Poverty extends to outskirts of Columbus

from the Columbus Dispatch

The Columbus Dispatch broke down the census bureau numbers from last week, to detail poverty numbers in the suburbs. - Kale

By Sherri Williams

Three weeks ago, Amber Browning of Delaware left her housekeeping job when her child-care arrangements fell through. Without employment, the single mother of four turned to a nonprofit agency to get her children shoes and supplies for the coming school year.

Delaware County is Ohio's fastest-growing, but pockets of poverty exist there and are increasing, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released last week.

There were 1,428 more people in the county living below the poverty line last year than the year before, reflecting an increase from 3.7 percent of the population in 2006 to 4.5 percent in 2007, according to U.S. Census estimates.

It's not the 16.3 percent in Franklin County, or the 11.8 percent in Licking or the 9.6 percent in Fairfield.

The federal poverty threshold for a family of four was $21,203 last year and $20,614 in 2006.

Although the rest of central Ohio might consider Delaware County -- population 161,000, with its booming growth and large-tract homes -- an affluent place, not all of its residents are prosperous, said Jim Cesa, executive director of the Community Action Organization of Delaware, Madison & Union Counties Inc.

"We still have a population that is significant that is living below the poverty line," he said. "That translates to 6,000 to 7,000 people, and that's not a good thing. It also costs more to live in Delaware County."

Parents in Delaware County who are straddling the poverty line are staying there to keep their children enrolled in solid suburban schools, said Kevin Crowley, executive director of People in Need Inc.

"It is very expensive to live in Delaware," said Browning, 30. "I struggle a lot in trying to find a job close to home but also trying to keep up with the growing community. The rent goes up because the city is growing. Utilities are, too."

Crowley said other parents, such as Browning, who has three children attending Delaware schools, come to his agency for help with school supplies for their children.

"I can't imagine those kids going to school and can't afford new shoes in the Olentangy school district, which has the most humble and most affluent," Crowley said. "I'm sure it's got to be tough."

Although Browning's children understand their family's financial situation, their mother wonders how they handle having less than their peers.

"I worry about what my children are going through at school and what people are saying about them," Browning said. "We're not as well-off as other people are."

Last year, Crowley's agency received more than 160 more requests for emergency help with rent, utilities, food and medication than the year before, he said.

Generations of Delaware County families are coping with tough economic choices by "doubling and tripling up (in homes) and sharing expenses," Crowley said.

Higher gasoline prices are a barrier for needy families to get the help they need in Delaware County, he said. "We're getting calls from folks calling for food but (who) don't have the gas to come pick it up."

In the past two years, more than half of the people who have sought emergency food at the Lancaster-Fairfield Community Action Agency are new clients, said Kellie Ailes, executive director.

"Most of the people who come here are employed," she said. "They have lower-than-self-sufficient wages and benefits and need to depend on community resources to stabilize their families."

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