Food Bank of South Central Michigan Sponsors Friday Battle Creek Food Giveaway Throughout the Summer

Adora Johnson watched contentedly Friday morning as dozens of people, including some of her neighbors on Battle Creek's north side, walked up the driveway of the Washington Heights Community House.

A longtime resident of the Washington Heights neighborhood, Johnson helped the travelers, many of whom arrived on foot, sign up for free groceries. She later pointed them toward several long tables where polite young men bagged milk, eggs, potatoes, cereal and other produce for each customer.

"If you can help fix a meal for one child, you're doing a lot. There's a need for help in a lot of ways," Johnson said in the shade of the community house, one of seven food distribution sites in Battle Creek that began summer operations Friday.

The weekly giveaway of fresh produce from mid-June to late September is part of an annual feeding operation by the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, which provides truck loads of food to the sites, which in turn give it away every Friday on a first-come, first-served basis.The dispensation was especially sweet Friday in central Washington Heights, a community with hunger needs that hasn't had a weekly pick-up site since the last one ended several years ago at the Washington Heights United Methodist Church on Wood Street. Users of the summer food program in that area have had to drive or get rides to one of the other sites; the closest is Second Missionary Baptist on Washington Avenue.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110618/NEWS01/106180302/Free-food-offered-every-Friday

Michigan League for Human Services Releases Public Spending & Young Adults Report

From MLHS:  The latest Tax Dollars at Work: Public Spending for Selected Health and Social Programs in Michigan (pdf) report is now available. It outlines, by county, the amount spent on major health and social programs as well as the number of recipients.

It's invaluable information to have to understand the economic impact and needs of residents at a local level.

In addition, a new report from the Michigan League for Human Services and Demos finds that young adults in Michigan have lost major economic ground over the last four decades. The paper, Building Michigan's Future Middle Class: Addressing the Economic Challenges Facing Young Adults, (pdf) was released today at a policy forum on young adults.

Please go to www.milhs.org to see the press release and PowerPoint presentations from the four speakers.

Berrien County Needs More Foster Homes/Parents

Within two weeks of having their first foster child reunite with his mother, Brandon and Pam Lubbert had gotten several phone calls from the Michigan Department of Human Services about taking in other children.

The Buchanan couple say it’s evidence of the drastic need for more foster families in the county.

There are currently about 400 foster children in Berrien County and only 130 licensed foster parents, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS).

“We are definitely always in need of more foster homes,” said Heather Hoffman, children’s services supervisor with DHS in Berrien County.

The Lubberts, who have been licensed foster parents for about a year, believe it’s difficult to find families willing to commit the time and energy into foster parenting.

“It’s not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination,” Pam said. “There are time constraints, money constraints. You have to have people that are very committed to kids.”

But, for Pam, the smile of their 7-month-old foster daughter makes it all worth it.

“They become a part of you, even after they leave. A little part of you will stay with them,” she said.

www.nilesstar.com/2011/06/15/county-in-need-of-foster-homes/

Elder Rights Workshop to be Held in St. Joseph County

St. Joseph County will host a first of a kind Elder Rights Awareness Training Day at the St. Joseph County Courthouse on June 21. The event is being held in recognition of June 21 being recently proclaimed “Elder Rights Awareness Day” by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners.

The program will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. in the lower level conference rooms of the Courthouse.
Probate Judge Thomas Shumaker said everyone is welcome.

There will be a diverse group of presenters and topics concerning elders rights including:

* Court interventions and strategies to keep elders safe, guardianships and conservatorships.
* St. Joseph County Vulnerable Adult Protocol — What is it? Who should use it?
* The role of the Department of Human Services, Adult Services Division.
* An update on the Estate Recovery Act implementation in Michigan.
* Law enforcement intervention.
* Domestic and Sexual Abuse Services & Personal Protection Orders.
* A community response panel discussion regarding community resources, how groups work together to inform, serve and protect vulnerable adults.

www.sturgisjournal.com/features/x1732973864/Elder-rights-training-set

Berrien County Grant Seeks Alternatives to Jail for the Mentally Ill

For too long, police officers have felt perplexed in dealing with mentally ill people who crowd jails and prisons.

Now, Berrien County officials are pursuing a different approach to address the problem.

On Friday, 71 police officers, firefighters, school officials and mental health professionals met at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center to discuss steps to break the cycle that shuffles mentally ill people from hospitals to lockups and back again.

In October the county received a $50,000 federal planning grant "to look at how we create better collaboration between the entities of justice and mental health (agencies)," said Terrie Mattes, intake manager for the Berrien County Trial Court Family Division.

"Out of that (money) we've done a variety of training events and developed a three-year strategic plan," she said.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration. The project is an effort of the courts, the county prosecutor's office, the county Juvenile Center, which is operated by the Family Division, and mental health agencies.

"We're targeting Benton Harbor and Niles, because 70 percent of all juveniles on probation reside in those communities," Matthes said. "If we can reduce the number of kids that are entering the criminal justice system from those two communities, we will reduce the probation caseloads, costs to the courts, things like that."

The next step is training police officers and first responders in dealing with the mentally ill's behavior while helping families get the services they need, Matthes said.

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/12/local_news/5186752.txt

Upjohn Institute Economist to Address Importance of Pre-School Education at SW Michigan College

Tim Bartik, Ph.D., a senior economist with the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, will be the keynote speaker at the Cass County Great Start Business Summit on Tuesday, June 28, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Mathews Conference Center at Southwestern Michigan College.

The summit is sponsored by the Great Start Collaborative of Cass County, in partnership with Midwest Energy Cooperative of Cassopolis.

