College students at Grand Valley State University’s Loosemore Auditorium on Thursday.

“For those of you in business, these are your new customers.”

Suárez-Orozco is co-founder of the Harvard Immigration Project and professor of globalization and education at New York University. His latest book, “Latinos: Remaking America,” is a comprehensive study of the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group.

www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/10/immigration_expert_tries_to_di.html

Judge OKs Michigan Welfare Cuts

Welfare cuts are back on after U.S. District Judge Paul Borman ruled late Friday that the new notices sent out this week by the Michigan Department of Human Services provided enough warning and information to 11,162 families scheduled to lose their cash assistance benefits this month.

The revised notices “satisfy the due process concerns,” Borman wrote in his ruling.

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20111015/NEWS01/310150002/Judge-OKs-Michigan-welfare-cuts?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Gov. Snyder appoints commission to improve legal representation for the poor

A commission to investigate how to improve legal representation offered to low-income criminal defendants was created Thursday by Gov. Rick Snyder through an executive order.

Snyder said the commission is necessary because the quality of such representation varies greatly around the state.

“A core principle of our criminal justice system is to guarantee that an individual charged with a crime be entitled to legal representation, even if they are unable to hire private counsel,” Snyder said in a release. “The Commission will work to ensure that all criminal defendants receive effective assistance of counsel.”

The 14-member Indigent Defense Advisory Commission is charged with recommending changes in the system, due to the governor and Legislature by July 15, 2012.

www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/gov_snyder_appoints_commission.html

Welfare recipients to get another reminder that they've lost cash assistance

More than 11,000 Michiganders who get cash assistance from the state might find a bit of déjà vu in their mailboxes this week. The Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) has reissued 11,162 notices alerting recipients of Family Independence Program (FIP) that they’ve about to lose those benefits.

That’s because they’ve reached their lifetime limits, and recipients are encouraged to call 1-855-763-3677 to talk to a DHS social worker who can connect them with other programs and resources.

The letters, which DHS director Maura Corrigan said are the fourth notice to go out, were sent again after a ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman last week.

www.freep.com/article/20111012/NEWS06/111012019/Welfare-recipients-get-another-reminder-they-ve-lost-cash-assistance

Mom jailed for being too poor to pay child support

The Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday at 9:30 a.m. to decide whether the felony conviction of a Detroit woman who was too poor to pay more than $1,100 a month in child support should stand.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic are representing Selesa Likine, who lost her job and custody of her three children after being diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

The ACLU of Michigan and the U of M Innocence Clinic will argue the trial court violated Likine’s constitutional rights by not allowing her to prove to the jury that she was unable to pay her assessed child support.

Last year, a judge adjusted Likine’s child support payments to $25 a month; however, she still owes tens of thousands of dollars in back payments.

In 2005, Likine was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder.
After a lengthy hospital stay, she was terminated from her job and has not been able to work since.

In 2007, despite the fact that her only income was the $603 a month she received in Social Security benefits, the court increased her child support payments from $181 to $1,131 a month.

www.dowagiacnews.com/2011/10/06/mom-jailed-for-being-too-poor-to-pay-child-support/

Mich. shrinks safety net for poor as poverty rises

Michele Shoemaker spent Wednesday packing, faced with a weekend deadline to leave the simple two-bedroom rental in Jackson where she and her 15-year-old son have lived for five years. About to be cut off from welfare and with no job, she has sent him to live with her sister and his cousins, but there's no room for her.

Shoemaker, 38, said Medicaid will cover the costs of treating her bipolar disorder and painful fibromyalgia, but even if she could find a job after 10 years on welfare, perhaps as a waitress or cook, it would be hard to keep because of her mood swings. She's losing her home and has no place to go, but she says the hardest thing is the loss of her son.

"I want him home and I don't even have a home for him to come to," she said, fighting through tears.

Read more: www.bradenton.com/2011/10/05/3551412/mich-shrinks-safety-net-for-poor.html#ixzz1aDV3ggKm

Judge halts welfare cuts for 41,000 Michigan residents

A federal judge today accused the state of "sleight of hand," and halted plans to end welfare benefits to nearly 41,000 Michigan residents.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman determined after a hearing today that the state failed to give proper notice to those it planned to cut off, and although the issue was brought to the federal court in a lawsuit filed by just three plaintiffs, the judge also granted class status to include everyone affected by the state's decision.

