HIDDEN POVERTY: THE MAIN CAUSE OF HUNGER ON LONG ISLAND –

-About 21% of LI families are struggling at less than $40,000 in a region where the median household income is $93,000.

-Many of these working poor people have to choose between paying their rent and feeding their children each month.  This is why a LI Cares/Island Harvest study found over 259,000 Long Islanders sought help at a food pantry in 2005. (In 2007, five million pounds of food were distributed on LI by LI Cares- The Harry Chapin Food Bank.)

-People earning less than $40,000 tend to work in service or office jobs. They make up about a quarter of the LI workforce.

-Yet, despite their low salaries and daily struggles, these working families are entitled to very few government services. Food Stamps, Medicaid (health insurance for the poor) and most other supports are cut off when a family earns about $24,000 a year.

-People earning up to about $50,000 can get some government services:

   Government subsidized child care BUT they have

    to pay about 20% of the costs out of pocket.

    A Section 8 voucher (in which the government 

    pays 70% of their rent) BUT there are long

    waiting lists and few available apartments.

    Child Health Plus government subsidized health 

    insurance BUT there are some premium costs

    and adults are generally not covered.

-While LI white unemployment is only 3%, black unemployment is 6% and Hispanic unemployment is 9%.  About 16% of LI blacks are officially “poor.” (Source: Public Policy Education Network, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY 2007)

To know is to care; to care is to act; to act is to make a difference. (Source: unknown)

EXPEDITED FOOD STAMPS:

Every person applying for Food Stamp benefits has the RIGHT to be screened for expedited benefits. To be eligible for expedited benefits one must either have (1) less than $150 in total monthly gross income AND $100 or less in liquid resources; OR (2) their monthly shelter and utility costs exceed their gross income and resources; OR (3) their household has liquid resources of $100 or less and meets the requirements for being a destitute household.

Households must verify identity in order to receive expedited Food Stamps, but all other verification can be postponed. In order to receive ongoing benefits, applicants must complete the rest of the application process. Expedited Food Stamp benefits are from ½ to 1 ½ month’s benefits. Expedited Food Stamps MUST be provided within 5 days of the date the application is received.

(Community Food News, Nov. 2007: A Resource Publication for New York’s Emergency Food programs)

FOOD PANTRY NEEDS:

-Canned pasta meals (very low)

-Canned stew, Hash & Chili (very low)

-Pasta sauce in jars (very low)

-Jam & jelly (very low)

- Instant potatoes (low)

-Canned fruit (low)

-Fruit juice, 48-64 oz’s (low)

-Coffee, 11-13 oz’s, decaf. & reg. (very low)

-Laundry detergent (very low)

-Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels &

  napkins (very low)

Many more people are having serious economic problems these days.  Whatever sacrifices you can make to help meet serious hunger needs are prayerfully received at our pantry.  God bless you!

DEBT COUNSELING:

Do you know that the average American has credit card debt of $9,000? Well… why not try debt counseling that really works?  Call the Family Service League at (631) 427-3700 X 264 for the program coordinator Mon.- Fri. or the helpline at (631) 666-6330 on Thursdays only, 10AM-1PM.

May is our Blessed Mother’s month.  As you enjoy the beauty of spring, pray to Mary for peace in your hearts, in our families and in our war torn world.    Peace be with you!   

 Sister Maryan

HUNGRY LONG ISLANDERS…HOW CAN THIS BE?

One Story of an Understaffed Department of Social Services

This information is published by:

MICAH*: A Campaign to End LI Poverty (Mobilized Interfaith Coalition Against Hunger)

"Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God." Micah, 6:8

To learn more about the MICAH campaign, contact Dr. Richard Koubek at Catholic Charities 

or Rev. Thomas Gooodhue at the LI Council of Churches

An excerpt from Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good, Catholic Charities USA 2007 policy paper, Pp. 1-2,3,5,13-14,15,17

            A Dream Unfulfilled. "We believe in ... the common origin of humankind. Because human beings have a common Creator, the human race has an essential unity that is prior to any distinctions of race... [Nevertheless,] Martin Luther King Jr.'s aspiration for America, 'a dream of a land where men [and women] of all races, of all nationalities, of all creeds can live together as brothers [and sisters]' remains 'a dream yet unfulfilled.'..."

            Race and Poverty. "Any strategy to reduce poverty in America must also confront the deep connection between racism and poverty ... 'so intertwined that it is impossible to fully separate them. Racism ... is a cause of poverty and at the same time an additional barrier for people of color seeking to escape poverty. ... In order to uproot the scandal of poverty, we must also be agents of racial justice.' The highest rates of poverty are among children, especially children of color. The poverty rate for white children is 10 percent, while it is at 28 percent for Latino children ... and 33 percent for African American children."

            Race, Housing and Poverty. "Perhaps the most stubborn and persistent manifestation of racism is the highly segregated housing patterns found in the United States [and on Long Island.]... The result is that whites and people of color are geographically separated, and increasingly isolated, from one another... Given the importance of residence in determining one's access to quality education ... it comes as little surprise that residential segregation greatly contributes to the disparities between blacks and whites in educational achievement.... Racially segregated neighborhoods too often suffer social abandonment, creating inferior housing stock that severely curtails economic advancement...."

            "Economic advancement is linked to educational opportunity. Yet too often, the quality of one's education is dependent on where one has title fortune (or misfortune) of living... It is a scandal that children of color endure school environments and a lack of resources that would never be tolerated for white children."