poverty

By Jean McMurray

A recent visitor to the Worcester County Food Bank exclaimed, “I had no idea how big of an operation this was and everything that goes on inside to help people with food.” Two other recent visitors, a mother and her young son, also did not know what to expect when they came to the Food Bank. The stress was visible in her face and in her voice as she spoke. We offered them a seat in the office while a co-worker went to get a box of food containing cereal, peanut butter, rice, pasta, and a variety of canned goods. We also included some fresh fruits and vegetables. We spent some time talking about the food pantry in her neighborhood that could help her in the future as well as where she could go for help in applying for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. She thanked us and seemed relieved. As my co-worker went to place the food in her car, the little boy took his took his mother’s hand and said with a smile, “Look Mommy we’re rich again.”

All of the donations entrusted to the Food Bank during the course of a year have an immediate impact as the need for our services continues to be a reality for too many people in Worcester County. With unemployment at 8 percent in Worcester County, food is a fundamental need that people are struggling to meet. With the recession and the slow economic recovery, the Food Bank is distributing more food than ever before to its network of partner agencies including food pantries, community meals sites, and shelters.

In fiscal year 2011, the Food Bank and its network helped over 83,000 people, including 32,000 children under the age of 18. Every day, we speak with individuals and families experiencing economic and emotional hardship. People like the man who has been unemployed for a long time, his savings are gone and he’s eaten very little in the past three days and the husband and wife who work and care for elderly parents and their young children. Every day, we also appreciate hearing from thoughtful people who offer meaningful gifts in the form of food, funds, and volunteer time.
Although these economic times remain uncertain and difficult, the community’s support of the Food Bank has been steadfast and heartwarming. The Food Bank is only able to provide help because of the tremendous support we receive from many individuals, businesses, foundations, and organizations as well as the state and federal government.

This past year, over 335 volunteers provided nearly 5,000 hours of volunteer service in the Food Bank’s warehouse sorting through food donations, while checking for food safety. Hundreds of food donors contributed a total of 5.8 million pounds of food, which is enough food for approximately 86,000 meals a week. Of the food distributed by the Food Bank, the two highest categories were fresh fruits and vegetables and protein in the form of meat, fish, and poultry.
The community’s support sustains our efforts to be a reliable source of good food to our network of partner agencies and the people they assist at Thanksgiving and throughout the year. Help and hope are precious gifts at any time of year for a parent trying to provide for their family or a senior citizen trying to meet their basic needs.
As an organization, the Food Bank is an efficient network of agencies and a resourceful public-private partnership. However, over the last three years, we have been challenged by unprecedented demand and uncertainty over available food resources. Throughout the region, we have seen a 12 percent increase in the number of people helped since 2008.

As the U.S. Congress makes difficult decisions this year about our national priorities, it is imperative that they do not take food away from Americans in need. We must remember the families in Worcester County who are facing hunger and the important role that nutrition programs play in their health and well-being, especially for vulnerable children and seniors. Any loss in federal support for federal nutrition programs, like SNAP, due to budget cuts or as part of the deficit reduction plan would make it harder for families to recover from the recession and would result in a gap for food that will be difficult for the Food Bank to fill.

With unemployment still high, investing in anti-hunger programs is not only the right thing to do but also makes fiscal sense, as these programs allow us to care for our neighbors, build our communities and lead to savings in healthcare and education down the road.

Everyone can help protect the federal nutrition programs from cuts as Congress moves forward to implement the Budget Control Act of 2011. Our legislators need to know that the problem of hunger is solvable and an issue of social justice that we care about. Everyone can contribute to ending hunger by contacting their legislators about the harmful cuts to nutrition assistance programs and encouraging them to pass a budget that addresses the deficit while safeguarding safety net programs that protect our neighbors in need.

