Overnight links for December 9th

First up, a new survey finds that Saskatchewan residents think poverty as the biggest world concern. Writer Tim Switzer filed this story that we found at the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. 

The crisis of water scarcity was touched on in an article A. D. McKenzie filed for the Inter Press Service.

Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen fund has penned another op-ed piece for the Huffington Post. Novogratz presents a new video from the fund that describes how "patient capital" works.

Finally, The Free Press from Mankato, Minnesota takes a look at the latest poverty statistics for their local area.

Minnesota community gives Cameroon girl an education

In our feel good story of the day, we learn of a Cameroon native who was taken in by a Minnesota community. Bright Nfor is receiving an education in the U.S., thanks to the fund-raising efforts of churches in Hawley, Minnesota. The current round of fund-raising is sending Nfor to college. Nfor hopes to study law and return to Cameroon after graduation.

From In Fourm, writer Mila Koumpilova tells us how Nfor arrived in the states.

“It’s been so wonderful to see how the community has embraced Bright,” said Tom Olson, a pastor in rural Hawley. “People see it as a concrete way they can help Africa help itself.”

Olson befriended Bright’s family during his 15 years as a missionary in Africa. Her father, a baker, and mom, a seamstress, pass on their trades to people living in poverty to help them become self-sufficient. They are also active in HIV education and prevention.

A couple of years ago, Bright’s father, Silas, visited Olson in Hawley. He let it slip to Mike Martin, the high school principal, that he’d always wanted to see his eldest daughter go to school in America.

“Wouldn’t it be kind of neat if we gave him his wish?” Martin thought.

So Martin tracked down an exchange student program and, along with his wife, Kate, offered to host Bright. Folks in town threw a hog roast and collected pledges to run the Fargo Marathon, raising more than $8,000 for Bright’s travel expenses.

So last August, Bright arrived in town, “all by myself, just little me.” She noticed she walked a little more slowly and dressed a little more warmly than her new classmates. She had to explain occasionally she doesn’t live in a jungle and doesn’t have a pet lion.

But, “It was not hard fitting in at all,” says Bright, strikingly poised and unfailingly upbeat. “I got accepted from the first day I walked into the school.”

Bright was eager to try everything: She rode a combine, walked on a frozen lake, made a video of a blizzard and drove a snowmobile, crashing into a small tree. She ran cross country and made the third-quarter honor roll.

145,000 Minnesota children living in poverty

Some statistics will be released today to tell us the numbers of Minnesota children in poverty. The report also warns on the effects of poverty on the children, resulting in a "toxic stress" that will hamper development and well being.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, writer Warren Wolfe fills us in.

Rising child poverty means that more Minnesota children are suffering physical and emotional "toxic stress" that, for some, will result in irreversible delays in brain development, according to a new report that tracks 14 indicators of child well-being over the last decade.

Even in the best years, more than 100,000 Minnesota children live poverty. But the past few years have not been good for children, according to the 2009 Kids Count report by the Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota.

About 140,000 Minnesota children were in poverty last year - up from 106,000 in 2001 - and the current recession may have pushed that number as high as 180,000, said Kara Arzamendia, the report's main author and the agency's research director.

"Kids are resilient, and the wonder is that some overcome the effects of poverty," said Jim Koppel, president of the nonprofit agency. "But there's a lot of research that shows a lasting impact of poverty on many children. That hurts the children and it hurts society with more crime, fewer trained workers and a range of social problems."

In its annual Kids Count report, the Children's Defense Fund examines a range of demographic, education, health, income and other government-collected data.

The report expands on a state-by-state analysis by the Annie E. Casey Foundation released in August that found Minnesota second-best among the states.

Somali street gangs in Minnesota

Over 32,000 ex-Somalis have settled into the state of Minnesota. While many flourish with their new lives in America, some young Somali have formed street gangs. The violence amongst the street gangs is on the rise, and has drawn some attention in the national press with the gang killing of Ahmednur Ali who was a student and youth volunteer.

From this Associated Press story that we found at CBS News, a Somali community organizer reacts to the crime.

"It was all gang activity, totally, 100 percent," said Shukri Adan, a former Somali community organizer who estimated in a 2007 report for the city that between 400 and 500 young Somalis were active in gangs. "The police don't want to say that but everybody else knows that."

Despite anger and despair over the killings in Minnesota's Somali community - the nation's largest - police and prosecutors have struggled to catch and try the killers. Few witnesses have stepped forward because of a fear of reprisal and deep-rooted distrust of authority. More than half of Minnesota's Somalis are living in poverty, according to state statistics, and many complain that authorities are biased against Somalis because of their Islamic faith.

Last month, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against the teenage boy in Ali's case after one witness backed out and another apparently fled the state.

Gangs like the Somali Hot Boyz, the Somali Mafia and Madhibaan with Attitude have grown more active in recent years, said Jeanine Brudenell, the Minneapolis Police Department's Somali liaison officer.

The recent spate of killings started in December 2007, when two Somali men, ages 27 and 25, were found shot to death at a south Minneapolis home. No arrests have been made in that case.

They culminated last September, when a man was fatally shot outside of the Village Market Mall, a cluster of Somali-owned businesses and a popular destination for local Somalis. Investigators believe the shooter was retaliating for the death of his cousin, one of the other slain Somalis. The mall shooting was the only of the seven slayings for which anyone was convicted - 23-year-old Hassan Mohamed Abdillahi.
...

