[Comment] The poor are getting desperate for food -- right in NH

from The Union Leader

By MELANIE GOSSELIN
New Hampshire Food Bank

PEOPLE IN New Hampshire are going hungry, and who they are may surprise you. They're our friends, our neighbors, our relatives -- people working multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Across the state and throughout the country, rising food prices are having an impact. Nowhere has this been clearer than here at the New Hampshire Food Bank, where requests for food are already up more than 46 percent over last year.

As the only food bank in the state, we serve more than 350 agencies statewide, from soup kitchens and after-school programs to community centers and food pantries. We continue to see the effects of hunger and food prices firsthand.

After years of moderate food price inflation (2 to 3 percent per year), the overall prices for grocery stores rose by an alarming 5 percent last year. This is partly due to a ripple effect from the rising costs of fuel, transportation and more corn products being diverted to ethanol production. The December to December price increases for certain sectors show some disturbing trends. Cereals and bakery items rose by 5.6 percent, poultry by 6.3 percent, dairy by 13.4 percent, and eggs by 32.6 percent. These facts all came from a recent publication by America's Second Harvest, the nation's network of food banks.

For those who live near or below the poverty level, the rising cost of food can have a devastating effect. Food stamps and WIC programs are buying less, and many times these families are already stretched to the limit and cannot afford an increased grocery bill.

As more of our neighbors turn to their local food pantries and agencies, the demand for food from the Food Bank grows. But so does the call to action. Everyday I hear from people who want to know what they can do to help.

With that in mind, there is something you can do. You can advocate and educate on the issues of food price increases -- the causes and the solutions. If you have a garden, or a plot with a community garden, you can plant an extra row of vegetables to donate to a food pantry. Growing nutritious food to help our neighbors is a great way to feed those who are suffering, and creative solutions like this are taking hold all over the state.

You can also make a personal donation to the Food Bank or to your local food pantries. Right now there is a strong demand for nutritious, canned protein products -- canned chicken and tuna, and peanut butter. These are the staples that families need, along with other non-perishable foods. Your financial donation to the Food Bank can make a powerful difference, as we leverage our buying power to turn each dollar into four meals. For a gift of $20, you can provide lunch or dinner to 80 people.

New Hampshire is a generous state, and many of us, if asked by a friend for help, are willing to lend a hand. You can help the families who are being most affected by rising food prices by working with your local food pantry to find solutions to the problem of hunger.

Melanie Gosselin is executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of New Hampshire Catholic Charities.

Poverty workshop set for Tuesday

from Foster's Daily Democrat

By Shawn P. Sullivan
Sanford News Editor

SANFORD — Town officials will hold a workshop on Tuesday night to discuss strategies to help those living in poverty in Sanford.

The public is invited to the forum, which will start in council chambers at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the Town Hall Annex. The proceedings will be broadcast live on Metrocast Channel 12.

It has been three weeks since Sanford Junior High School Principal Becky Brink delivered her presentation about local poverty to a gathering that included members of Sanford's town council, planning board and school and finance committees. Brink told officials that 65 percent of students enrolled in Sanford's school system live in poverty — a figure based on the number of students who meet federal guidelines to be eligible to receive free or reduced lunch.

To give local poverty a face, Brink told the audience about two students who attended her school. One student could not take care of his hygiene because his family could not afford a washing machine or money for the local laundry — his father was unemployed, his mother was dying from an illness, and their car sat broken down in their driveway. A second student would refuse to part with his coat because at home he had to use it as his bed in a dwelling with holes in the wall and without flooring.

During the three weeks since Brink's presentation on Jan. 22, town officials — and others in the community who have wanted to get involved — have been reading "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," a book written by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D. Brink handed out copies of the book during her presentation, so that it could serve as the centerpiece of Tuesday's workshop.

Brink gave participants a homework assignment — read three chapters a week between Jan. 22 and Feb. 12. On Tuesday, town officials will discuss the book and break up into groups to develop strategies for a hands-on approach to lifting residents out of poverty.

The book's first three chapters define "poverty," explore its language, and reveal the "hidden rules" among the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

The fourth chapter discusses generational poverty, the kind experienced by families for decades or longer. The next two chapters focus on the role models and resources that those in poverty seek out, as well as the support groups with which they surround themselves.