Lawyers for the government declined to discuss after the hearing how the state will respond.

The judge's order requires the state to send new notices to all those affected — and this time the state must include a copy of a new policy that dictates the changes.

detnews.com/article/20111004/METRO/110040423/Judge-halts-welfare-cuts-for-41-000-Michigan-residents#ixzz1ZrUyf84G

Elmo & Sesame Street Join the Awareness Campaign for Childhood Hunger

There's a poignant moment right at the top of Sesame Street's new prime-time special, "Growing Hope Against Hunger." Everybody's gathered for a food drive near Hooper's store when, Lily, a new Muppet developed specifically for the show, reveals to Elmo that "sometimes I go with my family to the food pantry." Elmo is clearly jolted by the news. "Elmo never even has to think about where his next meal is coming from," he says.

It's no surprise that Sesame Street is tackling a tough societal issue. The show's been doing it from the start, setting up in New York City and debuting in 1969 with a cast of multicultural characters as friends. It was a time when a lot of Americans thought of the city as crime-ridden and racially divided.

Just in the last couple of years, the Workshop has produced specials about parents losing a job and how children grieve after a parent dies.

In the new program, which airs October 9th on PBS, (check out the sneak preview video above) the Workshop goes after the very big problem of childhood hunger. The USDA says 16 million kids live in "food-insecure" households, meaning they have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.

www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/04/141020644/sesame-street-tackles-child-hunger-one-muppet-at-a-time

Polly's Place Honors Domestic Violence Awareness Month with Fund Raiser

Polly’s Place, Niles celebrated its upcoming re-opening and marked Domestic Violence Awareness Month Sunday with the first of several fundraisers, the First Annual Pedal for Polly’s Place.

The faith-based center for domestic violence and related abuse, which is re-opening Oct. 17, held a 20-mile scenic bike ride from Garden Hills Farms in Buchanan Township, on Rangeline Road and along the St. Joseph River and Fernwood Nature Preserve. An after-party with prize drawings was also held. Entry for the race was $15. All proceeds from the event benefited Polly’s Place. “We’re really excited to be up and running,” said Paul Leonard, director of marketing and development.

The shelter has recently announced it is upping its fundraising efforts, which include the bike ride.

The next fundraiser is the Polly’s Place Annual Fashion Show and silent auction Nov. 6 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Bell Building, 305 North Third St., Niles. Refreshments will be provided. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. For tickets, call 683-6523.

www.nilesstar.com/2011/10/02/pedal-to-prevent-abuse/

Students Ignorant of Civil Rights History

When Julian Bond, the former Georgia lawmaker and civil rights activist, turned to teaching two decades ago, he often quizzed his college students to gauge their awareness of the civil rights movement. He did not want to underestimate their grasp of the topic or talk down to them, he said.

"My fears were misplaced," Bond said. No student had heard of George Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama, he said. One student guessed Wallace might have been a CBS newsman.

That ignorance by U.S. students of the basic history of the civil rights movement has not changed — in fact, it has worsened, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, on whose board Bond sits. The report says states' academic standards for public schools are one major cause of the problem.

"Across the country, state educational standards virtually ignore our civil rights history," concludes the report, which is to be released Wednesday.

detnews.com/article/20111002/SCHOOLS/110020308/Students-ignorant-of-civil-rights-history--study-says#ixzz1ZcVnxWrM

Michigan Students Have Little Guidance as Counselors Eliminated

High school seniors are expected to ask their guidance counselors where they can find work in Michigan.

Their guidance counselors, though, may be asking the same question.

At a time when Michigan teens are struggling to find their footing in a changing economy, schools are thinning the ranks of guidance counselors.

State schools averaged one guidance counselor per 638 students in the 2008-09 school year – sixth worst in the nation. And it’s likely gotten worse since then.

“The situation is becoming more and more dire,” says Harry Clay, Michigan School Counselor Association manager. “With fewer counselors, they’ll have less time to produce. If you don’t get a chance to see the kids that often, how effective are you going to be?”