Becoming an anti-hunger advocate is easy to do by visiting Feeding America’s Hunger Action Center at www.hungeractioncenter.org or the Food Research and Action Center, www.frac.org. By signing up at one of these websites, you receive action alerts on federal issues affecting hungry Americas that can be forwarded to your members of Congress with a click of a mouse and you learn about federal programs that bring relief to the millions of America struggling with hunger, including the 33,000 households who turned to the Food Bank and its network of partner agencies in 2011 for help with feeding their families.

If you have been to the Worcester County Food Bank, then you know, like all of our visitors, that it is a unique place, a place where the community comes together to make incredible things happen – one advocate, one volunteer, one dollar, and one pound of food at a time. If you have not been to the Food Bank, we invite you to come visit us sometime soon, so you can see firsthand what we do and how the generosity of so many people is at work in the community.

From The New York Times. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of the good news for President Obama!    – R.T.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/us/politics/economic-gains-give-lift-to-obama-in-poll.html?_r=1

Local Families at Risk of Hunger Learn that Cooking Matters

Hands-on Classes Teach Families How to Prepare Healthy and Affordable Meals!

By Jessica Maillet

Fifteen percent of Americans are now living in poverty and nearly nearly one in five children’s families lack the necessary resources to provide the nutritious food they need to thrive. Cooking Matters Massachusetts empowers local families at risk of hunger with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to make healthy and affordable meals through its six week program, Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters™.

Cooking Matters courses are led by local volunteer culinary and nutrition experts who combine hands-on food preparation with practical nutrition, food budgeting and shopping techniques Click to continue »

Great piece from latimes.com   – R. T.

http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-brooks-decline-20120201,0,2025634.story

By Paula Harrity, coordinator of volunteers, Worcester Public Schools

Every day school is in session, more than 23,000 students converge on the Worcester Public Schools. More than two thirds of these children are poor, many do not speak English as a first language in their home, and increasingly, the Worcester Public Schools welcomes refugees who have come here from war torn nations, and they have witnessed first-hand the horrors of mass destruction and hunger.

The Coats for Kids program provides new winter outerwear to needy children who attend the Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Head Start, Community Partnerships and for Children, and several area homeless shelters. This service began 25 year ago and serviced 400 children. Last year (2010-2011) 2,200+ children were given new winter jackets, hats & mittens. This past year the program was expanded to secondary students. In addition, a quantity of winter jackets, hats & mittens were provided to the Parent Information Center to have on hand for needy families arriving from other countries. Click to continue »

By Rebecca Fanion

With more than 300,000 low-income children struggling with hunger in Massachusetts, Project Bread is fighting hunger with its new Healthy School Food for Kids Initiative. This initiative takes the struggle against childhood hunger into schools. With the support of a $1 million grant from the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, Project Bread will fund healthy menu development in schools, culinary skills training in school cafeterias, and effective “healthy food” presentation with the ultimate goal of providing children with healthier food that they will eat.

Healthy school food is vital for a child’s growth and wellbeing. Since school meals provide more than 50 percent of a low-income child’s nutrients and calories, school breakfast and lunch programs are a critically important way to combat childhood hunger. Children who are food insecure are members of families that struggle to put food on the table. Being food insecure prevents children from reaching their full academic and physical potential, increasing the likelihood that they will remain trapped in the poverty-hunger cycle. Paradoxically, low-income children in Massachusetts are also two to three times more likely to be overweight and suffer other food-related diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, because high-fat, high-sugar, and high-sodium foods tend to be more affordable for families on limited incomes. Obesity can lead to chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, cardiac disease, and type II diabetes. Click to continue »

By John Monfredo, Worcester Public School Committee member

“I just can’t concentrate, and I worry about what the next day will bring, for living with two other families is very difficult.” … “I’m scared and afraid to tell anyone about my situation.”

These are statements from children who are homeless in Worcester and they are among the 2,400 students who worry about what is going to happen to them. These students represent 10 percent of the Worcester Public School population. The public only sees the buses rolling and sees the 44 schools in our public school system operating, but few can understand the changes that have taken place in our schools. Like all urban cities in this nation, we in Worcester have homeless children in our schools and it impacts their education!

