The face of poverty is changing

The face of poverty is clearly changing. It seems no longer are the days where poverty was an either an urban or rural challenge; it is now hitting suburban neighborhoods hard as well. In West Michigan, suburban unemployment is much higher than any economic recession of recent times.

According to the Brookings study, West Michigan suburban unemployment grew by 46 percent from 2007 to 2008, compared to 44 percent in Grand Rapids. The suburban figures include Kent County outside the city, and Barry, Newaygo and Ionia counties, all part of the same Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

What does this mean? That it is even more important we reserve judgments about those who struggle with financial instability and poverty. In fact, the rise in suburban areas for food stamp use has seen a higher increase in suburban areas than urban areas, though urban counties remain home to a larger number of recipients.


One families story is detailed here:

"I think some people would be surprised to know some of the situations that people are in," said Moore, 29.

The Belmont resident lost his tool-and-die job in 2009 and later, his suburban home to foreclosure.

He and his wife, Hope, 32, now reside with their two children in a single-wide mobile home as they apply for food stamps for the first time in their lives.

Enrolled in a state retraining program for computer technology, Moore is determined to remain optimistic.

"I think with some training and a little bit of time, we'll build back up again," he said.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/report_shows_recession_hitting.html

New Orleans to Detroit March Seeks to "Fulfill the Dream"

"In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. urged the nation's dispossessed to 'organize a revolution' against the injustice of poverty. Forty-three years later, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign has organized a march hoping to revive that call.

The "March to fulfill the dream" began last week in New Orleans and will end in Detroit, culminating in the U.S. Social Forum June 22-26. Organizers say thousands will participate in the march, which will cover 2,300 miles and 24 cities in 12 weeks."

- MLIVE.com

For more information, see:

www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/04/new_orleans_to_detroit_march_s.html

United States Has Lowest Tax Burden of G7 Nations

According to the Christian Science Monitor, "With the April 15 filing deadline in view, American taxpayers may be surprised to find that their tax burden is less than those in most industrialized countries." Indeed, the United States "... matches Japan for the lowest ratio of tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) among the G-7 nations. France and Italy score highest."

The G7 nations include: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.

For more information, see:

www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0411/US-tax-bite-smaller-than-other-nations

Not just a number: At 56, former woodworker is not a 'hot commodity'

Michigan Job Search is asking readers to share their stories long-term unemployment to put a face on the unemployed. This powerful story covers the heartbreaking story of 56 year-old Ken Benjamin's struggle to find a job.

I have been unemployed since October 2008, and I have only one week of unemployment left. I am a 56-year-old husband, the father of three adult daughters and the grandfather of seven wonderful grandkids.

I worked at a company that builds grandfather clocks for 15 years and was laid off from there. Then, I took a job building store display units from blue prints, even though it was a 30-minute drive (when gas prices when through the roof) and I took a pay cut. I worked there for five years until I was laid off in October 2008.

I have worked in the woodworking industry for just about all of my adult life (30+ years). I am a wood craftsman. I tried to start my own business, but no one wants to buy what I build in this economy. I even went out of Michigan to try to sell some things I built. Again, no success. I love to build with wood, to study the pattern of the wood and to create something with my own hands that will be an heirloom that can be passed down through the generations.

No one wants to hire a 56-year-old man when they can hire someone younger. They want someone in their 20s or 30s, with 30 years experience! For minimum wage!

I am in the "No Worker Left Behind" program, and I have applied and applied and applied for jobs. At 56, I am not a hot commodity. But I am not just a number! I am a man who wants to work, who wants to spoil my grandchildren and to support my wife.

I don't want to have to worry about how I am going to make my house payment, my car payment or replace the brakes on our 1998 minivan. Please extend unemployment so I have more time to look for a job and PLEASE help me find a job doing what I am skilled at instead of having to be on unemployment.

Ken Benjamin

For all the rhetoric out there about people being lazy or irresponsible for being unemployed, this puts a real face on someone who is trying to make it but cannot seem to get there. We need to do more to take care of each other in this troubled time, and refrain from making quick judgments about those who are in hard times.

Read the article at: http://www.mlive.com/michigan-job-search/index.ssf/2010/04/not_just_a_number_at_56_former_woodworke.html

Researchers find Michigan tax credits well spent on job creation

So it appears there are some initiatives existing in Michigan that actually ARE creating jobs at a high return. Michigan Tax Credits are proving well beyond their worth, with every $3,500 spent returning $20,000 to the economy. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Researchers for the Upjohn Institute found the Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credits spend about $3,500 to create one job for one year, but those "job years" spur more than $20,000 in economic benefits for the state.

"When you bring additional job growth to a state or local area, you increase wage rates, allowing some people to get better paying jobs," Upjohn Senior Economist Tim Bartik said. "Those benefits are worth something to people.

"Higher employment rates and higher wage rates are worth quite a bit to people -- especially now."

According to the study, which Bartik co-authored with Senior Economist George Erickcek, for each job that received a MEGA incentive, nearly three more jobs were created.

"The program has high economic benefits because of its high multiplier effect," Erickcek said in a statement.

And MEGA grants increased tax revenues faster than public service costs, the study found.

"These fiscal benefits for the state offset about two-thirds of the financial costs of the MEGA credits," Erickcek said.