A gang expert in California said economic and social factors are more likely to blame for the spike in gang activity than any spillover of violence from war-ravaged Somalia.

"When there's unemployment and poverty and lack of external support, there's gangs," said Jorja Leap, a social welfare professor at the University of California Los Angeles and former gang adviser to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"Missing Meals" a different way of measuring hunger

Second Harvest Heartland of Minnesota released a new study today that measures hunger in a different way. The food bank says that 125 million meals are being missed by people in need.

The St Paul Star Tribune collects other findings from the study. Writer Paul Walsh was at it's presentation.

The "Missing Meals" study is a collection of secondary data that pinpoints exactly how many meals Minnesotans in need are missing. This breaks from the pattern of hunger-relief organizations simply identifying the number of individuals seeking meal assistance.

Among the report's other key findings:

• On average, low-income Minnesotans in the seven county metro area missed 8 percent of their meals.

• About 22 percent of meals for needy Minnesotans is supplied through federal nutrition programs, such as food stamps or school lunch programs.

• There are more than 950,000 Minnesotans who are classified as low-income.

Last year, Second Harvest Heartland assisted with the distribution of 41 million pounds of groceries to hungry seniors, families and children through more than 1,000 non-profit member agencies and programs serving 59 counties in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.2harvest.org.

New affordable car program in Minnesota

One of the problems with being poor in the states is having reliable transportation. You need a car to get a job, but if you don't have a job you can't afford a car. Most who are poor can only afford a cheap car that runs poorly or is about to quit running, those may last for only a month or two.

This Associated Press story, introduces us to a new program in Minnesota that helps the poor get reliable transportation to take them to work, it's called Jump Start Duluth.

It gives low-income people the chance to qualify for a low-interest five-year loan. The applicants have to show they have enough money to afford payments, typically between $100 and $200 monthly. If they qualify, they can choose a car from a nonprofit dealership in Glenwood City, Wis., that buys auction cars with low miles.

Denise Lewis of Duluth remembers scraping together $500 two years ago to buy a 1996 Dodge Neon with 200,000 miles. It looked great but quickly wound up in the repair shop for a broken transmission, and Lewis went without the car for six months until she could afford the repair bill.

Lewis says she nearly cried when she learned this week that she had qualified for the Jump Start program.

A successful program in Portland, Oregon that could work elsewhere

The Northwest Area Foundation is an organization that combats poverty in the northern plains of the US. At a recent meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota an innovative program was spotlighted that the organization hopes to bring to other locations.

The Economic Opportunity Initiative uses a combination of workforce programs and micro enterprise to give people skills that will lift themselves out of poverty.

The Minnesota Spokesman Recorder noted the comments of the programs designer Howard Cutler.

Its main goal is to increase adult participants’ incomes by a minimum of 25 percent after three years, and also to train youth for jobs that will allow them to pursue higher education or a career path. The seven micro-enterprise projects help participants to start or expand small businesses.

Portland’s previous attempts to eliminate poverty only produced minimal results, especially among long-term residents. “There are multiple reasons why an individual is poor,” said Cutler. “Our goal was to use a people-centered strategy, [and] the projects are built around the strengths of the individual.” The essence of the “Portland model,” then, appears to be making a special effort to match individuals who are living in poverty with training and jobs matched to their individual interests and talents.

He announced that this past year the Initiative graduated its first class. Eighty percent of the participants were earning below the federal poverty level when they first enrolled in 2004-05; 51 percent are people of color, and 74 percent were unemployed at the time of enrollment.

According to Cutler, 25-30 percent of the participants “are [young] African Americans,” adding that the enrollees’ incomes have nearly doubled after completing the program.

“Every individual is tracked for three years to see if there is improvement,” he explained. “Our goal is to decrease poverty.”

Cutler said that there are now 2,000 Portland residents enrolled in the Initiative, adding that his program will be needed “as long as poverty exists” in Portland. For the past 18 months, Cutler has been a consultant for “Duluth at Work.”

80 ideas to cure poverty

Minnesota is about to complete a year long commission on poverty. The commission's members have traveled the state to hear from the public, and they have boiled all the comments down into 80 ways to cure poverty.

With the state facing a budget deficit, it's doubtful that all 80 ideas in the report will be implemented right away. Charlie Shaw from the St. Paul Star Ledger looked into the commissions report.

The current draft of the final report contains some 80 recommendations. Because of that number, Gregory Gray, the commission’s director, said the recommendations were divided into seven descriptive categories such as “Making state programs more responsive” and “Preventing and alleviating poverty through a high-quality education system.”

The recommendations will hit the Legislature at a time when the state’s general fund is drowning in red ink. Many would cost the state money to implement. For example, the commission wants to increase the Working Family Credit and other tax credits for low-income workers. The commission also wants the state to guarantee child care for all low-income working families by including all families within 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines in public health care programs.

Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, a co-chairman of the commission, said the group of 18 legislators and two gubernatorial appointees has looked at the benefits the state would receive by paying for these programs. But he acknowledged they wouldn’t come cheap.

“I think … it needs to be aggressive. Unless you believe you’re going to do it in the private sector, it’s logical you would have outlays before 2020,” Mariani said.

Asked if some of the commission’s recommendations can get passed in 2009, Mariani said, “I do. But it’s in the context of hope.”

Fair Trade sale from Minnesota to help Paraguay

We like to plug these whenever we see them.