One counselor told me about a student who received A’s and then unexpectedly his marks dropped. She finally was able to find out that this high school student was now living in a homeless shelter.

People living in poverty are most at risk of becoming homeless. In our city 71.8% of our students live under the poverty line.

Children experiencing homelessness face many barriers to education. Looking at the data, one sees a high absence rate, lots of moving from place to place, and poor health and nutrition. Again, according to the data, homeless children are likely to be ill four times more often than other children, with four times as many respiratory infections, and they are four times more likely to have asthma attacks. Unfortunately, homeless children go hungry twice as often as other children. Click to continue »

the Republican presidential candidates so very wrong …  Great column about America’s meritocracy myth by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “America’s Unlevel Field.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/krugman-americas-unlevel-field.xml

Increase Affordable Housing  

Call-in Day to the Governor  

Wednesday, December 14th

Too many people are struggling to afford the high cost of housing in Massachusetts.  Let’s work together to advocate for more affordable housing. 

On Wednesday, December 14th, the Building Blocks Coalition is asking that you take 1 minute and make an important phone call.  Please call Governor Patrick @ 1-617-725-4005, introduce yourself, and send a simple message:

“I am calling to ask the Governor to increase funding for affordable housing in the FY2013 budget. Working families, seniors, and persons with disabilities all need affordable housing to be healthy and productive, and for children to be able to learn.  Thank you for your support.”

About Building Blocks:

The Building Blocks Coalition is a group of Massachusetts organizations that work together to advocate for funding for affordable housing and homelessness prevention, including CHAPA, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Massachusetts NAHRO, Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, Massachusetts Association for Community Action, Inc., Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance,  One Family, the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Homes for Families, the Boston Center for Independent Living, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations and the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership.                 

Click HERE to learn more about Building Blocks FY2013 affordable housing and homelessness prevention priorities.   

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Friends,

And now it is winter. Wall Street rejoices, hoping that the change of seasons will mean a change in our spirit, our commitment to stop them.

We are not even 12 weeks old, yet Occupy Wall Street has grown so fast, so big, none of us can keep up with the hundreds of towns who have joined the movement, or the thousands of actions — some of them just simple ones in neighborhoods, schools and organizations — that have happened. The national conversation has been irreversibly changed. Now everyone is talking about how the 1% are getting away with all the money while the 99% struggle to make ends meet. People are no longer paralyzed by despair or apathy. Most know that now is the time to reclaim our country from the bankers, the lobbyists — and their gofers: the members of the United States Congress and the 50 state legislatures.

And they’re crazy if they think that a little climate chaos (otherwise known as winter in the 21st century) that they’ve helped to bring about is going to stop us.

I would like to propose to my Occupying sisters and brothers that there are many ways to keep Occupy Wall Street going through the winter months. There is perhaps no better time to move the movement indoors for a few months — and watch it grow even bigger! (For those who have the stamina to maintain the outdoor occupations, by all means, keep it up — and the rest of us will do our best to help you and keep you warm!)

The winter gives us an amazing opportunity to expand our actions against the captains of capitalism who have occupied our homes with their fraudulent mortgage system which has tossed millions of families out onto the curb; a cruel health care system that has told 50 million Americans “if you can’t afford a doctor, go F yourself”; a student loan system that sends 22-year-olds into an immediate “debtors’ prison” of working lousy jobs for which they didn’t go to school but now have to take because they’re in hock for tens of thousands of dollars for the next two decades; and a jobs market that keeps 25 million Americans un- or under-employed — and much of the rest of the workers forced to accept wage cuts, health care reductions and zero job security.

But we in the Occupy Movement reject this version of the “American Dream.” Instead, I suggest we shift our focus for this winter to the following actions: