Tents Appearing on RI State House Lawn, Paul Davis, The Providence Journal
THANK YOU CHEYENNE
A VERY SPECIAL thanks to all of you who made Thanksgiving such a special time for those coming in to the Welcome Mat.
The volunteers, the special foods, monetary donations and all the help that came during the 25-29 made this a very special week-end.
While the number of donors is too large to list here, you know who you are and this thank you is for YOU!!! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Week-end and Christmas Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are need in December to work on the 5th from 9:00 a.m. until noon; December 19th from noon to 3:00 p.m.; December 24th
from noon until 3:00 p.m.; December 25th 9:00 a.m. until noon; December 26th from 9:00 a.m. until noon or noon until 3:00 p.m.; and January
1 from 9:00 a.m. until noon or noon until 3:00 p.m.
Special foods and gift items are needed for those coming in to the Welcome Mat on December 24 and 25th. For more information on food and gift
items or to sign up as a volunteer call Virginia, 634-8499 between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday.
Homeless Memorial Day
December 21, 2009
The Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless is sponosring Homeless Memorial Day for the 20th year on December 21. The 2009 event will take
place in front of the State Capital Building at noon. The event will remember those who died in 2009 while homeless. We are aware of 8
individuals who died during this year. There will be music, speakers, and memories of those who died. Click Here to see pictures from 2008 Homeless Memorial Day.
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Random Thoughts From an Inquiring Mind
Ron Murdock
Whoever said they who act as their own lawyer has a fool for a client hasn't seen the fees lawyers charge these days...When people have a product to sell they should concentrate more on attraction rather than promotion...
A definition of frustration is going into a library and not being able to find anything to read...
How many of us say "it's time" by some outside source such as a clock or what other people say rather than our intuition?...
Since when has poker become a big enough sport to featured on sporting channels?...
I wonder how many animal rights protestors eat meat or wear leather on a regular basis?...
I find it morally corrupt when huge corporations make mega profits yet pay their employees meager wages...
When negative thoughts enter your headspace, try visualizing tieing them into a gunnysack then throw it into a large body of water and put up a no fishing sign...
How many people go to the auto races just to watch the accidents?...
How many conspiracy theories are closer to the truth than the official version coming from those in positions of authourity?...
I've heard of an expression that goes "fake it until you make it." How does one do this as it's a learning process or a form of lying. So either develop the talents you do have and forget about developing the ones you don't have...
When a person says they are wanting to improve thier conscious contact with God are they doing so or is it their ego talking?...
Enjoy life in joy...There is a fine line between being a realist and being a cynic...I'm not worried about what Americans don't know about Canada, I'm all for Canadians getting to more about their own country...
I overheard an expression that went "grab the person on the phone." How does one do this, especially if the person is at the other end of the phone?...
One expression that keeps people in a rut is "it wasn't meant to be." Instead of just saying or thinking this, how about taking the opportunity to look into other options. Or find a way of getting rid of the defeatist mentality...
The way some people talk about their illnesses, one would think their body doesn't have a immune system...
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change...
If it weren't for work, complaining or the weather some people wouldn't have anything to talk about...
Remember when Petulia Clark sang about downtown being the place to go? Times have changed since then especially in large cities. Downtown is a place to avoid now because of drug activity, crime, drive by shootings and other similar activities.
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A Hand Up In Life
Ron Murdock
I have to ask if the statistics used in todays world are pulled out off a hat or made up on the spot. Economists seem to be one of those groups of people that would have us believe anything they say. I wonder if it is feasible to raise welfare rates to match inflation rates or would it be fair to working people to have welfare clients reciever bigger cheques than they are. While it is true enough that no one should be hung out to dry but working people, part time workers included, should get cost of living increases also. Rising costs of food, housing and other necessities affect everyone.
It's one thing to have a comfort level but collecting welfare shouldn't be a long term way of living except for those with mental or physical disabilities. For those welfare clients needing it, I feel they should get GED or some form of job training. Working a job and sticking with it should have more benefits than recieving welfare. Employers will look at a resume of someone who sticks with a job rather than someone with a spotty work record.
