The Story of Medicare

The Kaiser Family Foundation's history of Medicare.

S.W. Michigan Schools Show Wide Range of Poverty Rates in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren

The following is a chart showing the childhood poverty rate by school district for school districts in three counties of far SW Michigan:  Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren

District Name Poverty Rate Benton Harbor Area Schools 47.0% Hartford Public School District 41.5% South Haven Public Schools 37.4% Bangor Public Schools 35.3% Covert Public Schools 32.4% Cassopolis Public Schools 30.4% Bloomingdale Public School District 29.5% Niles Community School District 28.7% Decatur Public Schools 28.1% Watervliet School District 27.6% Paw Paw Public School District 25.7% Eau Claire Public Schools 24.9% Lawrence Public School District 24.4% Dowagiac Union Schools 23.4% Lawton Community School District 21.3% New Buffalo Area School District 20.9% Brandywine Public School District 20.3% Galien Township School District 19.9% Berrien Springs Public Schools 19.6% Buchanan Community School District 18.8% Gobles Public School District 18.6% Marcellus Community Schools 18.5% Coloma Community Schools 18.3% River Valley School District 16.9% Bridgman Public Schools 14.2% Edwardsburg Public Schools 13.4% Lakeshore School District 9.8% Mattawan Consolidated School 8.5% St. Joseph Public Schools 7.4% Source of Data:  US Census Bureau 2011 Poverty rate is the percentage of school age children within the school districts boundaries in poverty who are attending public, private, charter, or home schools. The average for the 3-county area is 24.2%

Adopt-A-Family program helps formerly homeless people with items for their new homes

Homeless and pregnant as a teen in New York state -- and again in Detroit two years ago -- Marquesa Monroe said she survived in homeless shelters and fast-food restaurants.
Last year, she moved to a rent-subsidized apartment in Chesterfield Township, thanks to Community Housing Network.

"I'm back in school, trying to better myself," Monroe, now 22, said this week.

"And I'm done having kids, totally done," she added with a laugh, after speaking of her love for 3-year-old daughter Anastasia, and sons Mikail, 2, and 1-year-old Jeremiah.

Monroe and her children are part of Community Housing Network's annual Adopt-a-Family program for the holidays.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121206/NEWS05/312060110/1001/news

Homeless students often suffer silently: Programs like St. Joseph's Bears Care look for telltale signs. Student homelessness is up dramatically statewide.

Bears Care, in its first year in the St. Joseph (Michigan) school district, is carrying on the district's long-standing practice of looking after homeless students.

"The teachers are doing this because they want to, and they're doing it because they know it's the right thing to do," said Lynn France, the district's director of special education and its homeless student liaison. "Teachers are the ones who see the student every day and can notice any changes. Having a student-teacher bond makes a big difference in a student's education."

France, in her first year with the district, said the teachers who are part of Bears Care have volunteered to mentor students who they know or suspect are homeless.

There were 21 homeless students in the district in the 2010-11 school year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/homeless-students-often-suffer-silently/article_4f98e60d-91d5-519a-8fb4-62b0b9b7321d.html

Michigan's immigrant youths put in legal limbo

For Sergio Martinez, proving that he has been in the United States from the age of 5 hasn't been easy.

U.S. Immigration and Customs officials wanted every report card, school award, immunization record and transcript he has acquired over 21 years
Luckily, his mother provided him with all of his records, practically enough documentation to fill a Sunday newspaper.

"You name it, they asked for it. I'm surprised they didn't ask for a hair sample," said Martinez, 24, who lives in Detroit.

He is among the 308,935 young adults who were brought into the country illegally as children who have applied for a two-year deferment from deportation under an Obama administration policy announced this year.

But the stack of records will not be enough for Martinez to get a driver's license or state identification card in Michigan.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121203/METRO/212030340#ixzz2DzJluC14

Book tells of local efforts to combat poverty

Bonnie Bazata, executive director of the St. Joseph County (Indiana) Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative, has contributed a chapter to “From Vision to Action: Best Practices to Reduce the Impact of Poverty in Communities, Education, Healthcare, and More.”