The final three chapters of the book provide a blueprint for improving the lives of those in poverty through teaching discipline, inspiring achievement and creating relationships.

During the Jan. 22 workshop, town officials filled out a questionnaire designed to reveal how effectively they'd manage their lives if they lived in poverty, existed in the middle class, or enjoyed wealth. The test asked each person to check off tasks they know how to perform in the three lifestyles.

The "poverty" section of the questionnaire asked the individual if he or she knew how to find the best rummage sales; locate garbage bins at grocery stores that throw out food; bail someone out of jail; physically fight and defend themselves; entertain their friends only with their personality and stories; move to a new place to live in half a day; use a knife as scissors; manage without electricity, a phone, a car or a checking account; prevent their clothes from being stolen at the laundry; and so on.

The "middle-class" section asked the individual if he or she knew how to set a table properly; help their children with their homework; decorate the house for each holiday; get a library card; get the best interest rate on a car loan; use a credit card or a checking or savings account; discuss college with their children; evaluate different kinds of insurance; carry out repairs at their house or call a professional who can do it for them; explain the differences among the principal, interest and escrow statements on their house; and more.

Lastly, the "wealth" section of the exercise asked the individual if he or she knew how to read a menu in English, French and another language; hire a professional decorator to help decorate their home during the holidays; name their preferred financial adviser, lawyer, designer, hairdresser and domestic-employment service; enroll their children in their preferred private school; support or buy the work of a particular artist; own two homes and keep them staffed and maintained; name their favorite restaurants in countries around the world; read a corporate balance sheet or analyze their own financial statements; and more.

Since her presentation last month, Brink said she has received dozens of phone calls and e-mails from people interested in joining the discussion about Sanford's poverty and trying to help solve the problem. She said as many as 18 people — not all parents — showed up at the junior high school and asked what they could do to help.

Brink said last week that she has handed out the extra copies of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty"and needs to order more.

"It is overwhelming, and it shows that poverty is a real concern," she said. "People understand and want to help solve the problem."

She added that she also has received offers of donations of clothing, money and furniture to help poverty-stricken students and their families.

A Student Assistance Team, operated by teachers, uses the funds to buy clothes, sporting equipment, musical instruments and other items to help economically disadvantaged students stay warm and get involved in school, Brink said.

"The more students get involved in sports or any other after-school activity, the more they are involved in school," she said.

While the donations are appreciated and welcome, Brink noted, they also serve more as a "Band-Aid," a short-term reprieve for a long-standing problem. The key is to move those in poverty into the middle class.

On Tuesday, town officials will begin developing strategies that they hope will accomplish that goal.

"What direction do we want to take?" Brink asked. "How do we teach people to come up out of poverty and help themselves?

Community leaders begin seeking solutions to Sanford's high poverty rate

from the Foster's Daily Democrat

By Shawn P. Sullivan

SANFORD — The student needed a bath. He was offending the other kids with the way he smelled.

Some teachers told Becky Brink, the principal at Sanford Junior High School, to make the young man wash. Brink didn't think the situation was that simple.

She visited the student's home. She found heartbreak there. His father had been laid off from work, and his mother was ill and dying. The family's car was broken down in the driveway, and they didn't own a washing machine. And they had no money to bring their clothes to a laundromat.

"That was the start of our staff knowing that they had to do something" about the poverty at the junior high school, Brink told a gathering of town officials on Tuesday night.

Teachers at the school raised money and bought a new washing machine for the family.

The school's quest to understand poverty and lift up those who struggle in its shadows had begun.

During a Town Council workshop on Tuesday, Brink delivered a presentation on poverty in Sanford. According to Brink, 65 percent of Sanford residents live in poverty. Children of poverty are at a disadvantage at school, Brink said, because schools tend to operate within a middle-class culture.

"We have to show our children and train them to move into the middle class to be successful," Brink said.

The workshop attracted a cross-section of local officials that included members of the Town Council, the school and finance committees, and the Planning Board. Brink even had some assistance with her presentation — Town Manager Mark Green and Planning Director Jim Gulnac, for example, helped pass out materials to the audience.

The workshop kicked off what will be a three-week exercise for community leaders to develop a better understanding about the language, mindsets and lifestyle of those in town who live in poverty. At the centerpiece of the discussion will be "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," a book written by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D.

Brink handed out copies of the book to town officials and then — like a born educator — outlined a course of study and gave them homework.