A fair trade sale is taking place in Minnesota to help people of Paraguay. A village in Paraguay wants to have sinks to wash in. So money raised from this sale in Winona, Minnesota will go to the village, and the Peace Corps volunteers stationed there, to help install sanitation and water.

Also, the fair trade sale sells the goods of craft makers from throughout the world. Goods sold at sales like these help to make sure these people get a decent wage for their work.

The Winona Daily News's Dustin Kass reports on the conditions of the Paraguay village.

Winona Daily News November 4th

Many of Tonya Turben’s neighbors walk half an hour for water, just to fill up a basket that the women can use to wash their family’s laundry, dishes or hands.

Most of their husbands work in nearby fields, toiling long hours for the equivalent of about $5 a day.

Turben helped raise awareness of the concept of fair trade last year as co-director of a Ten Thousand Villages sale in Winona. Now, the Winona State University graduate sees firsthand that paying fair prices for foreign products can help prevent poverty � the kind of poverty she deals with every day as a Peace Corps rural health volunteer in Paraguay. Later this week, local residents can support fair trade and help Turben improve the lives of her South American neighbors by buying items at this year’s sale.

The distance between Winona and the small village where Turben lives can be measured by more than just the miles between them. It can be measured by the luxuries U.S. citizens take for granted � and that those in Paraguay can only dream about.

Turben and her fellow villagers live without running water or indoor plumbing. Most families do not own an oven, so women cook their family’s meals hunched over small fires.

The women of the village recently made getting outdoor sinks a top priority, both for themselves and for the community school. The sinks cost about $15 each, Turben said, and she and the women discussed trying to put some in place before Turben leaves in April 2010.

Organizers of this year’s Ten Thousand Villages sale recently told Turben they will give that effort a huge boost. The third annual event promotes fair trade by featuring products made by artisans from more than 30 different countries, with the product’s creators assured a fair wage for their efforts. Ten percent of this year’s sales will be donated to Turben’s effort to bring sinks to her village. More than $7,800 in merchandise was sold last year.

WHAT: Ten Thousand Villages sale

FEATURES: Handicrafts from all over the world, including scarves, jewelry, stationery, holiday collectables, bracelets, kitchen and home d�cor, toys, games and musical instruments

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, noon to 6 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday

WHERE: Student Union in Kryzsko Commons, Winona State University

Maximum results from microgrants in Minnesota

from the Star Tribune

This article profiles the microcredit program called "Project for Pride", and it's founder Joe Selvaggio. $1,000 dollars can go a long way, even further in these times. - Kale

By LIBBY NELSON

Since 2005, the former Catholic priest and prolific philanthropist has given away more than half a million dollars -- $1,000 at a time -- to what he calls "poor people with potential."

The funds from MicroGrants have bought used cars, laptops and business attire. They've helped restore good credit. They've started a cleaning business that employs immigrant women, a dance studio and a yoga studio. As worries grow about debt and credit in the United States, they also provide a debt-free way for low-income people to catch up and entrepreneurs to get started.

Angie Sandifer, who became a milliner after she was laid off in a Qwest downsizing in 2003, used her grant to buy wood blocks so she could offer a greater range of hat sizes.

"In order to have a lot of styles and sizes, you need to have a lot of blocks," Sandifer said. "I have about 10. There are people who have hundreds, and they're very expensive."

For entrepreneurs like Sandifer, and for people struggling to get by, a $1,000 grant can make a huge difference, said Tina Wombacher, manager of the Project for Pride in Living's Connections to Work program, who has referred many clients to MicroGrants.

MicroGrants began with a simple proposal in 2005. Selvaggio, who had previously founded the nonprofit Project for Pride in Living and co-founded the One Percent Club philanthropy organization, needed something to do in retirement. He approached likely donors with an idea: They could give him money, and he'd pass it along to people who'd use it well. The money would go straight to the recipients, with almost no overhead costs.

He's now giving away $10,000 a week.

The growth was partly luck. A year after the program began, Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh won the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering use of "microcredit," giving small business loans to poor people so they can lift themselves out of poverty.

Suddenly microcredit was in the headlines and MicroGrants' business quadrupled, Selvaggio said.

Selvaggio's grants, though, aren't loans. The money comes with obligations, but repayment isn't one of them.

"We want people to grow equity, not debt," Selvaggio said. "The funders like that concept. They think most Americans borrow too much money anyway."

A microgrant helped Amanda Bridges keep her lights on. Two weeks ago, she came to her PPL job coach, worried that she wouldn't be able to pay her electric and natural gas bills. They totaled more than $500. A few days later, Selvaggio wrote her a check.

"I was just stunned by the amount they gave me," said Bridges.

The program has been "a godsend" in an era of social-service funding cuts, Wombacher said. But she admits giving $1,000 away still can be risky.

"We don't want to have a quick-fix $1,000 scenario where in six months they're going to be in the same boat," Wombacher said. "They need to be ready for it."

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Income erodes, poverty gains in Minnesota

from the Star Tribune

Now it's Minnesota's turn. The census bureau also found that the medium income in Minnesota dropped. - Kale

By WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune

The results reflect the downturn in Minnesota's economy that began two years ago, while the national figures were still improving, said state economist Tom Stinson.

"It's not a surprise," he said. "But the census report does reflect the reality that Minnesota hit the wall in job formation early in 2006 and pretty much stayed there. We probably won't begin to recover until next year."

Even though the report shows Minnesota was declining while national measures were improving, the state remained among the highest in income and lowest in poverty.