The book, published in October by aha! Process, includes stories of South Bend and 10 other communities nationwide that are seeing impact in different fields from the Bridges Out of Poverty framework. The program operates in more than 80 communities.

“Bridges Out of Poverty starts with a set of ideas about how to think about the dynamics of poverty and economic class and what we can do differently,” says Bazata, who started the community effort eight years ago when she was working at Saint Mary’s College.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/community/sbt-book-tells-of-local-efforts-to-combat-poverty-20121202,0,2374774.story

New Poverty Data, Still Not Looking Good for Millions

The Census Bureau recently released new data capturing the state of poverty in the U.S. using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The U.S. government uses two measures for quantifying poverty: (1) the official poverty measureand (2) the SPM.

The official measure, also known as the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), is used to determine the eligibility of individuals applying for means-tested public benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

 http://www.theshriverbrief.org/2012/11/articles/asset-opportunity/new-poverty-data-still-not-looking-good-for-millions/

Kalamazoo homeless youth program hopes to tap into Calhoun County

In a small room of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo building are a few desks, shelves of food and bright green duffel bags. Here, a three-person team works to help reach the thousands of local homeless and at-risk young people.

“A lot of times you hear from youth who reached the point of success for themselves,” said Brooke Hill, case manager for the Kalamazoo-based Ark Services for Youth’s street outreach team. “They usually say it came from someone just listening, someone just caring, someone just reaching out.”

Now, after a previous attempt to reach homeless youth in Battle Creek fell short of its expectations, the nonprofit is hoping to do more in Calhoun County.

“We’ve been there the whole time, but not with as much of a presence as we wish we had,” said Ben Moe, supervisor of outreach.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20121125/NEWS01/311250003/Kalamazoo-homeless-youth-program-hopes-tap-into-Calhoun-County

Childhood Poverty in America as Told by Children on Frontline

Watch Poor Kids on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

5-year limit on welfare challenged in Michigan Supreme Court

The welfare benefits of at least 11,000 recipients are at stake in the Michigan Supreme Court, which is weighing whether the state overstepped its authority in enforcing a five-year lifetime limit on receiving cash assistance.

After a new law took effect in October 2011, state Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan changed policy to end welfare benefits for people who were beyond 60 months of eligibility under federal law. The state has a 48-month limit, but months that recipients get a hardship exemption - working single parents, for instance, or caregivers for disabled family members - do not count.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/5-year_limit_on_welfare_challe.html#incart_river_default

The Harvest / La Cosecha

More than 400,000 children work in American fields to harvest the food we all eat.

Children working in agriculture endure lives of extreme poverty

• The average farmworker family makes less than $17,500 a year, well below the poverty level for a family of four.
• Poverty among farmworkers is two times that of workers in other occupations
• Farmworkers can be paid hourly, daily, by the piece or receive a salary, but they are always legally exempt from receiving overtime and often from receiving even minimum wage.
• Families often cannot afford childcare and so have no choice but to bring their children out into the fields.
• Increasing the incomes of migrant farmworkers by 40% would add just $15 to what the average US household spends every year on fruits and vegetables, according to a researcher at University of California Davis.

Source:

http://theharvestfilm.com/facts

The Harvest / La Cosecha will be screened on April 20, 2013 at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in St. Joseph, Michigan as part of a Social Justice Film Series sponsored by Pilgrim, St. Augustine Episcopal-Benton Harbor, Berrien Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 1st Presbyterian Benton Harbor, and the St. Joseph Buddhist Sangha.


Eva Longoria on child migrant farmworkers - The Harvest/La Cosecha from Shine Global on Vimeo.

Court: Michigan's ban on affirmative action is unconstitutional

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals today declared unconstitutional Michigan’s ban on affirmative action approved by voters in a 2006 ballot initiative.

The majority opinion in a divided court said the state ban on affirmative action violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by making it more difficult for a minority student to get a university to adopt a race-conscious admissions policy than it is for a white student to get a university to adopt an admissions policy that considers family alumni connections.

