A new tuberculosis detector

One of the problems of detecting tuberculosis in patients is that test results for the disease can take weeks to finish. Researchers in Colorado have developed a portable TB sensor that can give test results in minutes. The prototype was built out of scrap electrical parts from CD and DVD players. The researches hope the device will give patients their life saving drugs sooner.

Tuberculosis claims two million lives a year, most of those come from the under-developed world.

From Scientific American writer Adam Marcus describes the device to us.

This "field friendly" device relies on readily available and relatively low-cost components and can find the lethal pathogen in blood in just 20 minutes, says Diego Krapf, an applied physicist and assistant professor of engineering at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, who designed the new device. That is far faster than conventional methods such as sputum tests, which examine secretions from the lungs and bronchi and can take days—sometimes weeks—to return results. The new detector can identify active infection as well as dormant, or latent, microbes that might one day flare up into full-blown illness, the developers say. It also can distinguish between patients who carry TB and those who once were infected but have successfully fought off the illness.

"Our detector senses proteins, not an immune response against them," Krapf says. "The benefit of doing this is that while proteins mark the presence of disease, antibodies remain in the organism after the disease is long gone." So the new approach greatly reduces the chances of false positives.

A portable detector would greatly aid efforts to fight the infection in developing countries, particularly parts of Asia and Africa where as much as 40 percent of the population carries the microbe, says Robert Belknap, a physician and TB expert at the Denver Health Medical Center in Colorado. "If it works, it's truly portable and doesn't require special conditions, it would be a tremendous advance," he adds.

The device could overcome a few key failings of conventional TB screening. Long delays, in some cases up to six weeks, between test and result often force public health workers to waste time and resources on people suspected of having the infection but who, in fact, do not. Potential patients are frequently isolated—from their children, colleagues and others—for fear that they may spread the disease.

Those suspected of having TB may also be given potent antibiotics as a precaution—drugs that can cause serious side effects, including vomiting, headaches, rash and drug-induced hepatitis (liver inflammation). For these drugs to be effective, and to prevent the body's development of resistant bacteria, patients must take the medications on a strict schedule and complete the regime. The consequences of straying from the regimen are so high that public health authorities try to monitor TB patients to make sure they take their pills, an approach called directly observed therapy. Such programs require substantial money and manpower, and often fail for lack of both.

"An accurate, rapid, point-of-care test would help public health workers better focus resources quickly on the individuals who need it—including providing directly observed therapy—and avoid unnecessary medications and isolation in those who don't," Belknap says.

Pathways Past Poverty for Colorado

The Fort Collins, Colorado became a very affluent area in the last 20 years. Business was booming as people came up from Denver for suburban living with nearby national forests. But the recent hard times have turned some who live in the area poor. It's a problem that many may not even know is there.

The organization Pathways Past Poverty received a write up today in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, The group has identified 12 issues that people need to solve in order to rise above the poverty line. The article focuses on affordable child care and financial education. For our snippet, we point to some statistics and reaction from Pathways to Poverty. Writer Sara B. Hansen filed the story.

According to results released this fall from the American Community Survey, the poverty rate in Larimer County has increased by about 39 percent since 2000, peaking at 12.8 percent in 2007. That means more than one in 10 people in Larimer County is living on an income lower than the national poverty guideline.

Poverty as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2008 was a family of four earning less than $21,200 a year. For an individual, the poverty line was set at $10,400.

And those stats were compiled before the current recession hit Northern Colorado.

In 2009, Larimer County lost 4,500 jobs. Other workers were hit with pay cuts, furloughs and reduced hours.

Demand for services at the Food Bank for Larimer County climbed 30 percent in the past year. Neighbor to Neighbor served 30 percent more people, and the Homelessness Prevention Initiative provided rental assistance to 56 percent more people.

The need is there, but many people in Larimer County don't recognize it.

"A lot of people don't want to believe poverty is an issue in Larimer County," said Marija Weeden-Osborn, Pathways Past Poverty coordinator and community investment associate.

"Because we don't see people sitting on the corner, it's easier to believe they're not there," she said.

New interactive childhood poverty project

The Denver Post has a great new multimedia project that focuses on Childhood poverty in Colorado. The project is full of flash, photos and video that tells the stories of children who are poor in the state.

The site also contains an interactive map showing poverty levels on a county by county basis, as well as phone numbers of organizations that help the poor in Colorado. Colorado has 191,725 children that live below the poverty line.