During the next week, town officials will read the book's first three chapters, which define "poverty," explore its language, and reveal the "hidden rules" among the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

Officials will spend the second week working through the next three chapters. The first chapter discusses generational poverty, the kind experienced by families for decades or longer. The other two chapters focus on the role models and resources that those in poverty seek out, as well as the support groups with which they surround themselves.

Officials will finish the book during the third week by reading chapters that provide a blueprint for improving the lives of those in poverty through teaching discipline, inspiring achievement and creating relationships.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, Brink and the town officials will gather once more, for a full discussion of the book during a council workshop in the town hall annex at 7 p.m. The public is invited.

Anyone who wishes to join the discussion is welcome to pick up copies of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" at either the town's planning office at the Town Hall or the Sanford Junior High School. Brink said there may soon be copies of the book available at the local libraries, too.

During Tuesday's workshop, Brink handed out a questionnaire to help everyone in the audience determine how effectively they'd navigate their lives if they lived in poverty, existed in the middle class, or found themselves among the wealthy. Specifically, the test called for each person to check off tasks they know how to perform in the three categories of poverty, middle class and wealth.

The "poverty" section of the questionnaire, for example, asked the individual if he or she knew how to find the best rummage sales; locate garbage bins at grocery stores that throw out food; bail someone out of jail; physically fight and defend themselves; entertain their friends only with their personality and stories; move to a new place to live in half a day; use a knife as scissors; manage without electricity, a phone, a car or a checking account; prevent their clothes from being stolen at the laundromat; and so on.

The "middle-class" section of the quiz asked the individual if he or she knew how to set a table properly; help their children with their homework; decorate the house for each holiday; get a library card; get the best interest rate on a car loan; use a credit card or a checking or savings account; discuss college with their children; evaluate different kinds of insurance; carry out repairs at their house or call a professional who can do it for them; explain the differences among the principal, interest and escrow statements on their house; and more.

Finally, the "wealth" section of the exercise asked the individual if he or she knew how to read a menu in English, French and another language; hire a professional decorator to help decorate their home during the holidays; name their preferred financial adviser, lawyer, designer, hairdresser and domestic-employment service; enroll their children in their preferred private school; support or buy the work of a particular artist; own two homes and keep them staffed and maintained; name their favorite restaurants in countries around the world; read a corporate balance sheet or analyze their own financial statements; and more.

"I am definitely stuck in the middle," one member of the audience noted upon completing the questionnaire.

Brink is hoping the questionnaire — and the reading, discussing and strategizing to take place in the weeks ahead — will help make people in the community aware of the poverty that surrounds them. Furthermore, she hopes such efforts will inspire them to help others move out of poverty into a better life.

The student with dirty clothes, an unemployed father, and a dying mother is not alone. On Tuesday, Brink talked about another youth of the many she has encountered at her school.

This teenager had a coat that he refused to hang in his locker, no matter how many times his teachers instructed him to do so.

The student's teachers took his refusal for defiance and asked Brink to make him hang his coat in his locker.

Again, Brink handled the matter by first visiting the student's home. She found living quarters without flooring and furniture. She saw holes in walls. And she learned that the student needed his coat because he used it as his bed.

"If that kid let go of his bed," Brink said, "then somebody might take it from him. It was very important to him."

Students push for Fair Trade products in Portsmouth

from the Portsmouth Herald News

By Susan Nolan
snolan@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH — Two young "manufacturer's reps" will be canvassing the city over the next few weeks, seeking local businesses willing to stock Fair Trade Certified products.

Fair Trade products are those grown or created in third-world countries, for which the workers are paid a fair and living wage. Fair Trade products cut out the middleman and pays farmers and farm workers directly.

Alec Lager and his buddy Sam Bennett, of Eliot, Maine, both college juniors, said they hope to raise Portsmouth's awareness and to create a market for third-world farmers and artisans in the city.

The 2005 Marshwood High School graduates and lifelong friends began in May their mission to create a grassroots organization known as Fair Trade Portsmouth. They began by contacting Fair Trade Certified wholesalers, then put together a line of products — from Guatemalan coffee to Mayan textiles — that could be sold in local stores.

"It's the best kind of (manufacturer's) representative that you can be," said Bennett.

"The umbrella concept behind this is trade, not aid," said Lager.