“Ensuring a fair political process is nowhere more important than in education,” the court said.

“This is a tremendous victory for students,” said Detroit attorney George Washington, who represented the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action in the case.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121115/NEWS06/121115041/1001/news

Poverty, as seen through the eyes of children

"There are good days and bad days."

That's how 12-year old Tyler Smith describes his life in Iowa, where he says he and his sister often go hungry because their mom doesn't make enough money to provide three meals a day for the family. "Sometimes when I switch the [TV] channel and there's a cooking show on," says Smith, "I get a little more hungry. I want to vanish into the screen and start eating the food."

... a new documentary airs on PBS next Tuesday, Nov. 21

http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poverty-seen-through-eyes-children

Bono Preaches the Gospel of Social Justice at Georgetown

I would suggest to you that the biggest obstacle in the way (of fulfilling human potential) right now is extreme poverty. Poverty so extreme that it brutalizes, it vandalizes human dignity. Poverty so extreme it laughs at the concept of human dignity. Poverty so extreme it doubts how far we've traveled in our journey of equality; the journey that began with Wilberforce taking on slavery and a journey that will not end until misery and deprivation are in stocks.

- Bono

http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/11/13/bono-preaches-gospel-social-justice-georgetown

 

Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness

Arthur Lute's arduous journey from his days as a U.S. Marine to his nights sleeping on the streets illustrates the challenge for the Obama administration to fulfill its promise to end homelessness among veterans by 2015.

Lute has post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. He spent years drifting through jobs, two years in prison for assault, then 15 months sleeping in the bushes outside the police department of this city south of San Diego.

http://news.yahoo.com/major-hurdles-remain-end-veteran-homelessness-100937764--politics.html

Top Ten Facts About Social Security

1. Social Security is more than just a retirement program.  It provides important life insurance and disability insurance protection as well
2. Social Security provides a guaranteed, progressive benefit that keeps up with increases in the cost of living....

 http://www.offthechartsblog.org/top-ten-facts-about-social-security/

One woman's fight to end the cycle of poverty

Economic mobility for the Americans at the bottom of the income scale seems to be fading. Today more than 40 percent of children born into poverty stay in poverty as adults.

State of Opportunity's Jennifer Guerra profiles one woman trying hard to be on the right side of that statistic.   Guerra reports that although Keisha Johnson has already overcome a grim childhood she keeps a positive attitude and believes she can provide a better life for her family.

http://michiganradio.org/post/one-womans-fight-end-cycle-poverty

Election 2012: What about the poor?

One wants to strengthen the nation's existing safety net. The other wants to overhaul it.

President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney have vastly different views on how to help the 46.2 million Americans in poverty and the more than 30 million people who are near poor.  The president leans toward expanding the programs that exist, while the Republicans say they will set up a system that fosters economic opportunity instead of government dependency.

The ranks of the poor and the government programs that assist them swelled during the Obama administration, largely because of the Great Recession. The number of people in poverty jumped 16% between 2008 and 2011, while the Medicaid rolls jumped 23.5% over that time. Food stamp enrollment soared 46% during his term.

 http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/05/news/economy/obama-romney-poor/index.html

With Poverty Comes Depression, More Than Other Illnesses

Americans in poverty are more likely than those who are not to struggle with a wide array of chronic health problems, and depression disproportionately affects those in poverty the most. About 31% of Americans in poverty say they have at some point been diagnosed with depression compared with 15.8% of those not in poverty. Impoverished Americans are also more likely to report asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attacks -- which are likely related to the higher level of obesity found for this group -- 31.8% vs. 26% for adults not in poverty.

 http://www.gallup.com/poll/158417/poverty-comes-depression-illness.aspx

51% Think Government Spends Too Much on Poverty Programs: Rasmussen National Poll

State and federal welfare spending passed the $1 trillion mark last year, more than is spent on Social Security and Medicare. Most Americans believe the government spends too much on poverty programs and that those programs increase the level of poverty in the country rather than decrease it.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% of American Adults think the government spends too much on poverty programs. That’s up 13 points from 38% in April 2011. Just 21% feel it doesn’t spend enough, while 20% say the amount spent is about right.

 http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/october_2012/51_think_government_spends_too_much_on_poverty_programs

Immigration and the Latino vote: Michigan Radio Interview

Recently, there was a protest rally in Southwest Detroit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement over raids and deportation, and what’s seen as overreach by ICE officials. Non-citizens can't legally vote, but how does the heightened sense of tension impact the Latino vote here in Michigan?...