No one should have to sell their car when applying for welfare as it helps them get around to contact potential employers. If not, a bus pass for local transit could be provided for clients to make it easier to find work. How far should bank and other cash resources be drained so a person can qualify for stringent welfare rules?
Poverty is partly a state of mind. The Law of Attraction is a factor here.Two people can make the same amount of money in say a months time. One can do well on it and with a positive attitude they will attract more good into their life. Yet if one lets poverty consciousness have its way will live a Scrooge like life. Being tight fisted keeps a person at a continual stand still state. It just depends on where a person wants to be at.
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Dealing With Homelessness Effectively
Ron Murdock
Times have changes over the years for communities of any size. Recessions have affected how people and business do things. Some are quick to recover, others aren't. Yet I was left to wonder how many of us were affected in a negative manner by the latest so called recession in Canada. Where I work there wasn't any talk of anyone being laid off. With money in the bank, stable work enviroment I didn't feel any bad effects from the latest recession.
But homelessness seems to have grown in small enought steps over the years. It reminds me of the story of the frog put into a pot of cold water before it cooks as the water gradually boils. Now that homelessness is a major problem, can we turn it around or are some of those in charge really interested in doing so? Do we let the homeless fend for themselves or do we build more Homeless Hiltons like the Calgary Drop In Centre? I believe one thing to avoid is to put too many homeless people into a too small of an area. Everyone needs some type of private space. The negative feelings of this lifestyle could lead to an emotional volcanic eruption. How many fights in shelters have happened because of peope feeling cramped? Mental illness, addiction issues, poverty consciousness and lack of privacy adds to the tension of shelter life.
Everyone has a right to safe secure housing. Consulation has its limitations as eventually concrete action has to be taken. There is no quick easy fix for homelessness and it can't be ignored or wished away. Everyone is entitled to a warm place to sleep, clean bedding and access to shower/laundry facilities.
It's wise to put back into life what one takes out. It balances things out. There is nothing wrong with improving ones situation in life. A hand up is more important than a hand out. In Vancouver B.C. a shelter faces closing its doors due to complaints form condo residents on False Creek North. I can't see how things will be improved as people will be sleeping outdoors where once they were indoors. Plus hygenic problems like urination and feces will become an issue.
Places like the St. Louis Hotel in Calgary, Alberta were shut down without alternatives to low cost housing being built to replace them. People should be able to afford a place of their own if they don't care to double bunk with anyone.
Long term accomodation is said to be coming but I'll believe it when it happens. This is the time to take bold action before things get worse.
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Maine: Homeless in Bangor
Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News
Overflowing shelters, spilling out into the street, under bridges or in the woods, their numbers are growing
Editor’s Note: The BDN has agreed to use only first names when requested by the homeless who were interviewed for this story.
The signs of homelessness growing in Bangor are everywhere. They are just far enough off the beaten path to go unnoticed by many. People take shelter in makeshift camps under the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge. In the wooded area off Hammond Street known as The Pines. Inside jails and emergency rooms and the police station lobby.
The trend is heart-wrenching and perpetual — and just might indicate the arrival of a perfect storm, according to experts. Bangor’s shelters are full. State and federal housing subsidies have either dried up or created unfathomable waiting lists. General assistance, which is supposed to be emergency and temporary funding, is stretched paper-thin. Additional social service cuts from the state seem imminent.
Local officials from a broad spectrum of agencies that have a stake in homelessness met recently with Bangor city councilors to talk about current issues. They all agreed that the problem is likely as bad as they have ever seen it, but the bigger revelation was that no one at the table had any solutions.
“We have significant resources directed at this, but it’s inadequate in a lot of ways,” city health and community services director Shawn Yardley told councilors. “The city has a major role in addressing this problem, but we fall short.”
Councilors listened intently to the solemn update but had little to offer for suggestions except to say that homelessness affects the entire city, not just those worried about finding four walls and a roof.