The counseling shortage comes as a Bridge Magazine analysis of job projections concludes that students face very tough competition for jobs for years to come, yet many do not understand the complexities of the job market.

bridgemi.com/2011/09/students-left-with-little-guidance-in-high-schools/

Preliminary Study: Florida Welfare Recipients Less Likely to Use Drugs Than Other People

Preliminary figures on a new Florida law requiring drug tests for welfare applicants show that they are less likely than other people to use drugs, not more. One famous Floridian suggests that it's the people who came up with the law who should be submitting specimens.

Columnist and best-selling author Carl Hiaasen offered to pay for drug testing for all 160 members of the Florida Legislature in what he called "a patriotic whiz-fest." Several of the law's supporters say they're on board.

"There is a certain public interest in going after hypocrisy," Hiaasen said Tuesday, two days after he made his proposal in a Miami Herald column.

"Folks that are applying for DCF (Department of Children and Families) money normally wouldn't be standing in that line, and on top of that humiliation they now get to pee in a cup so they can get grocery money for their kids," Hiaasen told The Associated Press in an interview at his Vero Beach home.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110928/NEWS01/109280309/Fla-welfare-applicants-less-likely-use-drugs

Stevie Wonder's Teacher at Michigan School for the Blind Passes at 87

This is not strictly a story about poverty, but it is a story about diversity. It is a story that reminds me that all children deserve a free and appropriate public education. It is a story about one such teacher who served education in such a capacity.

Stevie Wonder's teacher at the Michigan School for the Blind, Yvonne Whitmore, has passed away at the age of 87. According to Yvonne's daughter, Ms. Whitmore encouraged Stevie and said "'He has a great voice for ballads - we need to get him to sing ballads."

So, here it is for Ms. Whitmore. Thank-you for being a teacher. I think Stevie listened to your advice:

My Cherie Amour

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDgSSJbJlA&feature=related

The full article about Ms. Whitmore is in today's State Journal:

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110927/COLUMNISTS09/109270312/Schneider-Teacher-s-friend-hopes-she-ll-hear-from-Stevie-Wonder

The Poor Are Less Likely To Have Their Cases Reviewed by the Supreme Court

She's just 21, but lawyer hopeful Sydney Hawthorne already has done research to unlock the mysteries behind how cases reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

After a year of sifting through hundreds of documents, she discovered bad news for people who are poor: Their cases are less likely to get heard.

Hawthorne of Genesee County's Grand Blanc Township recently took home the grand prize at an undergraduate research forum at Michigan State University for her study on how the U.S. Supreme Court sets its agenda.

Among Hawthorne's findings: Paupers - low-income people who may include prisoners - are 30 percent less likely to have their cases reviewed.

"It was interesting to see the effect of (economic status) in deciding Supreme Court decisions," said the political science major, who plans to attend law school after she graduates from MSU.

"It's important for us to understand this process since Supreme Court decisions affect every aspect of our lives."

Paupers often can't afford legal services, such as filing petitions, which could be a major factor in their disadvantage, she said.

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110926/NEWS06/109260321/Study-Poor-less-likely-cases-reviewed

State's Heating Aid Endangered

Social services groups are scrambling to prevent thousands of low-income Michigan residents from having their heat cut off after a program that helped pay overdue utility bills for the poor lost its funding.

A court struck down the financing system used by the program in July, and lawmakers haven't enacted a new one.

With the aid money running out as winter arrives, officials are temporarily drawing on other funds to tide over needy families.

www.wwmt.com/articles/mich-1396243-funding-prevent.html

Preschool funding for kids pays off in billions later

There are few sure investments in this chaotic economic climate, but on a national level, education has proven to pay off big down the road. As tight economic times have put the squeeze on education budgets here in the U.S., a new report shows the big benefits of even small investments in early education worldwide.

For every dollar invested in boosting preschool enrollment, middle- and low-income countries would see a return of some $6.40 to $17.60, according to a new analysis published September 22 in The Lancet. “Early childhood is the most effective and cost-effective time to ensure that all children develop to their full potential,” noted the authors, led by Patrice Engle, of California Polytechnic State University. “The returns on investment in early child development are substantial.”

blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/09/22/preschool-funding-for-kids-now-pays-off-billions-later/

Ministers from Super Committee Congressional Districts Speak Out On Shared Sacrifice

Ministers from the Super Committee's congressional districts Tuesday urged senators and representatives who have pledged not to raise any taxes, even on the wealthy and corporations, to reconsider.