Jennifer White talks with Laurence Garcia, an attorney, and the Chairman of the Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan.

http://michiganradio.org/post/immigration-and-latino-vote

Hispanic American Council to hold meeting about Dream act in Michigan

The Hispanic American Council will hold a public meeting 6 p.m. Monday Oct. 22 at 930 Lake St. Kalamazoo. The meeting is largely in response to Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson's direction no to issue drivers licenses or state ID cards for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act. 
“We plan to inform the community at large about what people can do,” Lori Mercedes Interim Exuctive director of the Hispanic American Council said. “These kids want to be part of the American dream.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/10/hispanic_american_council_to_h.html

Tax Credits that Benefit Low-Income Families Also Face the Fiscal Cliff

Many low-income parents could see their tax bills jump by thousands of dollars next year if nothing is done to stop a series of tax breaks from expiring January 1.

Unless Congress takes action before the end of the year to extend tax cuts that were introduced under the Obama and Bush administrations, four important credits for families -- The Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, Child and Dependent Care Credit and the American Opportunity Credit -- will revert back to previous levels.

If this happens, many families will be worse off by hundreds -- or even thousands -- of dollars, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

"If you have what it takes to qualify for these particular benefits, you will get hit," said Williams.

Some families will take a hit on several fronts if they qualify for more than one tax break. A low-income couple with three kids, for example, will lose as much as $1,500 from expiring provisions of the Child Tax Credit. If their income is low enough, they could also see a smaller refund from the Earned Income Tax Credit, and benefits from the Child and Dependent Care Credit could be reduced as well.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/11/pf/taxes/tax-breaks-parents/index.html?iid=Lead

Pretending to be poor can change your perspective

In America, we spend a lot of time imagining what it would like to be rich. Reality TV shows set in Beverly Hills, celebrity red-carpet stuff. Imagining what it’s like to be poor, however, is not such a national pastime. Understandable -- it’s not the stuff of escapist fantasies. But given that the number of Americans living in poverty has been growing, it’s worth thinking about. One approach? You could go to a Poverty Simulation.

Wait…a Poverty Simulation? Yes. These are half-day workshops, often sponsored by local charities, to help middle class folks get a better sense of what daily life is like on the edge. The workshops are usually geared toward people who work with low-income families on a regular basis -- social workers, teachers, law enforcement, customer service workers at hospitals and utility companies.

When I first heard about the concept, three questions crossed my mind.

1. Sounds well-intentioned, but what happened to good old-fashioned empathy?

2. Can you really simulate hunger pangs?

3. I’ve gotta see this.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/wealth-poverty/pretending-be-poor-can-change-your-perspective

High pregnancy and infection rates help spur Benton Harbor school board to consider new programs

The Benton Harbor Area Schools board is considering new sexual education programs after hearing some troubling statistics about the district's students.

Russell Lardie, Benton Harbor High School's physical education and health teacher, told the school board this week that Benton Harbor's teen pregnancy rate is three times the state average and is 50 percent higher than Detroit's.

One in three of the school district's students who are tested for sexually transmitted infections are testing positive, Lardie said.

Board Trustee Jeffrey Booker was careful to point out during the Tuesday meeting that the statistic didn't mean one in three high school students were testing positive for STIs, but that one in three students who are tested at the high school's on-site clinic are testing positive. Lardie said that, according to a survey of the school district's freshmen and juniors, 67 percent are sexually active and, of those, 17 percent were sexually active before they turned 13.

