Stevensville Citizen Advocates Supporting the Needy in Letter

This letter was written by a Stevensville, MI citizen to the Harold-Palladium. This letter highlights some of the core issues facing our country today, and is the center of the discussion on lowering taxes vs. supporting the needy through government.

"Editor,

Recent letters to the editor from Sen. Ron Jelinek and from folks who attended the Fourth of July TEA Party need to be rebutted.

There is more to being a good citizen than advocating for lower taxes. There is a responsibility to extend a helping hand to those who are unemployed or under-employed, to assist those who are without access to compassionate health care, to provide a dignified existence for poor youth and for the aged.

John Kennedy in his inaugural speech said: "And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

We have forgotten those words. They are words of the true responsibility of citizenship.

Pope Benedict in his recent encyclical said it this way:

"(The Pope) recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property but that economic and civil progress can only be made if they are oriented to the common good ... ethical and religious ... (and) respectful of the needy and of the rights of the weak."

I am not saying that we should not hold government accountable for delivering services efficiently and with minimal bureaucracy. We should hold government officials' feet to the fire to ensure that government is responsive and cost-effective.

However, budget cuts to social programs for DHS or community health programs being proposed in Lansing will have a profound and negative impact on our state's most vulnerable citizens.

I agree that the state needs to be responsible with taxpayer dollars. I agree that our state should have a warm and welcoming business climate. Those are also moral imperatives. However, the budget problems in this state should not be balanced on the backs of the poor. Too many of the cuts being proposed in Lansing impact the poor negatively.

One other moral teacher once said: "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"

Were we listening?

Robert Burgess
Stevensville"

Southwest Michigan News

Economy:

• More jobs to disappear in SW Michigan. The ripple effect of the auto industry's troubles will wash away at least 1,200 jobs in Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties before the end of 2010, according to a report Michigan Works! issued Tuesday.
• Benton Harbor has hired a consultant to help it build a local economy that revolves around developing a local and regional economy that centers around the area's natural resources. Components of the plan will include the use of wind, water, plants, fruits and vegetables.

Housing:

• Residents in Battle Creek rallied on Friday against blight in their city. The city of Battle Creek has been seeking more federal money to demolish and renovate blighted homes. City commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to let city staff move forward with a joint application with the Calhoun County Land Bank for $10 million in economic recovery money to tear down an estimated 100 homes and acquire then redevelop an estimated 106 more homes.
• Last month, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) awarded the City of Three Rivers with Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds in the amount of $233,475 for demolition of five blighted homes in Second District plus funding for construction of five new homes.
• A Sturgis Neighborhood Program has a new plan to help first-time homebuyers with those affordable “fixer-uppers.” Through its Homebuyer Purchase and Rehabilitation Program, SNP offers qualified homebuyers down payment and repair funds. SNP’s HPR Program provides up to $10,000 in down payment assistance and up to $20,000 in repair funding.
• Habitat is planning another home in Niles, MI.

Food:

• On Saturday, July 11, the “Cupboard to Cupboard” program was launched to help people in the Barry County area hit hard by the economic recession. The program encourages neighbors to help each other by donating items that cannot be purchased with ‘bridge’ cards or food stamps. onations being sought this week include backpacks, pencils, notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, crayons, colored markers, notebooks, folders, colored pencils, pencil boxes, scissors, glue and glue sticks.
• Light and Life ministry offers a delivery of free food service to needy citizens in Three Rivers.

Education:

• A new study by Western Michigan University and the latest enrollment data from The Kalamazoo Promise suggest the scholarship program is having a positive effect on student aspirations and Kalamazoo Public Schools' rate of college enrollment.

Government:

• Five public meetings will be scheduled over the next 12 months to gauge what community members' visions are for everything from Kalamazoo's neighborhoods and job-generating businesses to its recreation areas and transportation system.

Community Action:

• Members of Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community (ISAAC) and Communities for all Ages went door-to-door in three neighborhoods to talk with residents about their community and its needs.

Can Stimulus help turn the tide? Job losses, plant closes and budget cuts running amuck

The Kalamazoo Gazette reported a feature on the joblessness in Southwest Michigan this weekend. In Kalamazoo, the unemployment rate of 9.7% is up 70% from last year.