The report looks at the economic impact of MEGA compared to the alternative of funneling its resources to other government spending. In doing so, researchers estimate the program increased the state's employment by 18,000 jobs between 1996 when it was created and 2007, according to the report.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/04/researchers_find_michigan_tax.html

Homelessness Prevention is More Cost Effective Than Shelters

"A new federal survey finds that housing the homeless in emergency shelters can be more costly than the typical cost of rent or transitional housing.

For Grand Rapids, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is just under $600, compared to a cost of $744 a month at the Guiding Light Mission.

And while the mission also offers three meals a deal and day shelter for that cost, Executive Director Stuart Ray said the point is this: It costs more to house the homeless than prevent the loss of a home in the first place.

"My belief system says we ought to do everything we can to help people reach their full potential. This is the last place they want to be.""

For the full article, see the Grand Rapids Press at:

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/federal_survey_finds_homelessn.html

Low-income Michigan families can apply for free cell phones

A new program through Assurance wireless is offering free phones and up to 200 minutes a month for low-income Michigan families who qualify. This could be a very effective idea, as it will make it a lot easier for unemployed/underemployed families and individuals to both apply for jobs and access services. Imagine the challenges of applying for a job if you do you not have a steady phone line of which to receive calls from. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Many low income families in Michigan can now qualify for a free phone with 200 free minutes per month through a program run by one of Sprint's prepaid plans, Virgin Mobile.

More than 835,600 families who qualify for a variety of social services, including Medicaid and the free lunch program, will qualify for the Assurance Wireless program.

The program, which began in December 1999, is available in Michigan for the first time. It also is offered in North Carolina, New York, Tennessee and Virginia, and plans call for expanding it.

Families that make an income of 150 percent of the poverty guidelines or below qualify for the service -- the levels vary for different-sized households.

The service provides a phone, free voice mail, call waiting and caller ID, along with the 200 free minutes.

It is supported by the Universal Service Administrative Company, an arm of the Federal Communications Commission which stipulates that low-income customers be able to have access to communication devices.

For more information or to apply, visit www.assurancewireless.com or call 1-888-898-4888.

Article Found at: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/04/low-income_michigan_families_c.html

An Easter Sunday Song for the Homeless

A Franciscan Friar sings about the homeless in downtown Detroit:

"With three CDs under his knotted belt, Brother Al feels closely connected to Franciscan friars of the Middle Ages called minstrels of God (the Latin term is joculatore domini), who traveled Europe singing and preaching the philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of their religious order.

"I can tell stories, I think, better through songs," says the friar. "I am able to provide those who attend the concerts a little bit of insight into the lives of those we serve here.

"The little songs serve as windows into these lives to help personalize our ministry and to humanize those who are so frequently de-humanized and marginalized by our society. So songs with the names of people we serve are one of my favorite things to do."

From The Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100404/OPINION03/4040302/Friar-sings-in-the-suburbs-to-keep-Detroit-homeless-center-running#ixzz0k8HJ9c4p

Boosting education key to solving health disparities and high costs

Yesterday, the “Kalamazoo Matters” presentation kicked off at WMU’s Fetzer Center. The series is aimed at finding ways to foster equality in health, education and economics. From the Kalamazoo Gazette article:

“Even with improved health care coverage, we’ll all pay higher premiums and have higher health-care costs because of health inequalities.”

Eliminating inequalities between “haves” and “have-nots” would save the health care industry billions of dollars a year, according to Smedley. Between 2003 and 2006, a total of 30.6 percent of direct medical care costs for blacks, Asians, and Hispanics were excess costs due to health inequalities, he said. Eliminating these inequalities would have reduced medical expenditures by $229.4 billion, he said.

Much of his presentation focused on the role of segregation in creating health disparities. “If you compare apartheid South Africa and the United States, they’re a lot closer than you think,” Smedley said. “For my hometown of Detroit to be integrated, 85 percent of the people would have to move. That’s only 5 percent lower than apartheid South Africa.”

Smedley emphasized that while poverty as a whole has decreased since 1960, the percentage of minorities living in high-poverty neighborhoods has increased. Blacks are more than 36 times more likely than whites to live in a neighborhood where 40 percent or more of the population lives in poverty. Compare that to 1960, when blacks were only 13 times as likely to live in a high-poverty area.

This situation limits the access that minorities have to “mainstream resources needed for success.”

“In the entire city of Detroit, there isn’t a single major grocery store or department store,” Smedley said. “Differences in behaviors are strongly connected to neighborhoods and the connected environment. It’s tough to tell someone to eat five fresh fruits and vegetables a day when there are no grocery stores around.”

Smedley offered a number of solutions, including improving the physical environment of communities, improving food and nutrition through incentives for farmer’s markets and grocery stores, and regulating fast food and liquor stores.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/04/segregation_blamed_for_health.html

What do you think, are these our best opportunities to improve health conditions in our communities?

Cherry Blossoms Reach Their Peak Bloom in D.C.

With all the bad news and at times venom that is hurled at Washington D.C., I thought I would take the time to remind all of you that Washington D.C. can be a place of beauty. Of course, there are many of our nation's treasure's, such as, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, and soon to be a monument in honor of Martin Luther King.

But you know what else?

It is spring in Washington. And while the annual blooms of the cherry blossoms are a fleeting thing, it remains one of the highlights of the year for tourists and native alike.

From WLJA Channel 7 in our nation's capital, a report on the spring and the cherry blossoms:

www.wjla.com/news/stories/0310/721202_video.html?ref=newsstory