Using two-year averages, the report said Minnesota's median income dropped from $59,583 in 2004-2005 to $57,932 in 2006-2007.

That compares with $49,901 nationally, putting Minnesota eighth-highest.

There were about 482,000 Minnesotans in poverty last year, up 60,000 from 2006. The poverty rate rose from 8.2 percent to 9.3 percent.

That dropped Minnesota from fifth-lowest in 2006 to ninth-lowest last year, still well below the national rate of 12.4 percent. The poverty guideline in 2007 was $13,690 for a family of two, or $20,650 for four.

"Our hope is that next year's report won't show any worsening of the situation in Minnesota," Stinson said. "This quarter is probably the strongest of the year, and it will probably be next spring -- my crystal ball's a little cloudy here -- that we begin to see improvement nationally and in Minnesota."

The Legislature responded to recent economic problems with budget cuts "that made it hard for low- to moderate-income workers to make ends meet," said Katherine Blauvelt, policy analyst with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. She urged lawmakers to find different solutions as they face another deficit next year.

There was a bright spot in Tuesday's census report.

The number of Minnesotans without health insurance dropped by about 42,000 people to 433,000, from 9.2 percent of the population to 8.3 percent.

With the national rate at 15.3 percent, Minnesota ranked fourth-lowest in the percentage of uninsured.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Worldwide fair, local trade

from The Lake Elmo Leader

by Andy Blenkush

A woman named Sonny grows basil in the St. Croix River Valley. Miguel farms coffee in Peru. At Freeset Bags in India, women seeking freedom from the streets of Calcutta’s red light district can find work at Freeset to earn wages in a safe environment.

These people share a common denominator – they seek a fair price for their work.

Fair Trade is not a buzzword. It is an international movement gaining momentum across the globe, nation, state and St. Croix River Valley. Fair Trade networks strive for equality within international trading. It seeks to give farmers and artisans who struggle in today’s economics humane working conditions, educational resources and livable wages that allow them to compete in various markets worldwide.

River Market Community Co-op and Trade Expressions are two Valley-based businesses that recently delved into Fair Trade. The businesses look to expand the Fair Trade products they sell while educating people on a topic that is often under-publicized and difficult to understand.

“I hadn’t even heard, honestly, of fair trade a couple years ago,” Steve Ackerson said, who starting Trade Expressions, an on-line store that sells Fair Trade merchandise within school and church fundraisers.

During a trip to Costa Rica two years ago, Ackerson noticed the high literacy, resources and abundance of talent in the people living there. He also took note of the living conditions.

“I was appalled by the poverty level and shocked that people with so much talent aren’t able to bring their stuff into a larger market,” he said. “I just thought, ‘How can we help these very talented people bring their products to a broader market, a market that actually has dollars?’ I started looking around and found out about Fair Trade.”

Jenn Posterick, marketing and membership manager at River Market Community Co-op in downtown Stillwater, recently traveled to Peru on an educational trip revolving around Fair Trade and co-ops. Posterick was educated in Fair Trade, but the trip was every bit as eye-opening as she toured Peruvian coffee and produce co-ops to learn about Fair Trade and co-op education.

“We spent a lot of time [on the trip] saying ‘who the heck am I?’” Posterick said.

Many of the farmsteads visited are multi-generational. Witness to poverty and harsh working conditions, Posterick returned from Peru more determined to implement Fair Trade products into the inventory at River Market.

“We are working toward importing economically responsible products,” Posterick said. We buy fair trade whenever possible. We have a lot of fair trade nuts and chocolate. Coffee is the biggest one. It’s really their labor of love that put these items on our sales floor.”

A set of criteria established by the International Fair Trade Association, a governing body in the movement, must be met before gaining the Fair Trade Organization stamp of approval.

Those standards include creating opportunity for economically disadvantaged producers, transparency in book-keeping, helping producers gain marketing skills, giving a fair price for merchandise, demonstrating gender equality, promoting humane working conditions and promoting Fair Trade.

The criteria are set too loose for Ackerson’s liking.

“I would like to see international standards,” he said. “I would like to see that the Fair Trade label has a consistent meaning for everyone in the world, that people know exactly what it means.

“Right now, I think there is a real lack of clarity over what it means,” continued Ackerson. “Because of that there are a lot of opportunities for people to kind of capitalize on it, on its growing popularity.”

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Low Income Fellows Program—A strategy to end poverty

By Mary Thoemke , TC Daily Planet
March 10, 2008

In the 44 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty, efforts to eliminate the vicious cycle of poverty have revolved around delivering services and commodities to the poor. Now a new way of thinking is emerging, one that focuses on creating community action against poverty by building coalitions that are needed to bring about change, to empower the poor, and to teach them to advocate for themselves so their voices are heard.

The Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Ramsey and Washington Counties developed the Low-Income Fellows Program in 2004 as a key part of its Blueprint to End Poverty. The Community Blueprint was designed to ensure the participation of low-income individuals and to increase low-income leadership around poverty issues.

In April, the Fellows Program will begin its fifth training class. Since the program began in 2004, 57 Fellows have participated in the six-month long program. Fellows are selected based on their past community involvement and their interest in addressing the issues and impact of poverty; they must also be representative of the cultural diversity of those in poverty. The program is funded by grants from the Minneapolis Foundation and the Bremer Foundation.

