Poverty shows in many faces

from the Oxford Press












By Carmen M. Hubbard

Staff Writer

HAMILTON — The image of poverty isn't always what we picture. Sometimes it's a senior citizen whose Social Security check is just enough to cover monthly bills except groceries.

"I try to get here once a month," said Patricia Parish of Hamilton after receiving food from Serve City's Lord's Cupboard pantry. "I'm on Social Security (disability for emphysema and arthritis) and can't afford to buy groceries. I don't eat very much."

Other times, the image of poverty is a young adult, usually a single mother raising her small children with a menial job. Such is the case for friends Shawna Cook, 26, and Kendra Blevins, 23, who brought her 1 1/2-year-old daughter Adriana Martinez to Serve City on East Avenue in Hamilton. The women say they visit the pantry and use other services when needed but are still able to pay for groceries at the store with the help of their boyfriends.

"Generally, the stereotype of people who are poor is inaccurate. We don't recognize poverty until it corkscrews into the ground," said Dennis Sullivan, professor of economics and senior director of the Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines the poverty rate and guidelines food pantries must follow. But Sullivan and agency directors say the government's measure and clientele in Butler County don't always add up.

"There are a certain number of people we count as poor but are not poor, and those who are poor but are not considered poor (by federal poverty guidelines)," Sullivan said.

The poverty rate could be higher than the census reported this summer — a national decline of 12.3 percent from 12.6 percent — due to job loss, increased gas prices and food, Sullivan said.

Poverty is primarily measured according to family size and income. The War on Poverty of the 1960s established federal programs to temporarily supplement family income, but, Sullivan said, it "wasn't designed to pull people out of poverty."

Food pantries follow federal guidelines, but emphasize their priority is to meet emergency needs first.

"Most of us in the U.S. are two paychecks away from being in our line," said the Rev. Larry Gaines, pastor and director of New Life Baptist Mission on Henry Street in Hamilton. "People always assume it's low-income people. We have people working two or three jobs and just can't afford to make it."

New Life has served 650 families per month — an average of 1,600 people — this year compared to 500 families per month this time in 2006.

Despite how much or how little a person has, Gaines said it's his job to provide food and other services.

"I'm not called to judge people. The guidelines are just that ... guidelines," he said. "Put yourself in the place of a homeless person for one day ... electricity cut off, no water to take a shower. How much more defeated would you be if somebody judged you?"