The Political Candidates Don't Come Here (Where the Poor Are) Often

"The political candidates don’t come here very often. Not to Veronica Almaguer’s office.

Not to the place where all those issues — such as unemployment and health care and education and hunger — collide into a single look of desperation from the other side of her desk.

If the candidates came here, she says, maybe it wouldn’t take so long to find a solution to the state’s high unemployment, falling incomes and rising poverty.

“We’re seeing a significant increase in the number of people who need help,” she says. “We have people who are unemployed for the time. They lost their jobs and their medical insurance. And many people have never had to ask for help before.”

Almaguer is the prescription assistance coordinator at Cristo Rey Community Center, a charity on Lansing’s High Street that offers a range of services, including a free medical clinic and food bank."

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20101003/NEWS01/310030004/1001/NEWS