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/troubling-sex-stats/article_b0d8699c-e4d8-5562-9caa-d06c9de79752.html

Number of Rural Uninsured Grows in Recession

The percentage of people without health insurance was fairly equal in rural, exurban and urban counties in 2005. But after the recession, the rate of people in rural communities without coverage jumped over 8 percent; now the percentage of people without health insurance in rural America is higher than it is in urban counties.


The number of rural residents without health insurance jumped between 2005 and 2010. The increase was large enough that there is now a higher percentage of people under the age of 65 without health insurance in rural American than in either the cities or the suburbs.


http://www.dailyyonder.com/number-rural-uninsured-grows-recession/2012/10/01/4489

White House Announces New Cesar Chavez National Monument

On October 8th, 2012, President Obama will travel to Keene, California to announce the establishment of the César E. Chávez National Monument. Years in the making, the monument – which will be designated under the Antiquities Act – will be established on the property known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), or La Paz.  The La Paz property is recognized worldwide for its historic link to civil rights icon César Estrada Chávez and the farm worker movement. The site served as the national headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW) as well as the home and workplace of César Chávez and his family from the early 1970’s until Chávez’ death in 1993, and includes his grave site which will also be part of the monument.

 “César Chávez gave a voice to poor and disenfranchised workers everywhere,” said President Obama. “La Paz was at the center of some of the most significant civil rights moments in our nation’s history, and by designating it a national monument, Chávez’ legacy will be preserved and shared to inspire generations to come.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/01/president-obama-establish-c-sar-e-ch-vez-national-monument?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

New Michigan House Fiscal Agency Report Discusses Benefits of Drug Treatment Courts

Proponents of drug treatment courts argue that, along with the benefits that come with reduced crime and drug abuse, these increased costs are offset by reductions in recidivism among drug treatment court participants. The State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) estimates that 17.62 percent of drug treatment court participants had been convicted of a new offense within four years of being admitted into a drug treatment court program, compared to 25.41 percent in a similar comparison group.3 Additionally, SCAO estimates that 44% of participants improved their employment status, and 26% improved their education levels after being admitted into a drug treatment court program.


Along with benefits to participants, state and local governments also receive potential cost savings from drug treatment court operations. Primarily, these costs are associated with reductions in recidivism and reoffending. If drug treatment court participants commit fewer offenses, costs are reduced due to decreases in county jail and state prison populations, as well as costs related to the increase in criminal caseload on local courts.

Reports on sample drug treatment courts in Michigan provide some evidence of the cost and savings tradeoffs associated with drug treatment courts. In 2006, NPC Research conducted evaluations of Kalamazoo and Barry County's drug treatment courts.  The study found increased upfront costs for drug treatment courts combined with notable savings over the course of two years.

(The full House Fiscal Agency Report is located at:

http://house.michigan.gov/hfa/PDFs/Drug%20Court%20Swift%20and%20Sure%20Memo.pdf

30,000 Michigan children lose out on pre-K classes

Landen Ford wants to go to preschool. The 4-year-old Flushing boy with a crew cut and a toothy grin thought he’d learn the alphabet and his sounds, and maybe make some friends, just like his big brother Logan did last year. But instead of learning to write his name, Landen is learning an early lesson in budgets and bureaucracy.

“The teacher called and said ‘I’m sorry, Landen didn’t get in,’” said Janelle Ford, mother of the two boys. “Logan learned so much – he loved it. Now there are no spots for Landen. It’s not fair.”

Almost 30,000 Michigan 4-year-olds who qualify for free preschool are not in classrooms, because of inadequate state funding, logistical hurdles and inconsistent coordination of services.

 http://bridgemi.com/2012/09/30000-children-lose-out-on-pre-k-classes/

Martha Thawnghmung has become the face of the local Burmese community

She was an 8-year-old girl, a member of one of the first Burmese families to leave their military-controlled homeland. When they arrived in the U.S., she became part of one of the few Asian families to live in Battle Creek.