The Gazette interviewed a cross-section of the community and found many poignant stories that brought the stark numbers to life. Not surprisingly, many we talked with were reluctant to share publicly their personal tales.

A single mother who previously earned more than $60,000 a year moved to Kalamazoo from out of state to care for a sick parent. She left behind more than a job -- she lost her home, her car, and some of her pride. She now lives with that parent, is supported by that parent and has only found occasional part-time employment.

Then there's the married father of two who was downsized out of his career after 32 years. A family member offered him a job out of state, but he can't sell his home for a large-enough sum to cover the mortgage. And not only does he feel stuck, his wife's job could be on the chopping block. Without her job, the family loses its health insurance, a devastating possibility considering one of their daughters is ill and recently moved back home.

These reports are all to familiar for many of us who have felt the job losses among our friends and families first hand. In addition, a plant in South Haven will close sometime this month leading to the loss of some 279 jobs. This is a significant loss considering South Haven only has 1,070 industrial jobs total, meaning it only 2/3 of those jobs will remain after the closing. Though local officials are working to diversify the community, it will take some time to restore losses this large.

Meanwhile, teachers who cannot afford to retire are disrupting school budgets. Sixteen teachers are retiring from Kalamazoo Public Schools, less than half the usual number. A state buyout planned that failed early this month has limited financial flexibility of those wanting to retire. This adds to budget woes already faced by some schools - Portage schools are now poised to cut teachers, buses and custodians in an effort to balance their budget.

There is some hope on the horizon as Joe Biden's visit to the region announced a new federal bond program that could inject $102 million into Southwest Michigan's economy. The plan could allow government and private businesses in Michigan to sell $2 billion in bonds. Kalamazoo County could get $46.1 million; Allegan County, $18.9 million; Cass County, $9.9 million; St. Joseph County, $14.0 million; and Van Buren County, $13.5 million, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The program has two types of bonds. Recovery Zone Facility Bonds give private businesses a low-cost way to finance capital projects such as building a hotel or manufacturing plant, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds allow state and local governments to finance projects such as infrastructure improvements or job-training and educational programs.

Good news to give support to development in SW Michigan that has been halted if not reduced over this economic downscale. Regardless, the PRI has its work cut out for it in the coming months.

Will sustainability covenant produce results for Southwest Michigan?

According to a Kalamazoo Gazette Article,

"Area governments, higher-education institutions and others have pledged to make the region a better place to live, work and play by signing the Southwest Michigan Regional Sustainability Covenant.

The Kalamazoo-Battle Creek sustainability covenant, similar to one Grand Rapids enacted in 2006, commits governments, businesses, hospitals, colleges and others to work to address the environmental, economic and social issues.

The covenant was unveiled Wednesday at the Kalamazoo Public Schools' Edison Environmental Science Academy at a meeting with the Kalamazoo Gazette and Battle Creek Enquirer editorial boards, and later during a news conference."

There have been rumors of a covenant floating around in Kalamazoo Leadership circles and I'm happy to see that regional collaboration has produced something substantial. However, major questions still remain before the covenant can be seem as effective and productive on a level that achieved in other regions such as Grand Rapids.

The first point of interest whether its broad statement will translate into tangible results. I believe that it will generate progress in a positive direction for the communities involved.

However, my greatest concerns still lie in the regions lack of initiative to hire locally and involve people in poverty into the process. As many are unaware of, there are a great number of impoverished communities in Southwest Michigan that will need to benefit from a community covenant.

We need to make sure these disadvantaged populations are part of the progress, and that when it is the time and place to develop new industry in the region that we do so with local labor and hire in disadvantaged populations. Only then can the true dream of a prosperous Southwest Michigan be realized in the level that our citizens want it to be.

Transportation Still a Major Issue for those in Poverty

Transportation issues have always been a source of frustration for anyone who has experienced poverty. In a country dominated by the automobile for the past century, it is a large obstacle for anyone trying to make it to work on a weekly basis on top of accessing the support services that a low-income person needs to survive.