City council members of Boulder meet with the homeless

A forum at a homeless shelter invited city council members of Boulder, Colorado to hear their concerns. Only four of the 13 council members showed up.

Homeless people in Boulder and many parts of the U.S. don't have enough shelter beds available to them. So when they have to sleep outside instead, they often get ticketed or arrested for "camping".

From the Boulder Daily Camera, writer Erica Meltzer details the meeting.

Four of the 13 Boulder City Council candidates -- businessman and endurance athlete Barry Siff, artist and former university professor Jyotsna Raj, Landmarks Board chairman and attorney Tim Plass, and care provider and activist Rob Smoke -- attended the forum at the Carriage House Community Table. Carriage House provides a case manager, access to showers, laundry and computers, and a daytime shelter in downtown Boulder.

Homeless people and their advocates expressed frustration and, at times, flashes of anger over what they see as ignorance, indifference and even hostility from other segments of Boulder society.

On the one hand, there aren't enough shelter beds to accommodate all the homeless in Boulder. On the other hand, sleeping outside is illegal, and homeless people can be ticketed, fined and sentenced to community service for camping.

One man told of being issued a ticket for "camping" because he was sitting on a bench under a tree. Another woman told of being made to wait outside in the snow for over an hour, while other bus passengers without the large backpack that marked her as homeless got to wait inside the bus station.

Case manager Heather Pauze has seen 26 deaths among her clients over the last 18 months. A homeless man was found dead near Walnut and Ninth streets on Wednesday morning. Though the cause of death has not been determined, police believe the weather may have been a factor.

The homeless people at the meeting urged the city to place a moratorium on enforcement of the no-camping rules while changes to the law are considered; provide a central place for people to store belongings, shower and change clothes; and allow the construction of cheap, single-resident housing.

Task force on poverty begins in Colorado

Colorado state government has begun a task force to examine ways the state can cut it's the numbers of poor people. Members of the task force are trying to look at economic solutions as well as government assistance.

This Associated Press article that we found at Forbes.com, writer Steven K. Paulson describes the task force goals.

Rep. John Kefalas, a Democrat from Fort Collins who chairs the Economic Opportunity Reduction Task Force Committee, said the 10-member committee will look at the root causes of poverty and try to determine why some parts of the state have more poverty than others.

"We've given ourselves a year, to December of 2010, to put together a plan of action," Kefalas said.

Jodie Levin-Epstein, spokeswoman for the Center for Law and Social Policy, a nonprofit organization focused on laws and policies that affect poverty, told lawmakers that Colorado is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to dealing with the issue.

She said people who are trying to get out of poverty are stymied by poverty measures that are based on life in the past century, when moms stayed at home and husbands were the breadwinner. She said lawmakers have failed to take into account the cost of health care, transportation and tax policies that make it difficult for families to escape poverty.

"We need to figure out ways to make work work," she told the panel.

A Red Cross branch in Colorado is having trouble raising money

The Red Cross of Grand Junction, Colorado is having trouble raising money this year. Emily Anderson of the Grand Junction Free Press reports on the troubles they are having in this economic recession. This article also has some good statistics on poverty in that part of the country.

The Red Cross giving tree hasn’t been receiving much this holiday season.

The Western Colorado Chapter of the Red Cross, located in Grand Junction and serving 10 counties, has received 25 percent of the amount donated last year during the holiday season. Red Cross workers and volunteers called 200 businesses hoping to drum up support and set up the tree at Mesa Mall alongside a table of envelopes for donations in December, but have only collected $2,000 during Christmas time. They collected $8,000 in the same time frame in 2007.

“We’re not saying we’re going to close our doors, but we’re trying to maintain our level of service,” said local Red Cross Executive Director David Hintch.

Even for those charitable organizations getting the same amount of donations as last year, extra items are still welcome because of increased need. Although the median household income has increased from $52,015 in 2006 to $55,212 in 2007, Mesa County poverty levels are still above the state average. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 13.4 percent of Mesa County residents lived below the poverty level in 2007 and 18.4 percent of Mesa County children were below the poverty level. The Colorado average for people below the poverty level was 11.8 percent in 2007, and 15.6 percent of Colorado children lived below the poverty line.

The Salvation Army sent gift baskets filled with toys and practical items to 1,150 families last year, but Major Al Parker expects that number to increase to 1,350 families this year. Volunteers are invited to help sort the baskets today and Monday at the old National Guard building (call 462-5605 if you want to help). Donations of toys, clothing, gloves, coats and gift certificates for food are still welcome, or people can drop some money in a red Salvation Army kettle.