Among the clergy was the Rev. Dan Scheid, rector of St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Benton Township. In a teleconference call organized by Faith in Public Life, he was one of four pastors asking reconsideration by committee members who have signed anti-tax activist Grover Norquist's pledge to never raise taxes.

The bipartisan Super Committee, which arose out of the debt ceiling crisis, has 12 senators and representatives charged with coming up with a plan by Thanksgiving to reduce the debt by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade.

The ministers' statements were intended for Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, (and others).

Scheid in the teleconference call said he's in "a city and a state that's lived with the devastating effects of a sour economy that sadly predates the recession the rest of our country is climbing out of now."

Scheid said his parishioners have operated a food pantry for four years, and volunteer at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen.

"We see firsthand, week after week and month after month, men and women and children who are hungry and need some help," he said.

Many in desperate need of help are the "working poor," and the least able to absorb any additional burdens or cuts in services, he said.

One such parishioner is a "cook at the community hospital," Scheid said. "She works hard, but she still has to wait for over an hour, twice a month, for a couple bags of groceries from our church basement to help her make it from paycheck to paycheck.

"Is this the type of person we as Americans want to saddle with more responsibility than she can already bear as the Super Committee finds $1.2 trillion for deficit reduction? How about my working-class and middle-class and retired parishioners who staff our food pantry? Is it up to them as well to suffer cuts in services to come up with this $1.2 trillion package?

"Or should we ask for shared sacrifice in finding this money by asking fellow Americans who have been abundantly blessed with high incomes to contribute more of a fair share through an increase in their taxes?"

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/09/21/local_news/6594244.txt

P.S. The above picture is from the food pantry at St. Augustine Episcopal in Benton Township.

Michigan Changing Food Stamp Eligibility Rules

An undetermined number of Michigan's nearly 2 million food assistance recipients will lose the help under new eligibility requirements the state will begin using in October.

Michigan has determined food assistance eligibility based only on income for roughly a decade. A new policy will include a review of certain financial assets starting Oct 1. The requirements will affect new applicants right away and existing recipients when their cases come up for review, which typically happens once every six months.

Those with assets of more than $5,000 in bank accounts or some types of property would no longer be eligible for food assistance. Other assets that would count against the cap include vehicles with market values of more than $15,000 and second homes, depending on how much is owed on the properties.

Some assets, such as primary residences and 401k accounts, would not be considered for determining food assistance eligibility.

The Michigan League for Human Services says the policies will make it harder for those who are out of work or underemployed to qualify for the assistance. The organization says need is increasing as the state's unemployment rate rose to 11.2 percent in August, the third-highest rate in the nation and up from 10.2 percent in April.

moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/news/michigan-changing-food-stamp-eligibility-rules/6301165/#ixzz1YX1713Em

Two Views on School Reform

The following is an article in the Washington Post which discussed school reform and the issues faced by schools in high areas of concentrated poverty. Julie Mack from the Kalamazoo Gazette also discussed a similar issue in the following post. Thus, two views on school reform: one from a national reporter, the other from a local Southwest Michigan reporter.

Here's the view from the Washington Post reporter:

The numbers are nauseating. According to the just released new Census Bureau data, based on 2010 data:

*22 percent of American children live in poverty

*39 percent of black children live in poverty

*35 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty

The federal government set the poverty level in 2010 for a family of four living with an income of no more than $22,314 or a single person with an income of no more than $11,139. And, according to this Washington Post story, the total number of Americans living below the line is at the highest level in the last 52 years. That’s 46.2 million Americans, or 15.1 percent of all Americans.

And if you consider that, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, a family of four needs an income of about twice the poverty threshold to cover basic expenses, more than 42 percent of American children live in low-income families.

So what does this have to do with school reform?

Almost everything.

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/public-educations-biggest-problem-gets-worse/2011/09/13/gIQAWGz2RK_blog.html

Is it fair to expect teachers in high-poverty schools to be miracle workers?

Think about three different scenarios:

• A doctor who specializes in hard-to-treat patients.

• A farmer struggling with drought.

• A cop assigned to a high-crime neighborhood.

Would you expect these three to experience outcomes — such as number of patient deaths, size of crop yields or number of cases solved — similar to those of their counterparts who face fewer challenges?

