Medicaid Health Care Benefits and the Michigan Budget

"The biggest wrench stuck in the gears of Michigan’s state budget is the Medicaid health care benefits program for the poor. Without additional Medicaid funds from the federal government, Michigan faces a $560 million shortfall for the budget year beginning October 1.

If you’re lucky enough to not be on Medicaid and think it simply doesn’t concern you, think again.

Medicaid concerns everyone in Michigan. Why and how? ...

Nearly 25 cents of every dollar in the state general fund budget goes to Medicaid — more than $2 billion in state tax revenues overall, with another $8-9 billion in federal tax dollars. Like the prison budget, Medicaid crowds out all kinds of other state priorities, from the desire for low taxes to the desires for environmental protection, low college tuition, healthy downtowns, and lots of other things."

www.thecenterformichigan.net/michigans-giant-burden-and-responsibility/

Some Michigan kids lack summer nutrition safety net

A report from the Washington, D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center found that fewer than one in six of Michigan children eligible for free breakfast and lunch during the school year got those meals in July 2009. So what happens when children who rely on free and reduced lunches during the school year are out of school for the summer?

The Summer Food Service Program provides low-income children more than 45,000 meals at Michigan schools, libraries, churches, community centers and parks. So if these programs already exist, why aren't they reaching the children in need? A lack of awareness is preventing families from using these services to their full capacity.

Confusion among families may also keep participation rates low, said Sharon Quincy, manager of nutrition services for the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion. Many parents assume the programs have been cut due to budget restraints, she said. But there are more than 200 meal sites around Detroit — so most children can get breakfast or lunch within walking distance.

"People think the program is not going on, so they don't bother to come out," she said.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/some_michigan_kids_lack_summer.html

Benton Harbor Boys & Girls Club Announces $6 Million Capital Campaign

"The Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor announced plans to reach out to the community for support of a $6 million project that includes building a new facility. The facility would assist the organization with its development plans, which include doubling the club’s membership over the next 5 years. According to a site evaluation study conducted by the board of directors, the current facility at the old Bard School would not be able to accommodate such a sizable increase in youth involvement...

The proposed location for this new 3.5-acre, 30,000 square foot facility is on the edge of Hall Park. This region of Benton Harbor has already seen a great deal of change thanks to one of the highest per capita funded Hope VI projects in the country along with Harbor Habitat for Humanity, the Jimmy Carter Work Project and the Harbor Bluffs housing development. The residents within this neighborhood have provided positive feedback in favor of the project, which is before the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval."

bentonspiritnews.com/clients/bentonspiritnews/boys-girls-club-announces-million-capital-campaign-p3379.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=93&mad=No

Free Press Editorial Chastises Public Defender System in Michigan as "Shortchanging" Indigent Defendants

"Michigan's appalling public defense system has made a sham of the constitutional right to adequate legal counsel. No uniform standards and scandalously low pay, among other things, prevent many indigent defendants in Michigan from getting effective legal assistance and, ultimately, a fair trial.

Inadequate legal representation for the poor is a national scandal. But Michigan's system is among the very worst, ranking 44th among the 50 states in spending -- lower than Alabama, for example. Michigan is also one of only a handful of states that rely almost entirely on counties to pay for and run a public defense system..."

www.freep.com/article/20100702/OPINION01/7020318/1322/Justice-shortchanged-in-public-defense-system

July 2: Anniversary of LBJ's Signing of Civil Rights Act of 1964

"On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson finally signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964—one of the most important pieces of legislation in US history, which outlawed racial segregation in public places, abolished the South’s discriminatory Jim Crow laws, and introduced equal rights for all Americans applying to register to vote. The bill, initially put forth by President Kennedy in 1963, was by no means a final solution to the problem of social division in America—while it allowed African Americans the right to apply to vote, it notably lacked provisions to make the requirement tests for registration fair and democratic—but its passage was a victory for the civil rights movement and its supporters.

Today, to celebrate the bill’s anniversary, we feature a portfolio of images from photographer Dan Budnik, a member of Magnum Photos and close friend of Bruce Davidson, who was introduced to some of the leading figures from the civil rights movement by his art teacher Charles Alston in the early 50s."

www.nowness.com/day/2010/7/2/701/on-this-day--the-signing-of-the-civil-rights-act?ecid=soc1268#close

Soccer gives homeless new goals

A new soccer program in Washtenaw County is helping homeless get off the streets and re-enter society. From the Detroit News:

On this soccer team, accomplishment isn't measured by goals scored or shots blocked.

It's how many months a player remains sober. Or whether he receives a GED. Or finds a home.

For a team of homeless people, sometimes just showing up is a small victory.

"After so much heartache and chaos and pain, to have so much fun on a soccer field, you don't even know what it means," said David Altherr, 53, who became homeless after seven drunken-driving convictions.

Project Outreach Team (PORT), a Washtenaw County agency that provides services for the homeless, formed the soccer team in 2007 as a way to reach a population that prefers to be left alone.

Once PORT gains players' trust, it learns what type of therapy and other help they need.