The life-changing move for Martha Thawnghmung was not easy. The director of the Springfield-based Burma Center said she didn’t feel like she belonged in Battle Creek for a long time. Her parents had moved from Myanmar in the 1980s in hopes that Thawnghmung and her six siblings could practice their Christian religion freely and make a better life for themselves.

But going to a mostly white school, where she and her classmates knew she looked different, was difficult. Thawnghmung, 41, said it wasn’t until a few years ago that Battle Creek finally felt like home.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120928/NEWS01/309270036/Martha-Thawnghmung-has-become-face-local-Burmese-community

Truant kids to cost families state aid

Michigan parents whose children don't attend school will lose welfare cash benefits under a new state policy that takes effect Oct. 1.

Starting Monday, the Michigan Department of Human Services will require children ages 6-15 to attend school full time to keep their family eligible for cash benefits. If a child doesn't, the entire family becomes ineligible.

The policy change was prompted by Gov. Rick Snyder, who called earlier this year for a crackdown on truancy and the cycle of crime it creates. It takes effect two days before Michigan's fall Count Day, when attendance is used to determine 90 percent of a school district's per-pupil funding from the state.

For the 2011-12 school year, 93,408 cases of truancy were reported in Michigan schools, an increase of nearly 10,000 from the previous year, which had 83,491.

The policy is expected to affect the vast majority of the state's 59,000 welfare cash-assistance cases and its 162,655 recipients. The average eligible household in Michigan receives $463 a month from the state.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120925/METRO/209250373#ixzz27SKFFMK3

Michigan, We Have a Problem

Following last week’s release of national poverty numbers, the Census Bureau released state specific numbers this week. Besides a drop in the uninsured, it doesn’t look good. Our colleagues at Marketplace wrote a comprehensive article about poverty rates across the country.  The number that we’re most interested in, though, is the increase in children living in poverty.

Over the past ten years Michigan has had the third-largest increase in childhood poverty.  In 2001, Michigan had a child poverty rate of 14.2 percent. That number rose to 24.4 percent last year. That’s a ten percent increase over 10 years.

Job loss alone can’t explain the increase in Michigan’s poverty rates. Last year one in 10 working families in the state were living in poverty, the highest percentage in the Midwest.

http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/michigan-we-have-problem

Michigan State House Discusses Whether Undocumented Children Have Right To Attend School In Michigan

Michigan state house (education committee) currently discussing whether undocumented children have a right to attend school in Michigan and whether their parents have right to decide which school.

The debate started as a debate as to whether or not parents could trigger a privatization or take over of a public school if the school was "failing".  The bill would allow for a simple majority of parents to take over the school and hire a charter operator to run same.  (As a retired public school administrator, I will skip adding my two cents to that debate.)

However, the discussion has devolved further as to whether or not the parents of undocumented children would have a right to vote in such an "election" and even if their kids have a right to attend school.

This posting in Twitter from conservative reporter Dave Murray of Grand Rapids Press:

"Dave Murray:

Trigger discussion has spun into a debate on whether illegal immigrants can attend schools, then vote in trigger elections."

P.S. I believe that the US Department of Education and Supreme Court have ruled that schools have no right to turn children, any children, away from public school doors.

The link to an article that Mr. Murray has just published can be found at:

http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/09/detroit_parents_say_parent_tri.html

Homelessness can't simply be wished away

For some people, the line between having and having not is thinner than we’d like to believe.

One not-so-tiny disaster, one troubling financial misstep, one awful decision and what was once there is not anymore and there you are.

And then the troubles build on top of each other, growing and roiling and fulminating like some personal form of nuclear fusion and the bad becomes worse and the worse becomes unimaginable.

We are all convinced we live in a protective little bubble where the truly nasty stuff stays away and afflicts somebody else. Truth is, it doesn’t always happen that way.

Homelessness is a problem everywhere and anywhere in this country. You can ignore it all you like.  You can look the other way or pretend local, state and federal government programs will take care of it so you don’t have to. But, again, it just doesn’t work that way.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120916/NEWS01/309160017/Chuck-Carlson-Homelessness-can-t-simply-wished-away?nclick_check=1

Voces establishes itself in Battle Creek Latino community

The memory still makes Kate Flores shudder.