Sure, we expect the same professional standards regardless of work environment; being in a tough spot is no excuse for incompetence.

But an expectation of results is typically adjusted based on circumstances.

It only makes sense.

Yet, when it comes to schools, this kind of logic goes out the window.

www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/09/is_it_fair_to_expect_teachers.html

Behind the poverty numbers: real lives, real pain

At a food pantry in a Chicago suburb, a 38-year-old mother of two breaks into tears.

She and her husband have been out of work for nearly two years. Their house and car are gone. So is their foothold in the middle class and, at times, their self-esteem.

"It's like there is no way out," says Kris Fallon.

She is trapped like so many others, destitute in the midst of America's abundance. Last week, the Census Bureau released new figures showing that nearly one in six Americans lives in poverty — a record 46.2 million people. The poverty rate, pegged at 15.1 percent, is the highest of any major industrialized nation, and many experts believe it could get worse before it abates.

The numbers are daunting — but they also can seem abstract and numbing without names and faces.

Associated Press reporters around the country went looking for the people behind the numbers. They were not hard to find.

There's Tim Cordova, laid off from his job as a manager at a McDonald's in New Mexico, and now living with his wife at a homeless shelter after a stretch where they slept in their Ford Focus.

news.yahoo.com/behind-poverty-numbers-real-lives-real-pain-151738270.html

Brookings Study: Detroit's low education = high unemployment

The unemployment bottom line boils down to education, according to a study of who's unemployed and who's not by Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

According to Brookings, in the Detroit, Warren, Livonia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), workers with bachelor's degrees had only a moderately high unemployment rate in 2009 of 6.8 percent, while 21.5 percent of those with a high school diploma or less were unemployed in 2009.

In the last decade, an increasing number of jobs in the Detroit area demand a diploma and not enough workers have them. The study calculates that only 16 percent of adults in Detroit, ages 25 and older have a college degree even though 18 percent of occupations in the region require this level of education.

www.mlive.com/jobs/index.ssf/2011/09/detroits_low_education_high_unemployment.html#incart_mce

Bread for the World: Hunger and Poverty Facts

14.6% of U.S. households struggle to put enough food on the table. More than 49 million Americans—including 16.7 million children—live in these households.

Bread for the World has a compilation of additional statistics, facts, and links to reports on hunger and poverty at:

www.bread.org/hunger/us/facts.html

September 11, A Personal Poem

To my friends at Poverty Reduction Initiative:

There will be a short hiatus of my postings to this blog. My apologies for that. My daughter passed away on Labor Day. It was a week shy of her 25th birthday on 9/11.

With that in mind, please allow me to share a poem that I wrote for her on her birthday in 2008:

September 11

Some days are sacred
and filled with memories
for Christians it is
Christmas or Easter,
I suppose.
But for me the day I first held you child
is most blessed.

A father's bond started
on this day, your whole life ago,
only for me not so long.
It seems an instant
since the precious time
I first stroked your hair
and the tears rolled down my cheeks
as you entered my heart
right there, right then.

Mothers carry within their wombs
and love for months before dads.
The kicks of little hands and legs
and beats of tiny hearts are foreign to us
something to feel from the outside
not within.
So it is on day one
that our devotion begins.

Such it is.
A father's love
starts then, my precious daughter,
and for this dad
it never dies
as my heart was yours
that very day
and will always be
for this there is no end.

- Rob B.

God's Kitchen Opening Delayed in Battle Creek

God's Kitchen-Battle Creek, a new soup kitchen that was scheduled to open Labor Day, now will not open until Oct. 3, according to a press release Friday evening from the nonprofit's board of directors.

Pastor William Stein, chairman of the soup kitchen's board of directors, cited an "unsuccessful fundraising campaign" for the delay.

The kitchen was supposed to open inside the Springfield Farmers Market in Begg Park and serve meals from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday to low-income children, seniors and families. It also hopes to promote health and fitness through various health screenings and activities at the park. Stein had hoped to raise $10,000 by Monday's opening.

"We may have moved too quickly," Stein said in the release. "Our soup kitchen must be operational by Oct. 3 in order to provide assistance to the hundreds of individuals and families that are about to be kicked off of welfare."

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110903/NEWS01/109030305/God-s-Kitchen-opening-delayed