Washtenaw isn't the only place doing it. A growing number of cities around the country have formed a 20-team league that plays a national tournament July 30 in Washington.

An international contest, the Homeless World Cup, is in September in Rio de Janeiro.

Soccer gives the homeless a relaxing way to dip their toe into the mainstream after being away a long time, said Linda Bacigalupi, a PORT jail diversion specialist who is one of the team's coaches.

It also teaches confidence, discipline and other traits that could help one re-enter society, she said.

"They say they feel like this is their family," she said. "That makes it worth it 10 times over."

Read the full article: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100630/METRO/6300357/1408/LOCAL/Soccer-gives-homeless-new-goals#ixzz0sLbIfJVJ

Quality Childcare and Pre-School: An Essential part of Development for Low Income Children

"Every year, more than three million children enroll in a public kindergarten program. A momentous time in their young lives, each child enters with different strengths, weaknesses, skills and needs. Some differences are to be expected as normal variations in development, but unfortunately, socioeconomic factors appear to contribute significantly to a school readiness divide.

For example, research has shown a significant achievement gap already exists between low-income children and their more affluent peers at kindergarten entry. Researchers have identified gaps in a number of critical areas, including cognitive development, social-emotional development, and health status. One study found that the average cognitive scores of our nation’s most affluent children are 60 percent higher than those of our poorest children before they enter kindergarten. Furthermore, low-income children are more likely to attend lower-quality schools, making it unlikely that these gaps can be closed later through schooling alone."

A new white paper from Child Trends entitled Early Childhood Highlights addresses the importance of quality child care and pre-school programs in the development of children, especially children from low-income homes.

The paper includes a table which compares early childhood emphasis state by state. The 7 page paper plus state by state comparison chart can be found at:

www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2010_06_18_ECH_SchoolReadiness.pdf

Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Host Annual Powwow Gathering

"The past and the future merged Saturday as the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi hosted its annual powwow gathering on the tribe's Pine Creek Indian Reservation.

The event marks an acknowledgment of the simple ways of the past and a way for a tribe with an ever-expanding reservation and a modern casino to honor traditions that go back to "time immemorial," as Tribal Executive Director Aaron Payment described them."It's important to make sure that we don't forget the older days of our ancestors and what struggles they had to go through," Tribal Council Vice-Chairman Jamie Stuck said. "We have it much easier today and we need to be thankful to our ancestors for the path that they provided and started for us.""

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20100627/NEWS01/6270321/Powwow-honors-past-looks-ahead-to-future

June 23: 47th Anniversary of Martin Luther King "I have a dream" Speech in Detroit

On this day, June 23, 47 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered a speech in Detroit. Some two months later, he would stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial and give his famous "I have a dream" speech. But as his speech in Detroit shows, the dream speech was rooted in the Motor City:

"And so I go back to the South not in despair. I go back to the South not with a feeling that we are caught in a dark dungeon that will never lead to a way out. I go back believing that the new day is coming. And so this afternoon, I have a dream. (Go ahead) It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers.

I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that one day, [Applause] one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters.

I have a dream this afternoon that one day, [Applause] that one day men will no longer burn down houses and the church of God simply because people want to be free.

I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that there will be a day that we will no longer face the atrocities that Emmett Till had to face or Medgar Evers had to face, that all men can live with dignity.

I have a dream this afternoon (Yeah) that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin. [Applause]

I have a dream this afternoon that one day right here in Detroit, Negroes will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them and they will be able to get a job. [Applause] (That’s right)

Yes, I have a dream this afternoon that one day in this land the words of Amos will become real and "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream this afternoon. [Applause]

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." [Applause]

I have a dream this afternoon that the brotherhood of man will become a reality in this day.

And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God almighty, we are free at last! [Applause]

The full text of the Detroit speech can be found at:

www.mlkonline.net/detroit.html

Richland Farmers Market now accepts donations, will soon offer online ordering and EBT

The Richland Farmers Market is finding more ways to make fresh food accessible, especially for low-income residents. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

The market will be collecting food for Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes, introducing an Electronic Benefits Machine and will soon feature an online service that allows farmers to tell shoppers what produce they would be featuring at upcoming markets.

“We really want to be a place that everyone wants to come to and has the option to purchase fresh food,” said Brook Wilke, co- manager of the market. These changes “will go a long way in helping support our mission at the farmers market.”

Wilke said the idea to have a box where farmers can put their

overflow, or customers can generously contribute, came from one of the market’s proponents, Rev. Ericka Parkinson-Kilbourne of First Presbyterian Church.

“It wouldn’t be possible without all of her work,” Wilke said.

Wilke said anyone could place any kind of food in the box, which would be delivered to Loaves and Fishes to help feed people in and around Kalamazoo. Currently, they collect around 10 pounds of food at every market.

LocalOrbit.com is a website that allows farmers to post each week the types of produce that will be available. Customers can visit the website and either order for delivery, or order and pick up at the farmers market.

Read the full article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/06/richland_farmers_market_now_ac.html