She recounts the story of a local Latino woman who was in the midst of a miscarriage, could not speak English and had no way to make herself understood at the hospital because there was no interpreter.

So instead, she relied on her English-speaking 13-year-old son in the emergency room, the only person she trusted to make herself understood to doctors.

“Can you imagine?” said Flores, executive director of Voces, a nonprofit organization seeking to provide assistance to Latinos in the Battle Creek area.

It’s that story, and others too much like it, that convinced Flores and others concerned about the local Spanish-speaking community to get behind Voces, Spanish for “voices.”

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120913/NEWS01/309130001/Voces-establishes-itself-B-C-Latino-community

Racial, Regional Divide Still Haunt Detroit's Progress

For many years — perhaps even decades — Detroit has been the poster child for economic malaise. Adjusting for inflation, per capita income in metro Detroit dropped more than 20 percent between 1999 and 2010.

Some analysts say regional cooperation might have helped keep Detroit above water when the car industry sank, but that entrenched divisions that pit the city against its suburbs, and blacks against whites, have hindered that.

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/11/160768981/racial-regional-divide-still-haunt-detroits-progress

NY Times Editorial: The Constitution on Skid Row

In 2011, a Federal District Court judge enjoined the city (of Los Angeles) from seizing property there unless it was abandoned, contraband, evidence of a crime or an immediate threat to public health or safety, and from destroying it unless it posed a threat.

In a welcome 2-to-1 ruling last week, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that order, rejecting the contention that “the unattended property of homeless persons is uniquely beyond the reach of the Constitution.” 

The court found that the Fourth Amendment’s protection of possessions and the 14th Amendment’s due-process guarantee prohibited this kind of confiscation of personal property by government, regardless of the homelessness of the owner. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/the-constitution-on-skid-row.html?_r=1

Chance Encounter

The community I live in is a relatively affluent one.  Not Gross Pointe or East Grand Rapids, but the rate of free and reduced price lunch in the schools is roughly half of the state average.  According to the real estate web site for Trulia Realtors, the average listing price for homes in my zip code is currently $357,000.  Only four of 133 homes currently listed for sale are listed for under $100,000.  The average is no doubt pulled up since seven homes, all with Lake Michigan access, are listed at over $1 million.  The median home listing (normally a better indicator of the community since a few very expensive homes can skew the data quickly) is still about $230,000-$240,000.

However, within the community are pockets of poverty.   Approximately, 29 percent of the children last school year qualified for free/reduced price school lunch.  There are areas of trailer and migrant housing.   As mentioned above, there are homes in the district which are valued at less than $100,000.  Some are much less.

My point is that poverty exists here.  But I wasn't really thinking about that when I went to the public library recently.  I wasn't thinking about the fact that many people don't have access to not only medical care, but dental and vision care as well.  This lady was my reminder:

Chance Encounter

Walking into the library entry 
my thoughts are on the book 
needing to be returned 
and the new one I hope to check out.
But I see kneeling there
a woman who also notices me 
as she tries on a discarded pair of glasses 
from the box marked:"Lions Donations."


Her search much more urgent
than feelings of embarrassment 
so she continues, as do I 
to deposit my returned book 
in the slot next to her.

Perhaps ten minutes later 
after checking out a new book 
on the life of Darwin 
I exit where
she is still kneeling in the entry 
scrounging through the box
trying out nearly every pair.
Alone.

So, with sadness in my eyes 
I pass her by again. 
She looking for better sight. 
Me, for human evolution 
and dignity. 

Hunger Action Week challenge to West Michigan: Can you live on $4.37 per day?

You spent about $30 on food for the week. But it's only Thursday, and most of the food is gone. You won't be able to buy any more for two days, meaning a few pieces of bread and peanut butter will be your Saturday and Sunday meals.

How is your stomach going to feel by Sunday night?

Area food assistance agencies want you to know.