Once in the program, fellows take classes with an emphasis on leadership training and development, and receive a generous stipend for their participation. They attend monthly meetings to reflect on and examine their experiences. They learn how to apply their individual skills in relation to the Community Blueprint activities.

I recently visited with three alumni of the program and listened to their stories.

Roy Jackson

Roy Jackson left a job as a director of Parks and Recreation in Minneapolis to go back to school to finish earning his college degree. Due to his mother’s illness and death, he had to drop out of college with only 30 hours left to go. Unable to find a job, Jackson lost confidence.

“I began to doubt myself,” he says. “I needed to get on the right track. I needed a vehicle to give me back my self-worth.” Jackson credits the fellows program with helping him regain his self-confidence and giving him the chance to meet other people “who were going through the same things.”

After completing the fellows program, Jackson was accepted into the Wellstone Action Fellows Program and graduated in January. He is now working at CAP in a five-month training program. Jackson says that “the beginning of my process to get back into the community started with the Blueprint.”

Sina Black

Sina Black volunteered at CAP in 2003. She helped with voter registration at community events and put together a database for the East Metro Community Voting Project. At the time, she was participating in Project Success, another CAP program that provides support to individuals trying to become self-sufficient. Her case manager referred her to the fellows program. Hayes has high praise for Black’s organizational abilities.

Having graduated from the fellows program, Black now works at CAP as a Community Engagement Associate. Sina says that the fellows program has made a real difference in her life. “It has definitely helped my family,” she says.

Tonya Draughn

Tonya Draughn knows what is like to live in poverty. She remembers the pain of being homeless. When she realized that her family needed help, she figured out how to navigate all of the systems that are there to help, but do not necessarily lift the poor out of poverty.

Her family’s experiences in homeless shelters raised her awareness of the cycle of poverty, as she began to notice many people going through the cycle again and again. She began questioning the way things were done. She made herself a promise that if ever given an opportunity to become involved, she would speak out.

Draughn was born and raised in St. Paul. As a child, she says, “I was lucky enough to have parents who provided for me. I never experienced poverty until I was on my own, with a child and a husband.” She now works for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

LIFT

While in the program, fellows become very connected to one another and come to regard each other as family, says JoAnn Tesar, CAP’s Executive Associate of Civic and Community Engagement. She says, “Most of our participants have not been involved in a group like this, other than in a therapeutic setting. They’re staying very bonded and connected.”

That need to stay connected has brought about an unexpected outcome, the formation of a Fellows alumni group. Draughn is the chairperson of the group, which is called LIFT (Low Income Fellows Together).

As a group, the alumni have gone out to advocate for the poor. They attend community festivals and events, and presented a workshop at the national Community Action Partnership’s annual convention.

Some alums are Capitol regulars, and have become heavily involved with the Legislative Commission to End Poverty, chaired by State Senator John Marty. Draughn recalls when her group of fellows approached Sen. Marty and asked him if they could help. “At that point,” she says, “he became our champion.” They are currently working with Sen. Marty and Rep. Carlos Mariani to create a formal advisory role to the commission.

By all accounts, the Low Income Fellows Program has exceeded expectations. Hayes says that in the beginning, “We hoped that individuals would be able to go on their own. We hoped that two or three people would get together.” Instead, she says, the program has grown and may someday help to bring about a critical mass of the poor and formerly poor advocating for themselves “It becomes real people power.”

CAP History
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a War on Poverty. St. Paul Mayor George Vavoulis and United Way Planner William Hoffman traveled to Washington D.C. to request funding from the newly created Office of Economic Opportunity, and William Hoffman became the first executive director of the Ramsey County Citizens Committee on Economic Opportunity (RCCCEO).

Originally, the RCCCEO served as a grant pass-through agency that funded other agencies to deliver services. In those early years, the agency focused primarily on the target areas of Summit-University, Selby-Dale, Frogtown, and West 7th Street neighborhoods, later expanding to include the West Side and the North End.

Each of the targeted areas identified its own needs and developed its own initiatives, which led the agency to offer food commodities and crisis assistance as well as community organizing opportunities to people with low incomes.

Through the years, spin-off programs were created, including the Westside Health Clinic and FARE for All. FARE for All was affiliated with the national group, a program encouraging participants to volunteer two hours of their time each month, in return for an opportunity to buy food or furniture at reduced prices.

In the late 1970s, the name of the agency changed to Ramsey Action Programs, Inc. (RAP) to emphasize the agency’s role in taking action against funding cuts that targeted programs for low-income people. New programs including Senior Nutrition and FARE Share began, and existing programs like Head Start and community organizing expanded.

In 2004, the agency became the Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties. The new name signified the agency’s re-focused strategy as a community catalyst for change and its expanded service area.

In the beginning, the fight was to amplify the voices of low-income people by grassroots organizing, holding demonstrations and marches, and challenging the bureaucracy. Today, although the purpose is the same, CAP operates a little differently: by using data as documentation, building alliances and partnerships, and by educating funders and policy makers.

Thanks to Kirk Hayes, Executive Director of Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Ramsey and Washington Counties, and to JoAnn Tesar and Sandie Albarella—also of CAP—for supplying information on the organization’s history.

Mary Thoemke, a lifelong resident of St. Paul, lives in the North End neighborhood. Now working as a freelance writer, Mary is retired from the St. Paul Public Schools. She also served as editor of the North End News, a community newspaper.

Rochester woman continues struggle with poverty

from the Post Bulletin

By Laura Gossman

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Kathy French has lived in poverty most of her life.