Bennett agreed. "It's not giving aid. It's allowing them to get a foothold in the world market they would not otherwise have access to."

Both young men believe that Portsmouth is a city that will support the idea.

"There are high ethical standards here, and we feel that the social atmosphere in Portsmouth is really ripe for the introduction of Fair Trade products," said Lager.

Neither college student is making a cent from their mission. Instead, they are hoping to make a difference in the world. While their parents would have preferred them to have summer jobs like other college kids, both Bennett and Lager said their families have nonetheless been supportive.

"I am really thankful," said Bennett.

Their decision to bring Fair Trade products to the area came after each went off to college and realized they had been living in an idealistic "bubble" in the Portsmouth area. They each saw poverty for the first time, they said. For Lager, a Connecticut College student, it was during a biking trip through Thailand that made him realize how good he had it in the Portsmouth area.

For Bennett, it has been during his time at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., that has given him a good look at urban poverty, in the city that has poverty-stricken areas, he said.

The two received permission from the city last week to hold a Fair Trade sale and a jazz festival Aug. 18 on the Vaughn Mall, at which they will have $7,000 of consignment goods from third-world artisans and farmers. They will also show a movie on Fair Trade at the South Church on Aug. 10.

Bennett and Lager said they have created a Web site for Fair Trade Portsmouth but they found a pro-bono Web publication service to put it online. The Fair Trade Portsmouth site will name local businesses who are participating.

"We greatly value the progressive efforts that have long distinguished Portsmouth," said Bennett.

At a Glance

Fair Trade Portsmouth

Address: 270 Rollingwood Road, Eliot, Maine

Phone: 498-7392

e-mail: info@fairtradeportsmouth.org

WEB: www.transfairusa.org or

www.fairtradecertified.org

EVENTS:

• Aug. 10 — "Black Gold" movie screening, South Church, 7:30 p.m.;

• Aug. 18 — Fair Trade World Craft Festival, Vaughn Mall, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Spread the word about ethical consumerism.

• Ask for Fair Trade items where you shop.

• Donate: Help with events, rentals, advertising and fees.

Despite low poverty rate, one in seven families is low-income

from The Boston Herald

Despite the state’s low poverty rate, at least 48,000 low income families struggle to make ends meet, according to a University of New Hampshire report.

The report by the university’s Carsey Institute, a rural studies think tank, finds that overall New Hampshire boasts a high quality of life: People are well educated, incomes are relatively high, and the state’s poverty rate is the lowest in the nation.

Yet in the midst of this prosperity, one in seven New Hampshire families is low income, and dropping incomes and rising housing costs are compounding their struggles, the report found.

“The struggles of low-income families are especially troubling since we have seen strong economic growth in recent years,” said Allison Churilla, the study’s author.

Between 1999 and 2004, low income families’ annual earnings dropped 9 percent, from about $7,300 per person to $6,700 per person. That and other factors, like a drop in work force participation, means more low income families are living in poverty - rising from 29 percent in 1999 to 38 percent in 2004, the study, based on U.S. Census data, found.

During the same period, low income families spending more than half their income on housing increased from one in three to more than half.

“Because a larger share of low-income families rent their residences and rental costs are variable, low-income families tend to be more vulnerable to rising housing costs,” Churilla wrote.

Families headed by young adults and single parents - particularly women - have a higher risk of struggling financially, the report said.

Adults in their 20s and 30s have startup costs, lower-paying jobs and less stable housing and because most them have younger children, “young adults’ instability therefore puts young children at a heightened risk of low income,” said the report, which found 23 percent of families with young children also had low incomes in 2004.

While the number of children living in low income families fell by 7 percent between 1999 and 2004, the number of children living in low income, single mother families increased by 14 percent. In all, the total number of single mother families in New Hampshire grew by 10 percent during that time.

“The risk is incredible for single mothers,” said Churilla, noting that many single moms have less education and therefore work in low-paying jobs. Child care also is an obstacle to gaining full-time, higher-income work, and there are signs that single mothers may not be taking full advantage of state programs, she said.
Then there is the issue of pay - New Hampshire’s minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is the lowest in New England.

“Proposed increased in the minimum wage could bolster workers’ earnings and promote economic self-sufficiency for 28 percent of New Hampshire’s low-income families,” Churilla wrote.

http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/