The summit will address how investing in quality early childhood education and programs impacts economic development and the business community...

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Heather Merrill at (269) 445-6217 or

hmerrill@lewiscassisd.org

Reservation deadline is June 20.

The Great Start Collaborative is a group made up of parents, clergy, business people and health and human service organization leaders, with a mission to insure that all children arrive at the kindergarten door ready, willing and able to succeed in school and in life.

www.dowagiacnews.com/2011/06/09/great-start-business-summit/

Kids Food Basket: A Summer Hunger Prevention Program for Kids in G.R.

Summer school supper feeding program for kids in Grand Rapids, Kid's Food Basket, debuts their promotional video:

Bread for the World Addresses Reasons to Protect Safety-Net Programs

Amid the tense budget climate in Washington, DC, Bread for the World members are urging their elected representatives to form a circle of protection around programs for hungry and poor people when Congress considers legislation to reduce federal deficits...

There are other persuasive reasons to protect safety-net programs. Sometimes we know that a policy is morally wrong but may still assume that otherwise it makes sense. But current proposals to reduce the resources available to hungry and poor people do not make sense.

In our last Bread newsletter, we talked about the necessity of reducing the federal deficit and current proposals to cut programs that support hungry and poor people, such as international food aid or SNAP (formerly food stamps). However, the United States simply does not spend enough on these programs to make a difference in the deficit. For more on why cuts to non-military discretionary spending will not solve the nation's fiscal problems, see "The U.S. Budget: Myths and Realities" at www.bread.org/hunger/budget.

But wouldn't cuts help a little, even if they are just drops in the bucket? Ordinarily, people think of budget cuts as saving money—by definition. But just like an individual trying to save money by skipping preventive maintenance of her furnace or roof or car, cutting safety-net programs doesn't save money because it adds to costs in other areas of the budget.

When full-time, year-round workers do not earn enough to eat fresh vegetables and whole grains regularly, the country's productivity suffers. When millions of children don't have enough nutritious food to concentrate in school, the country's future becomes bleaker. Ample data show that hunger and poverty increase the healthcare costs of adults and children—both now and years down the line. And unlike spending on programs such as WIC, rising healthcare costs are a significant cause of the budget deficit.

www.bread.org/what-we-do/resources/newsletter/june-2011/cost-hunger.html

Letter Writer Complains of Bridge Card Use for Junk Food

In Friday's edition of the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph Herald Palladium, a letter to the editor complains about Bridge card users "on more than one occasion" purchasing "Twinkies, frozen pizzas, Doritos, and several two-liter bottles of Pepsi."

The writer states that he "believe(s) that Bridge Card purchases should be limited to healthy, wholesome, staple foods only - fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, whole grain breads etc., and not include junk-food items such as chips and sugar-filled beverages."

Now I am not sure when the last time I saw anyone buy Twinkies at the local supermarket. I am not even sure there are any Twinkies, although there probably are.

Certainly, I have personally bought the other things on the list: frozen pizzas, Doritos, and Pepsi. I probably should not admit it, although my waste line would certainly expose the truth, that these are something like staples in my household.

I know that fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, etc. should instead be what we snack on. So, I don't object to the notion that we ALL should eat more healthy foods.

I live in Stevensville which has just opened a brand, spanking new Meijer store. When you first enter the grocery end of the store, you can be overwhelmed by the wonderful produce section. I mean it is absolutely beautiful. Fresh lettuce of numerous varieties, apples, corn, grapes, and myriad other fruits and vegetables bountifully greet shoppers.

Stevensville is not Bloomfield or Forest Hills, but we do have fewer children than the state average who qualify for the federal free/reduced price lunch program. Slightly more than 20% of the children in our school district qualify for this program. According to the State's Center for Education Performance and Information (CEPI) state-wide 46% of children in fall 2010 qualified for free/reduced price lunch.

I could be wrong, but my recollection is that the city of Benton Harbor (where 90% of children qualify for free/reduced price lunch) does not even have a grocery store. There are Aldis, Sav-A-Lot, Meijer, and a wonderful Hispanic market/restaurant La Perla, but these are all in the Township outside city limits. There are plenty corner "party stores" which sell a limited selection of foods. There is also at least one Family Dollar Store which carries canned goods, boxed cereal, and the like.

So, while I agree with the statement that we all should eat more healthy foods, the fact of the matter is that in some communities fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are harder to come by than in other areas. In the more affluent areas, like Stevensville, some of us (and I am guilty as charged) still fall to the temptation of buying junk food rather than more wholesome foods.

And frankly, I think the letter writer's mention of Twinkies is probably an embellishment.

The letter to the editor which got me going this morning can be found at:

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/03/opinion/letters/5058068.txt

Food Bank Gives Aid to Storm Victims

Brayden Thurston, 2, wore a big grin as he toddled behind his mother in line for food.

That's because this would be his first meal in days that didn't consist of cold hot dogs, said his mother Jessica Thurston.

The Thurstons were among hundreds who finally received help days after a Sunday wind storm knocked out electrical power and destroyed their food supplies.

The Thurstons, who live in Triangle Mobile Home Park, were reached by a group of volunteers targeting poverty-stricken neighborhoods with the offering of food.

"It's going to help," Jessica Thurston, 20, said with a small smile as she returned to her mother's waiting car with a box of groceries.

Many people who could not afford to refill their pantries after the storm were individually notified of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan handout at Trinity Lutheran Church Friday morning.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110604/NEWS01/106040314/Food-bank-gives-storm-victims