“It’s tough to bring a problem but not any solutions,” Yardley said later. “This is what we’re up against.”
Dedicated people like Dennis Marble, who runs the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, and Brent Scobie, who oversees the Acadia Recovery Community, agreed that the problem is pervasive and the solution elusive.
“Demand is up and resources are down,” said Marble, who has about 33 beds available each night, always full. “The shift in responsibility is falling down from federal and state agencies. It’s a slow-motion spinning cyclone.”
Scobie said Acadia recently canceled one of its programs to allow the facility to increase capacity from 44 to 64 beds. Within the first few nights, the beds were full by 8 p.m.
“Homeless shelters and service agencies all do great work, important work, but in the end it’s just a Band-Aid,” Scobie said.
Councilor Geoff Gratwick said the city has a commitment, if only from a humanitarian standpoint, to do more, and yet there is no funding or support mechanism to do more.
Many have ended up overflowing shelters, spilling out into the street, under bridges or in the woods.
“You want to know what it’s like to be homeless?” said Jane, a middle-aged woman hanging out Thursday afternoon at The Pines, an area popular with the homeless. “It really sucks.”
“I’m ashamed,” said Ray, who was drinking orange juice and vodka Thursday with Jane and Norman, another homeless person. “This place isn’t so bad in the summertime, but now, I’m just trying to stay warm.”
A closer look
If you ask Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia and others, the city has become a haven for the homeless in recent years. The end of the line.
“People are told to come here,” the chief told councilors last week. “In some cases, they are given a bus ticket.”
Like all service centers, Bangor does attract many from rural parts of the state and sometimes from out of state. There are few homeless shelters, substance abuse programs or other service agencies in the outskirts of Maine.
According to a survey conducted by the Maine Housing Authority in January 2009, there were 871 people identified as homeless in Maine. The largest concentrations were in Cumberland County (203) and Penobscot County (101).
Bangor is unique in the sense that it draws homeless from a wider geographic area, but communities such as Portland and Lewiston have growing homeless populations, according to Yardley. Portland has had some success by building more transitional housing and has more options for homeless shelters, but it also has nearly three times as many people in the metropolitan area.
Despite rumors to the contrary, homeless shelters in Bangor are not plentiful.
The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter has 33 beds and plans to add another handful of cots soon. The Acadia Recovery Community now has 64 beds at its emergency shelter and about 20 more for transitional housing. Manna Ministries has a small number of emergency beds. The Shaw House has beds for homeless youth.
Other specialized shelters exist for domestic violence victims or sexual assault victims, but in general, those aren’t open to any and all.
Yardley said so far this year, the city not only is seeing more homeless, they also are staying at shelters longer.
Jack Williams has been staying at the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter for several weeks. His mother, who lives in Houlton, is dying, and he has no other family. He was going to college recently but that didn’t work out. Since he already has stayed at the shelter for several nights, Jack is supposed to be out by Nov. 30 to make room for someone else. He doesn’t know where he’ll go.
“In a way, I’m grateful for a bed, for shelter,” the 20-year-old said Thursday night inside the Main Street shelter. “But in another sense, it’s a constant fight to see who can get a bed or who can get a [housing] voucher. That’s no way to live.”
Dennis Brandon followed a girlfriend to Maine from Philadelphia. The couple had a falling-out and she made him leave. He ended up at the homeless shelter on Oct. 30. He has never been homeless before.
On a Thursday, he waited outside the shelter’s back entrance, smoking a cigarette and contemplating his next move.
“They kicked me out,” he said. “They said I was drinking.”
Dennis said he wasn’t drinking, but others at the shelter said he probably was. So Dennis took a taxi to Acadia Recovery Community, which allows people to stay even if they are intoxicated.
City leaders are less concerned about the homeless people who end up in the shelters, drinking or not. At least they get a bed and blankets. Others don’t.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, you get to 8 or 9 o’clock at night and all the shelter beds are full,” Scobie said. “But I think if the city built a 100-bed shelter tomorrow, that would fill up too.”