The organizations are challenging people to live on $30.59 cents during Hunger Action Week from
Sept. 14-20 as part of the "HunGRy?" program. That weekly total breaks down to $4.37 a day.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/09/hunger_action_week_challenge_t.html

Pow Wow Celebrates the Harvest and Pokagon Way of Life

Musician Jason Wesaw says the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi has gathered around this time of year for generations to celebrate the harvest and all that the land provides to help them maintain their way of life. And for 27 years, the Pokagon have held the Kee Boon Mein Kaa Pow Wow, which takes place this weekend in Dowagiac.

“Kee Boon Mein Kaa literally means ‘I quit picking huckleberries,” Wesaw says.

Pokagon Cultural Associate Andy Jackson says huckleberries and the pow wow itself hold great significance to Pokagon families. Jackson recalls going to look at the old huckleberry patch with her grandfather

http://wmuk.org/arts-and-more/select/314309/

Invisible Americans (the Poor) Get the Silent Treatment

It’s just astonishing to us how long this campaign has gone on with no discussion of what’s happening to poor people. Official Washington continues to see poverty with tunnel vision – “out of sight, out of mind.”

And we’re not speaking just of Paul Ryan and his Draconian budget plan or Mitt Romney and their fellow Republicans.  Tipping their hats to America’s impoverished while themselves seeking handouts from billionaires and corporations is a bad habit that includes President Obama, who of all people should know better.

http://billmoyers.com/2012/08/24/invisible-americans-get-the-silent-treatment/

Michigan Poverty Law Program's New Self Help Law Site

The Michigan Poverty law Program has developed (and is continuing to develop) a new self-help legal web site. The site includes self-help information for Michigan civil (but not criminal) legal matters. 

Their new web site is:

http://www.michiganlegalhelp.org/

New Anti-Panhandling Law In Detroit Garners Support from ACLU

Panhandlers who ask for change from people who are waiting in line for food, at an ATM or who act overly aggressive could be fined and face jail time under a new city ordinance set to go into effect (in Detroit) next month.

A panhandling ordinance was approved July 31 following a request from the Detroit Police Department. The city has lacked an anti-begging ordinance since 1996 when a Recorder's Court judge affirmed an earlier decision that struck down a one-sentence ordinance that said anyone who begs is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The city joins at least two Metro Detroit communities that have changed their anti-panhandling laws.

The new Detroit law is more specific, repealing the invalidated version and spelling out what a person can and can't do when asking for money. And it's gathered an unusual ally — the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU sued the state last year over a longstanding statewide law that prohibits begging — which the ACLU says is overly broad and unconstitutional. A judge's ruling is pending.

"All over the country, courts have recognized that begging in a public place is generally protected by the First Amendment because it's a form of solicitation for charity," said Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan staff attorney. "Detroit ought to be commended in taking steps to improve their city code when parts of it are either outdated or have fallen behind the times in terms of protecting constitutional rights."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120821/METRO01/208210360#ixzz24BtLHCpc

Inocente: An Award Winning Tale of a Talented Young Latina Who is Homeless/Undocumented

Inocente is the story of a 15 year old young lady, Latina, who is a talented artist.   She is homeless and undocumented.  It aired on MTV Friday evening.

The 3 minute trailer for the program follows:



The full program which runs about 40 minutes, excluding commercials which bring it closer to an hour, can be viewed on-line at:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/inocente/1691887/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=36900&channelId=1

Kalamazoo homeless encampment cleared out at site of future brewery

The type of homeless encampment that was cleared out on the future site of a brewery along the city's downtown riverfront is nothing new in Kalamazoo, officials say.

Public safety officers had approached homeless people camping in woods on the northeast edge of downtown Kalamazoo about a month ago, telling them they could not stay, Brian Uridge, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety assistant chief, said. Officers offered information on local resources to help them and about two weeks later city crews went in and dismantled the camp.

"Our goal is obviously not to go in and take enforcement action," Uridge said. "Our goal was to work with the people that were in that situation and hopefully offer them services."

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/08/homeless_encampments_not_a_new.html