The 28-year-old Rochester woman grew up in the housing projects in Winona and remembers moving from one home to the next.

"I went to eight different elementary schools," French said.

Recent statistics seem to show poverty on the rise in Rochester.

French and her son are not the only people feeling the effects of poverty.

A total of 26,908 people in the seven-county area were below the poverty level in 2005, and poverty rates seemed to have increased in all seven counties between 2000 and 2005.

French's mother, Linda Bradford, was a single mom with four children. French was the youngest.

The family eventually moved to Rochester, where her mother found a job with Olmsted County.

When French was 18, she moved to Michigan, got married and had her first son, Jerome. She and her husband divorced, but have remained friends. Her ex-husband has custody of Jerome and she visits whenever she can afford it.

"After leaving, I lived with whatever friends would take me in," she said. "I was basically homeless."

She had her younger son, Donald, 7, when she was 21. She has lived in a few different low-income apartments in Rochester but she and Donald are currently living with her mother.

"I doubt I'll ever be able to afford my own house," she said.

About four years ago, French got a job as an appointment coordinator at Mayo Clinic.

She was paid $13.77 an hour and their lives took a turn for the better. Other than help from Child Care Resource and Referral, she no longer needed any assistance from the county.

Nonetheless, after paying her bills, she'd be left with only $90 for gas and groceries, she said.

In August, she became sick and had to miss work to go to her doctor appointments.

"They (Mayo Clinic) needed someone there and I just wasn't able to be there," French said. "I understand why I lost my job."

Since then, she has collected unemployment and she and her son now get their health insurance through medical assistance programs.

While she hasn't been working, French has been volunteering her time at her son's school, the United Way of Olmsted County and the Dorothy Day Hospitality House. She's also taken a resume writing class.

A majority of her time has been spent advocating for others who are suffering from poverty.

French became a board member of Olmsted County's Community Action Program and gave state legislators a tour of several assistance programs and homeless shelters throughout southeastern Minnesota recently.

Most people who are living in poverty are too proud or ashamed to seek help, she said.

"When people think of poverty, they think of people who are living on the streets," French said.

She said this picture isn't accurate.

Poverty on the rise in southeastern Minnesota

from the Post-Bulletin

By Laura Gossman

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Getting out of poverty isn't so easy.

Just ask Kathy French. She lost her job after illness forced her to miss work. Now her unemployment is about to run out. She has filled out numerous job application, but hasn't gotten any offers.

"I know a degree would be a big help, but I can't afford to go to school," she said. "I'll probably have to take a job at Kwik Trip or McDonald's."

A recent survey from the census bureau pointed to an increase in poverty in southeastern Minnesota, and several other indicators seem to confirm that.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2005, an estimated 8,685 people in Olmsted County were impoverished, compared to 6,818 in 2000. Surrounding counties also saw an increase.

These numbers are difficult to compare because they come from two different surveys, census officials say. But poverty's rise is also reflected in rising demand for low-income housing and busy homeless shelters.

Nan Madden, director of the Minnesota Budget Project, said Minnesota's median household income has dropped since 2001, and most of the benefits of economic growth are going to the wealthy. The Minnesota Budget Project does research, analysis and advocacy on budget and tax issues and emphasizes their impact on low and moderate-income Minnesotans.

"The state is losing jobs and creating new ones that don't pay as well," Madden said.

State budget cuts to child care assistance and health care programs have hurt those in poverty.

Olmsted County planning director Phil Wheeler said the number of immigrants who have come to the Rochester area for employment could be a factor in poverty growth.

In Olmsted County, 15.3 percent of non-white or Hispanic people are below the poverty threshold compared to 5.4 percent of whites or non-Hispanics, Wheeler said. However, Wheeler quickly pointed out that 70 percent of those who are in poverty are white.

Poverty growth can also be seen in the increased need for low-income public housing. Olmsted County has found reason to support construction of more low-income public housing, Wheeler said.

The county is currently working on two public housing projects and privately-owned low-income housing is also being constructed, Wheeler said.

Rochester homeless shelters have also seen an heightened need for their services. Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Rochester, which offers food shelter and security to families in financial crisis, served about 26 families last year.

"Its the busiest we've ever been." executive director Joanne Markee said.

The network operates 365 days a year and has room for 14 people. The program works with churches, which host families for a week at a time.

Poverty panel makes a swing through region

from The Post Bulletin

By Christina Killion Valdez
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Without a job and in need of medical care, Kathy French stood in line outside the Salvation Army Free Clinic last August in hopes of seeing a doctor. Now she's asking members of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota to get in line, too.

The commission, which is made up of 18 legislators and two citizens, will be in Rochester on Thursday as part of the final leg of a statewide listening tour focused on poverty.

"The whole point of this listening tour is for them to understand what poverty looks like in Minnesota," said French, who helped organize the tour of southeastern Minnesota, including stops in Rochester, Winona, Albert Lea and Faribault.

To French, the line best represents the struggle people in poverty in Rochester face. Every person in that line has a different story about why and how they got there. They also differ in their struggles to find transportation, day care and other basic needs, including affordable health care.

"It really needs to be seen, especially right now," French said, referring to the bitter cold temperatures. "Those doors are locked until just before 4 p.m. People wait outside, because if you don't get there early, you won't get an appointment."