Now that nights are colder, some of Bangor’s homeless have found temporary warmth inside the lobby of the Bangor police station. Not every night, but just enough to create problems. Chief Gastia said the choice between letting someone stay and kicking them out onto the streets is not an easy one.
“When no other alternatives exist, they come to us,” he told councilors last week. “We’re trying, but it’s only going to get worse. I’m not sure how we’re going to continue to deal with this problem.”
Still more homeless people have been sleeping in cramped entryways of downtown businesses. Owners often have to move them along in the morning, Gastia said.
No push for policy changes
Homelessness is not new to the Bangor area, but the dynamics have changed in recent years.
The Rev. Bob Carlson, who manages Penobscot Community Health Care and sees many aspects of homelessness, remembers dealing with this issue decades ago when he helped get the Hope House (now ARC) up and running. Then, he said, the biggest problem was alcoholism. Now, it’s rare when a homeless person has only one diagnosis. Oftentimes it’s alcoholism, coupled with depression, coupled with more serious mental health diagnoses.
Like others, Carlson said he had no solution, but he said the problem is real and ongoing.
Marble, who also has spent several years advocating for homeless services, said that while matters are critical, current policies are stagnant.
“I don’t want to add my own fatigue to it, but it is bleak,” he said. “Everything that’s being done is reactive.”
The number of truly homeless people is relatively easy to track, but it’s the “invisible homeless” that worry Scobie.
“There are people that are literally a paycheck or a couch away from being homeless,” he said. “In a bad economy, how big is that group?”
Social service agencies and representatives in the faith community have been talking for months about setting up warming centers now that winter is imminent. That’s fine in the daytime, but those facilities don’t stay open all night.
Chief Gastia also lamented the city’s large sex offender population and expressed concern about the growing number of them who list addresses as 263 Main St. — the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter — or 179 Indiana Ave. — the Acadia Recovery Community.
But homeless is homeless, said Marble. A convicted sex offender is no different from any other person teetering on the edge of homelessness. In many cases, they have it harder because no one wants to house them.
Recent studies have shown that providing permanent housing is far less costly in the long run than allowing people to stay chronically homeless. But no funding exists to get any housing projects on line. Yardley agreed with the Band-Aid analogy but expanded on it.
“The problem is: If it’s too good a Band-Aid, you don’t find a permanent solution,” he said.
Changes need to come through state or federal policy shifts, Yardley said. One of the things that have been suggested is to bring the state’s congressional delegation to the table to tackle homelessness. “What are they doing about this?” Yardley asked. With health care, budgets and other pressing matters dominating the legislative agenda, many things get overlooked.
Scobie said it’s hard for the public to understand the plight of the homeless, because they see only the negatives.
“It’s easy to recognize and dwell on problematic cases, on alcoholism and mental health diagnoses,” he said. “But we do have success stories … And they are remarkable.”
If you ask those worried about freezing to death this winter, hope is scarce. Alcohol and camaraderie often are the only sources of solace.
Marsha, who has been in and out of homeless shelters for decades, said the Bangor shelter isn’t so bad. If she ended up on the street, she said she would survive.
“I’ve done it before,” she said.
Ray, a sort of homeless ringleader who jokes often with his fellow homeless and takes liberal swills from a jug of vodka and orange juice, turns serious when the mirror reflects back to him. What’s the worst part of being homeless?
“I miss my kids,” he said, kicking the bottle at his feet. Sometimes, he goes to the public library and looks them up on Facebook, just to see pictures. “I miss my house. I don’t want to be like this.”
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The season of plenty?
'Healthiest state' also is one of the hungriest'
Kevin O'Connor
Rutland Herald
The number of Vermonters suffering from severe hunger has risen so high so fast, the state now has the sixth worst percentage of residents facing the problem in the nation.
Vermont made national news last week when the nonprofit United Health Foundation named the state the healthiest state in the country, based in part on its comparatively low rates of obesity and child poverty.