Cars are expensive - from their initial cost to purchase, to the high-priced gasoline they consume, to the burdening cost of repair. For someone making minimum wage who has a family, the cost can be crippling. For many in poverty, they simply cannot afford the cost associated with an automobile.

If you aren't driving around to get to where you need to be, then you have to rely on either friends or public transportation. Public transportation, while strong in some major cities in the country, is completely unreliable in Michigan. In our cities, at most what is available is a scattered system of buses which do not even serve all the relevant population areas.

Anyone who's ever ridden a bus to get someone knows how difficult their routes can be to traverse. If you don't live near a route, or if that route does not lie where you need to go, you can forget about an easy travel. It could take 3-4 hours a day to reach what a car would feasibly do in 30 minutes.

What we need to mend the struggles of public transportation is a system of both light rail and high speed trains. This would make it easier for any residents, regardless of income, to access the resources around them. It would also be environmentally friendly, reducing pollution and increasing mobility of the region.

In the Michigan Business Review, writer Nathan Bomey asks if a high speed train could be in Michigan's future.

In fact, the Windy City is the top thief of Michigan's top college graduates, according to Ann Arbor-based think tank Michigan Future.

Which is just part of the reason why he believes high-speed rail could provide a significant boost to the region. If young people could visit Chicago regularly, why not stay in Michigan after all? Not to mention the fact that high-speed rail could introduce a wave of new people to the Detroit region.

For now, though, high-speed rail is still largely a fantasy for most of the country. The sheer amount of investment needed - tens of billions of dollars for hundreds of miles of track and trains - is daunting.

But the Obama administration's commitment to enhancing the nation's transportation infrastructure and the inclusion of $8 billion in high-speed rail funding in the $787 billion economic stimulus package are promising steps.

Rick Harnish, executive director of the Chicago-based Midwest High-Speed Rail Association, argued that Michigan needs high-speed rail.

"I don't see how Michigan remains in the global marketplace if it doesn't link itself to fast trains with Chicago," he said.

Please add Kalamazoo to the list of High Speed stops in this senario. For a city who prides it self in being the transition from Chicago to Detroit, this would reap millions for the economy. So what's holding all this potential economic development back?

Ultimately, the barriers to high-speed rail present significant obstacles, though. Freight carriers own most existing tracks, for example, meaning Amtrak trains have to yield to freight trains during routine trips.

Harnish said high-speed rail investments would require the construction of new tracks to avoid freight trains as much as possible and renegotiation of deals with freight companies.

We need to make these forms of transportation a priority again. It simply isn't feasible to rely on hybrid car development to push the future - the roads are crowded and potential slower than a train anyway. The development of trains in Michigan would help both its poverty residents as well as those well-off.

Analyzing Southwest Michigan's Potential to be a Research Model

Several months ago after several meetings with leaders and collaborators of the nine counties of Southwest Michigan, the collation of organizations accepted a plan to bring about a community indicators database in Southwest Michigan. The database would essentially take data from the service providers in the region to create a comprehensive analysis of what works and where there are necessary gaps that need to be filled in the fight to reduce poverty.

Soon afterwords, the combined efforts of the Lewis Walker Institute and the Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative secured a significantly-sized grant to fund their efforts. When PRI and Lewis Walker representatives recently met with state poverty officials to discuss the state's direction in poverty reduction, they found many similarities in their plans. In turn if the model for Southwest Michigan could be successfully adapted, it is quite possible that the region could plan a lead role in poverty research on both a state and federal level.

There are several other factors why the region would be an ideal model for poverty reduction:

• The diversity in the socioeconomic status of its citizens
• The mix of both urban (Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor) and rural populations of residents
• Its basically neutral position in state political affluence
• The success of already standard programs such as the Kalamazoo Promise
• The resources and leadership already available through the Lewis Walker Institute and PRI
• The cooperation between counties that the region has already demonstrated.

With all these factors considered, the future for a collaborative framework of poverty reduction in the region seems very positive. If we can work together and effectively create an effective system of community indicators, we might not only improve our local communities but have an affect on distant states as well.