In addition to touring the Salvation Army Free Clinic, the commissioners will visit Riverside Central Elementary, tour the Good Samaritan Dental Clinic and have dinner with residents at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House, Rochester's shelter for homeless adults and, occasionally, their children.

Sharing her story

The tour ends with a public forum on poverty. To open the discussion, French said, some people struggling with poverty will share their stories, including herself.

Her role in the project came in part because she is on the Olmsted County Community Action Program board and co-chairs the Coalition for Economic Opportunity and in part because of her experience.

French grew up one of four children raised by a single mother and became a mother at age 18. Financial problems set in when one of her children was born with medical problems, she said. She has slowly worked her way off the system. But when she lost her job as an administrative assistant in August, she said, "it put me back at square one."

Now she's trying to help herself and others.

"Our leaders in the Legislature and county are pretty aware of the level of poverty here," French said. "It's just a matter of getting the state people to understand the depth and volume of poverty. They think it only affects a few people. Unfortunately, it's getting to be more and more."

Open forum on poverty

When: 6:25 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: 115 First Ave. N.E. in Rochester, the former Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Hosts: The Legislative Commission to End Poverty and the Rochester Area Coalition for Economic Opportunity.

Watonwan County's war on poverty

from the St James Plain Dealer

By Mark Anderson, Staff Writer

For the second time in a month, Watonwan County had a chance to tell lawmakers how they can help us.

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, state legislators held an early childhood hearing in St. James. A separate committee, the Legislative Commission To End Poverty In Minnesota By 2020, made a brief stop in St. James on Thursday, Jan. 10.

The End Poverty Commission is in a fact-finding mode, and just wanted to hear what is going on in St. James to end poverty. “We are here to serve the people of Minnesota,” said Gregory Gray, the commission director.

Mario Garcia of St. James told the commission that education is the most important aspect of solving the poverty issue. He said people in this area are looking for educational opportunities to improve their low-wage jobs, and spend more time with their families. Joining in with support for education were Martha Gracia and Ana Gonzalez, who told about the importance of the Family Literacy program in helping both parents and children improve their standing in the community. Maria Martinez gave herself as a living example of that change. She was a Family Literacy student 10 years ago, and now has gained citizenship, employment, and is a Family Literacy interpreter. “I spoke no English when I came here,” she said, “I feel good now.”

Their first stops were in St. Peter and Mankato, and three St. James representatives were able to talk to the commission members on the way here from Mankato. Sue Harris, Mario Garcia and DeeAnn Gieseke gave the legislators a St. James packet and presentation.

Part of the packet was an outline of what we are currently doing to combat poverty, and suggestions of what they can do to help.

That outline was drafted by Harris and developed on Tuesday, Jan. 8, by a few concerned citizens, Sharon Dexheimer, Kathy Carlson, Mario Garcia, Rich Collins, Don Crissinger-Clark and Mark Anderson of the St. James Plaindealer.

The outline shows that Watonwan County has three places that work on poverty issues every day: Human Services, schools, and the Minnesota Valley Action Corporation (MVAC). Other services are offered to aid people in poverty, such as food shelves and city programs.

Horizons is a new poverty fighter that emerged in 2007. It is attempting to raise the level of action for all citizens, and is specifically targeting residents from all areas of the population to get involved in the rising tide.

Other categories of fighting poverty are stopping racism and efforts in St. James to create new assets, such as the new hospital and clinic, new Human Services building, and library. Rural school districts, especially those in high-poverty areas like St. James, are still struggling to keep up with building needs.

Poverty rates grow in Olmsted County

from the Post Bulletin

By Laura Gossman

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

From 2000 to 2005, the number of people in southeastern Minnesota below the poverty line grew by about 7,000 people -- roughly equivalent to the population of Stewartville, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A total of 26,908 in the seven-county area were below the poverty level in 2005, and poverty rates increased in all seven counties between 2000 and 2005.

In Olmsted County, the poverty rate went from 5.4 percent in 2000 to 6.6 percent in 2005. Winona County saw the biggest jump, from 8.5 percent in 2000 to 14.1 percent in 2005.

Statewide, the poverty rate was 9.2 percent in 2005, up from 6.9 percent in 2000.

Olmsted County community service director Paul Fleissner said he's seen more people needing government assistance.

"Applications for medical assistance have exploded," Fleissner said. "We can barely keep up."

Last year, his department saw 9,500 applications for medical assistance programs such as MinnesotaCare, a jointly funded, federal-state program that offers subsidized health coverage to eligible Minnesotans.

Mina Wilson, director of Olmsted County's Family Support and Assistance Division, also has seen an increase in people seeking health care assistance.

In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau considered a family of four with a gross income of $19,350 or less to be at poverty level.

Group aims to put end to poverty

from The Worthington Daily Globe

Kari Lucin
Worthington Daily Globe

WORTHINGTON — Four members of Minnesota’s Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020 visited Worthington Friday to hear southwest Minnesotans speak about their experiences in and with poverty and the government programs that deal with it.

“My definition of poverty is when you’re so low that you run into this tunnel and you can’t find your way out and there’s no light at the end,” said Madeline Vander Wol of Slayton, whose four children attended the Southwestern Minnesota Opportunity Council’s Head Start program.

Vander Wol was one of several people to tell their stories to commission members Rep. Morrie Lanning, Sen. John Marty, Gregory Gray and Donna Bauer.

The image of someone in poverty is often someone who doesn’t have an education or who cannot think for themselves, Vander Wol said, but she already had a bachelor’s degree in social work when she needed help.