But a just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture report says more than 14,000 Vermont households (one in 20, or triple the number since 2000) face hunger so severe that adults frequently go without food, while one in 10 residents now relies on donations to eat.
"Hunger strikes more than the homeless and jobless," says John Sayles, chief executive officer of the Vermont Foodbank, the state's biggest charitable distributor. "Hunger is affecting single moms, working families, the person who lives next door or down the street and just can't make it."
So how should the rest of the state respond? Helping seems as simple as sharing a sandwich or dropping off canned goods at a community cupboard. But anti-hunger advocates are seeking more economical and efficient ways to provide food at local stores, schools and some 300 shelves, soup kitchens and shelters.
The Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger is pushing to expand school breakfast and lunch programs for the 30,000 children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The Burlington-based statewide nonprofit also is working to enroll more residents of all ages in 3SquaresVT, the renamed government food stamp program that already serves a record one in eight Vermonters.
"We've known that hunger is on the rise, especially with the economy, but we were surprised to see the extent it has increased in our state," campaign executive director Marissa Parisi says. "In these hungry households, children are not reaching their educational potential, elders are not getting the nutrition they need and parents are risking their own health to make sure they provide for their children."
The Foodbank, for its part, expects to distribute 8 million pounds of soup to nuts statewide this year using a 26,000-square-foot warehouse in Barre, a 3,000-square-foot branch in Wolcott and a 21,000-square-foot distribution center just opened in Brattleboro.
The nonprofit will deliver a half-million more pounds of food than last year. But that's not enough to satiate a client load that local cupboards estimate is up as much as 40 percent.
"The economy is stabilizing, but people still are losing their jobs and homes," Sayles says. "People are coming in saying, 'I used to donate to the food shelf but now I need some help.' If we had the resources, we could distribute 10 million pounds of food this year. And we're concerned the need will grow."
So begins anti-hunger advocates' challenge. On one hand, they don't want to discourage people from giving "shelf-stable proteins" — peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, canned ham, tuna or spaghetti and meatballs — directly to community organizations.
"It's important that people make a connection with their local agencies," Sayles says. "Donating to your food shelf not only helps feed people but also gets citizens involved and raises awareness."
On the other hand, the Foodbank began in 1986 to boost efficiency and fill in gaps by collecting directly from commercial suppliers and distributing to a network of 280 local shelves, shelters and assistance programs. The outfit can turn a $10 donation into 25 pounds of food, Sayles says, "because we have a lot more buying power than someone at a grocery store."
Community cupboards appreciate canned goods and boxed cereal, but they also want to offer clients a balanced diet. And so the Foodbank annually contracts with eight Vermont farms to grow nearly 50,000 pounds of produce, gleans another 300,000 pounds of misshaped or forgotten fruit and vegetables from fields statewide, and collects meat, dairy and other perishable donations from supermarkets, restaurants and their suppliers.
But producers and distributors have become more efficient, too. Many who used to donate surplus or seconds now sell them at discount stores. And so anti-hunger advocates are encouraging contributions of food, money and time at both the local and state level.
"You tend to get lots of help during the holiday season," Sayles says, "but the need is constant year-round."
More than two-thirds of the 30,000 Vermont children who are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, for example, turn to food shelves when school's not in session, while a growing number of adults seeking help cite the sudden loss of jobs or hours in the worst economy since the Depression.
The Foodbank belongs to the national Feeding America network of hunger-relief charities, which has launched a "Real Stories" Web page so households receiving help can share specifics while maintaining a sense of dignity through partial anonymity.
Diana and her husband Chris, a self-described "hard-working couple" in a "close-knit family of five," represent Vermont. Although the two are said to shop at discount stores, clip coupons, grow their own vegetables and cut their own firewood, they're cash-strapped enough to require a monthly box of staples from their local food shelf.
"If we weren't struggling," Diana is quoted, "we definitely would not have a need for places like this."
Although the Web page offers similar vignettes from each of the 50 states, anti-hunger advocates say the overall situation isn't easily summarized.
"It's impossible to quantify the need of Vermont is 'x' and if we had that many baskets there would be no hunger," Sayles says. "It's a different story for every person. We're doing the same thing we did before the economic crisis, but the need is more. The more we can raise awareness, the more effective we can be."
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New Fund Designed to Get Homeless Veterans Into Housing Quickly
By Mike McPhee
The Denver Post
Gary Baumann, 62, a homeless Vietnam veteran, tears up as he remembers friends who did not return from that war. Before being drafted, he was a winning horse jockey. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post )
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless estimates there are nearly 3,000 vets homeless in the state on any given day, including Veterans Day today.
This means that in the metro area, there are nearly 1,800 veterans roaming the streets, trying to get their lives back together. On any given night, at least 80 of them sleep under bridges, in cars or on concrete.
Even the Veterans Affairs Department admits things could be better for returning soldiers. The VA estimates as many as 131,000 veterans will be homeless on any given day and twice that number may be homeless at some point this year, according to coalition president John Parvensky.
In hopes of stemming some of those numbers in Colorado, the coalition
will announce the establishment of a new Homeless Veterans Housing Fund. The money will be used to help get homeless vets into housing quickly and help them access support services, including treatment for war-related trauma.
"A lot of vets come back with trauma issues," said Heather Beck, who runs the coalition's outreach teams that seek the homeless who refuse to come in from the cold. "The trauma doesn't go away if it's not addressed early."
Parvensky said other vets are at risk for homelessness because of poverty and lack of support from family and friends. And accessing VA services can be tough.
The VA "tends to be difficult and complicated," Parvensky said. "It tends to move very slowly."
He said the new fund should help the coalition — in concert with the Denver VA Medical Center, the Denver Street Outreach Collaborative and emergency shelters across the state — reach the goal of doubling the number of veterans served next year.
They may include people like Gary Baumann, 62, who said he had a promising career as a jockey when he graduated from North High School in 1965. When he was drafted at age 19, the 85-pounder had three wins at Centennial Race Track in Englewood.
He said he was sent to the central highlands of Vietnam in 1969-70. Although he was trained as a mechanic, Baumann said he worked as a tunnel rat — the toughest of all assignments — crawling through the Viet Cong's underground labyrinth armed only with a flashlight and a .45-caliber pistol. Many didn't survive. Baumann was never even wounded.
"The Army took away my career. I couldn't get a contract (to race) when I came back," he said during an interview at the Broadway Motel. He and his brother had managed to cobble together enough money for a room, plus a few beers. Usually, they sleep under bridges along the South Platte River.
When he returned from Vietnam, he found a job as a printer for the Rocky Mountain News. More jobs followed, but gradually his demons led him to drink.
Baumann survives on the state's old-age pension program, which pays him $674 a month.
"I fought for my country, and this is the best they can do?" he asked.
Reuben Tacoronte, 50, spent three years in the Army as a communications specialist, getting out in 1984 just before his father died.
"I couldn't get going, I started drinking hard," he said over a free lunch at Father Woody's Haven of Hope at West Seventh Avenue and Lipan Street.
Family problems and friction seem to have dominated his life, except for the birth of his daughter, Gina Garcia, who's 30. She arrived for lunch to check on her father, saying she was shocked when she first saw him homeless.
As Tacoronte told the story of sleeping on concrete Monday night, waking up at 3 a.m. to find something to keep him warm, his daughter chimed in, "I was in your camp this morning looking for you."
"It hurts out there, it's hard," she said. "But he's a survivor."
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Food on The Table
Why Twin States NH and VT Aren't Identical
Valley News
More and more Americans are struggling to put adequate amounts of food on the table, a condition the federal government calls “food insecurity.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last month that 17 million households, 14.6 percent of the total, had difficulty providing enough food for all their members in 2008, the highest level recorded since the USDA initiated annual food surveys in 1995.