She also had four children and lived on a farm with only 100 dairy cows that had to support the entire family. The children had severe food allergies that forced Vander Wol to spend $30 a day just on formula for one baby. Although Vander Wol herself was willing to try to find help for her children, her husband worried about the social stigma of asking for it.

Eventually Vander Wol received assistance from SMOC’s Head Start, even though she had already been refused by the welfare program. Head Start was there for the family, Vander Wol said, not just the children.

“Sometimes poverty is just (for) a season,” Vander Wol said. “For me, it was.”

Through involvement with Head Start, she became interested in early childhood education and went back to school to get licensed to teach. Vander Wol’s family no longer needs assistance — their situation was only temporary.

Jessica Zuniga’s encounter with poverty in Worthington was also temporary. She found herself pregnant, desperately poor and essentially homeless. After receiving help from SMOC and a Habitat for Humanity home, she started working for SMOC and now her family needs no assistance.

A refugee from Eritrea spoke about his experience with poverty through a translator, noting that he was receiving job training and taking English classes. SMOC helped him have hope for the future.

Others at the meeting stated their concern that poverty-related issues seen as urban issues would increasingly become rural issues as people migrate from the Metro area to rural Minnesota in search of jobs and cheaper housing.

Financial assistance for childcare was another issue people were concerned about, as well as the availability of childcare in general.

Sen. Jim Vickerman asked the Commission to look into veterans’ poverty issues.

After the meeting at SMOC, the commission headed to SMOC’s Head Start and then to the Manna Food Pantry, where they learned about the programs and facilities available to the poor.

The Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020 also visited St. Peter, Mankato, St. James, Windom, Mountain Lake, Jackson and Marshall.

Commission hopes tour sheds light on poverty

from the West Central Tribune

Carolyn Lange

WILLMAR — Being poor, and unable to afford decent housing, is one reason why victims of domestic assault often return to their abusive partners.

Usually women will return to the batterer seven times because they can’t afford to live on their own, said Sharon Mace, the advocacy programs coordinator for Shelter House Inc. in Willmar.

Mace told members of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020 that more affordable housing is necessary in rural communities like Willmar and that transitional housing “would be like a dream come true.”

Without affordable housing, women trying to escape domestic abuse are at risk of being homeless or living in substandard conditions that aren’t healthy for the woman or her children, said Mace, who had the ear of the 18-member legislative group during a tour Wednesday.

Established by the Legislature in 2006, the commission spent Wednesday touring Meeker and Kandiyohi counties. Under state law they are charged with making recommendations for how to end poverty by 2020.

They will use a set of “guiding principles” that includes the tenet that “things that protect human dignity and makes for a healthy life, including adequate food and shelter, meaningful work, safe communities, health care and education” should be provided to “all people.”

Sen. Steve Dille, R-Dassel, said the goal is laudable but not realistic.

“Frankly, I think this is an impossible goal. To eliminate poverty by the year 2020 — can’t do it,” Dille said.

What the state can do, Dille said, is help raise up those living on the bottom of the economic spectrum and decrease the poverty rate. One of the best ways to do that, Dille said, is to improve education.

Low-wage jobs, inadequate housing, transportation issues and rising costs for health care and food all present challenges that make it difficult for families to afford the “basic needs” of life, said commission member Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis.

The commission members have toured rural and urban areas. “Folks who are struggling with issues around poverty have a lot in common all over the entire state,” he said.

Deb Brandt, from Heartland Community Action Agency in Willmar, said some components of poverty that exist in urban areas are “magnified” in rural areas.

Brandt, who accompanied the legislators during the day-long tour that included going to about a half-dozen different communities, said the metro lawmakers got a firsthand look at how many miles people living in small towns have to travel to get to their jobs.

And, Brandt said, those jobs may pay $8 to $9 an hour, leaving $5 to $6 an hour as take-home pay.

“A lot of people are working and they’re still poor,” Dibble said.

One crisis can “launch a family living on the limits” into an economic disaster, he said. “It seems as if something has changed in our society that when people fall into poverty, it’s more difficult for them to get out.”

Dille said higher-paying jobs are needed.

Brandt said a business owner in Buffalo Lake told the legislators that he would like to pay his workers more, but he has to protect his bottom line and can’t afford to pay workers more than $8 an hour.

While traveling on the tour bus Wednesday, Brandt said legislators heard from several Willmar students about growing up in poverty. They did not have money for computers or extracurricular activities and sometimes had to miss school to take care of a sick sibling so that their parents could go to work.

“They eloquently spoke from their hearts. They had us all in tears,” Brandt said.

New immigrants who are trying to improve their economic standards are taking chances and opening new businesses in Willmar.

There are currently 36 ethnic businesses in downtown Willmar, said Roberto Valdez Jr., coordinator for the Willmar Area Multicultural Market.

Some of those immigrant entrepreneurs need a financial boost to get started, and new residents may need education about the economic culture of this country that could help address poverty issues, said Abdi Duh, executive director of the Coalition of African Community Services Center in Willmar.

Duh showed legislators seven new ethnic businesses that opened within the past five months in the Centre Point Mall in downtown Willmar. The lawmakers also got a quick look at the mosque in the upper level of the mall. Duh said there are nearly 3,100 East Africans currently living in Willmar.

Dibble said legislators “won’t come up with the magic solution from St. Paul” to eliminate poverty. Some of the current successes are happening because of community programs and support.