Food insecurity varies from state to state, however, a fact that caught our attention because the problem appears much worse in Vermont than in New Hampshire. According to data collected from a representative sample of questionnaires, 12.1 percent of households in Vermont experienced food insecurity between 2006 and 2008, about the national average. In New Hampshire, by contrast, the proportion was 8.5 percent.
The difference between the two states is even starker when looking at a subset of households that report “very low food security.” That means that some household members are forced to disrupt their normal eating patterns because they can't get enough to eat. In short, they sometimes go hungry. Vermont ranks sixth in the nation in this category, with 5.7 percent of households reporting “very low food security,” compared with 3.1 percent in New Hampshire, which ranks 48th. (Mississippi ranks first and Massachusetts last in this particular index of misery.)
What accounts for these differences in two New England states that are similar in some other respects? Mark Nord, one of the authors of the USDA's food-security study, was unable to offer a definitive explanation, but he did give us some leads. Food insecurity, not surprisingly, is really just another name for economic insecurity, so differences in income and employment contribute to differences in the ability of households to provide adequate nutrition. But other factors also affect the prevalence of food insecurity, including housing costs and the state tax burden on low-income households.
By these measures, Vermont doesn't compare favorably. It is a low-wage state, where the median household income is substantially below that of New Hampshire. And there is more poverty -- 10.5 percent of the population between 2006 and 2008, compared with 7.6 percent in New Hampshire during that period.
Then there's the uneven employment picture. Unemployment in Vermont, at 5.9 percent in 2008, was higher than in New Hampshire, which had a 4.3 percent unemployment rate. The difference in unemployment between the two states could account for a substantial share of the difference in the number of households reporting food insecurity, according to Nord.
Add in Vermont's high housing costs and high taxes, and you may have an explanation for why “very low food security” is more common in Vermont than in many other states.
Still, the prevalence of food insecurity in Vermont comes as a surprise. Historically, rates have been below the national average, though higher than in New Hampshire, and “very low food security” was near the national average until 2006. Something has changed, and whether the change reflects the disproportionate impact of the recession, an anomalous survey sample or a combination of both is a subject of speculation. A high proportion of eligible Vermonters participate in the federal food stamp program -- relatively more than in New Hampshire. Ordinarily such a participation rate would signal that those in need are receiving relief. But the latest food-security study suggests that the food stamp program and other nutrition programs aren't reaching all the people who need to be reached, or aren't fully meeting the needs of those who do participate.
That probably doesn't surprise John Sayles, the head of the Vermont Foodbank, who said he's seen a 40 percent increase in demand for charitable food at food banks across the state over the past 10 months. He is right to urge all Vermonters to get involved in the fight against hunger -- a plea that used to refer mainly to people in faraway places, not to those next door.
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Bellows Falls VT: Support Voiced for Homeless Winter Shelter
By Susan Smallheer
Rutland Herald
BELLOWS FALLS – Strong support for a proposed homeless shelter in downtown Bellows Falls was voiced Monday evening, with residents saying giving people a safe and warm place to sleep during the winter months was a matter of morality and humanity.
The proposed shelter, which would be at 33 Canal St. in the former village bowling alley, still needs a local zoning permit before renovations can be made and the shelter opened. That hearing will be held next week.
Organizers, including area social workers, ministers, and many social service agencies, said the Greater Falls Warming Shelter would be open only during the winter months, and would be limited to 15 people per night. The shelter would open at 7 p.m. every evening and close at 7 a.m.
During the daytime, people could stay at Our Place, the local drop-in center, said Susan Shea, executive director.
Pat Torrey of North Walpole, N.H., who grew up in Bellows Falls and worked for years for the local visiting nurses association, said the homeless people in the region deserved the town's help.
"The people we are talking about are not bums," said Torrey, who said her father was a longtime Bellows Falls merchant. "They are the working poor and I object to this 'not-in-my-neighborhood' attitude," she said.
"It is immoral to let people stay in the street," she said.
One former homeless man, David Ramos of Westminster, said homeless people don't want to be homeless, and have a hard time dealing with the stigma of being homeless.
"I'm here, I was homeless," he said, noting that now he is married, has three children and has a home.
"People don't want to be homeless or in the soup line," he said. "Give us a chance."
Rockingham Select Board member Ann DiBernardo, who is the town's service officer, said the Select Board had appropriated $10,000 recently to help set up the shelter.
DiBernardo said as the town service officer, she often has to put up homeless people or families in motels, at town expense.
DiBernardo, like many in the audience at the meeting at Our Place, a local drop-in center, supported opening the shelter.
But she was criticized for funding the shelter while the Select Board was contemplating eliminating jobs in the town budget by local business owner Pat Fowler, who raised the most questions about the proposal.
Fowler said she was afraid organizers hadn't adequately thought through all the issues involved in opening a shelter.
Bianca Fernandez, who works for Youth Services, said she had tried to interest any of the region's churches and faith groups in hosting the winter shelter, but to no success.
Fernandez said the Canal Street site, owned by local businessman Stephen Moore, could only be used this winter and the group would have to find a new location next year.
She said she had talked to the immediate abutters to the proposed shelter, and all supported the effort.
Fernandez said organizers estimated costs at $15,000 for the four months the shelter would operate, and Paul Millman, president of Chroma Technology of Rockingham, said he and others were trying to raise funds to support the shelter. Millman said that $5,000 had been pledged so far.
The group, which numbered about two dozen people, also heard from Melinda Bussino of Westminster West, who runs the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center, and who is the co-founder of Brattleboro's "overflow" winter shelter.
The winter homeless shelter is in the local Baptist Church on Main Street, Bussino said, and added that the shelter was lucky to have a large number of volunteers who either bring meals or cook or oversee the shelter every night.
Bussino said the winter shelter produced few problems, but volunteers were trained to keep their eyes open for potential problems.
No weapons are allowed in the shelter, and men and women are kept separate. Families are kept together if possible, Bussino said.
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Tents appearing on R.I. State House lawn
By Paul Davis
The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE — Catherine Rhodes pitched her tent on the State House lawn last week to protest what she says is a lack of state help for the homeless this winter.
State shelters are full, more people are sleeping outside and some people won’t be able to find beds when it freezes, said Rhodes, a volunteer with People to End Homelessness. “The governor needs to understand this is a crisis.”
Rhodes and others hung signs on trees and lamp posts facing Providence Place mall, not far from her small tent. “Homeless for the Holidays?” asked one. “When the weather outside is frightful ... homes for the homeless would be delightful!” said another.
The state Office of Housing and Community Development recently added 88 beds to the state’s more than 400 beds for the homeless, to handle a growing demand for shelter this winter.
But housing advocates say the plan doesn’t go far enough. According to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, the state’s shelters were beyond capacity in late October, while nearly 80 people slept outside. The homeless population will grow as the economy worsens, said coalition director Jim Ryczek, who has asked to meet with Governor Carcieri to discuss the issue.
“We need the governor to get involved,” said Rhodes, who spent a year with her son in a homeless shelter in the 1980s. “We need leadership, and we need lawmakers. The state’s solution so far has been to evict people and make it illegal for the homeless to stay in tents where they are safe and warm.”
State and city officials this year evicted dozens of homeless people camped in tents in Providence, East Providence and Cumberland.
Dressed in a purple sweatshirt and a furry hat, Rhodes said she became homeless two decades ago after she became ill and couldn’t work. She spent a year with her son at Welcome House in South Kingstown.
“We were the only family there. We lived in a little room,” said Rhodes, who later went to the University of Rhode Island. “There was no place for my son to play — just a driveway.”
Rhodes says she plans to stay on the State House lawn until “something is done to alleviate this critical need.”
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Wyoming Winds
is published by the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless
907 Logan Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001-5247
phone: 307-634-8499
fax: 307-634-9089
email: wch@vcn.com
Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless, its staff or board.
Editor: Virginia Sellner.
Copyrights revert back to the author upon publication.
WCH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency depending upon the community for funding.
© 2009.
**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.**
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