Grand Junction Rescue Mission Director Keith Bradley said he expected fewer donations because of a downturn in the economy, but he has plenty of food to feed the 46 men that sleep at the mission every night.

Census figures round up: Part 2

Here is some more local coverage of the recent US Census Data release. Reflecting data collected from 2005-2007. First from the Chicago Tribune.

The southern Chicago suburb of Dolton ranks 10th on the list of small-and-medium-sized U.S. cities that have seen the biggest jumps in poverty.

New census data show the poverty rate has increased 8.4 percent since 1999 to 18.3 percent in the village of Dolton. The east-central city of Charleston ranked 12th on the list, with a poverty rate of 40 percent -- up 30 percent since 1999.

Next from your humble blogger's home state of Michigan. Linda Angelo writes for the Flint Journal.

Everywhere from blue-collar Burton to the wealthier Grand Blanc Township, people are having a tough time making a living. Those who help the poor are noticing the change.

"We're seeing a little bit of a climb and expect in the next few years to see that accelerate and that's because the folks who are outside of the city traditionally had a broader support system compared to those who have always been isolated in poverty in the city," said Steve Walker, executive director of the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department.

"Their available discretionary income is shrinking -- the families and friends they could go to (and) ask for assistance, there's less available at this point in time."

Taking the biggest hit is Burton, which had 12.1 percent of its families living below the poverty level between 2005 and 2007. That's more than double the poverty rate in 2000 when it was 5.5 percent.

The numbers are part of the 2005-2007 American Community Survey -- the first statistical "portrait" since the 2000 Census for more than 2,500 midsize counties, cities and towns with populations between 20,000 and 64,999.

Finally another perspective from Colorado, Amy Bounds writes for the Daily Camera.

Before the recession hit, this city already was seeing a significant increase in the number of residents living in poverty.

The number of Lafayette residents whose income levels were below the poverty line jumped 68 percent from 2000 to 2007, according to new data for mid-sized cities released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. It’s estimated that 2,745 people — or 11 percent of Lafayette’s population — are living in poverty.

Ruth Perry, food bank manager at Lafayette’s Sister Carmen Community Center, said that number is likely even higher now.

In the past couple of months, she said, she’s seen as much as a 40 percent increase in the number of clients using the food bank. On a busy day last year, the food bank’s customers numbered in the low 20s. One day last week, Perry counted 48 people picking up canned goods, dairy products and other food.

“It’s been staggering,” she said.

The new census data was compiled from the American Community Survey given in more than 2,500 counties, cities and towns nationwide with populations that ranged from 20,000 to 64,999. The surveys were given from 2005 to 2007 and the results averaged.

Census figures round up: Part 1

The US Census Bureau released data today that was compiled during the years 2005 to 2007. They call it the American Community Survey and it's purpose is to compliment the census that takes place every decade for more year to year material.

Whenever the census bureau does something like this, newspapers across the country localize the story, so we will do snippets of three stories we have seen already today. First, from The Coloradan, writer Dennis Crawl gives the figures for a very prosperous part of the nation.

The number of Loveland residents living in poverty doubled in recent years as income levels plunged by 10 percent, according to new census data released this week.

On average, more than one of every 11 Loveland residents lived below the poverty line between 2005 and 2007, compared to about one in every 16 in the 2000 census, according to results from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

It's the first poverty estimate for Loveland since the 2000 census and is in line with earlier data that showed dramatic poverty increases in that time in Larimer County and Fort Collins.

Jenn and Derrick Barnes have learned how difficult it is to make ends meet while supporting four small children on one modest paycheck.

“I worked so much that I was gone all the time, and it wasn’t helping out as much as I hoped. I couldn’t make enough to afford day care,” Jenn said.

That kept Jenn at home with the children, all between 5 and 11 years old, and the family dependent on Derrick’s job as a business analyst, which they said is a “fancy title” with a not-so-fancy salary.

Next, the take from Northern California, Shauntel Lowe writes for the Time Herald.

Census data released today show a marked increase since 2000 in the percentage of Vallejo families living below the poverty level and a steep jump in the proportion of household income devoted to housing costs.

The data, compiled between 2005 and 2007 for the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, also reveals an increase of more than 100 percent in the median value of single-family homes in that time.

(The figures, however, were based on statistics gathered at the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis, and do not reflect current values.)

Since 2000, the percentage of Vallejo families with children under 18 living below the poverty level has risen from 10.3 to 15.5, according to the survey.

In that same period, the percentage of homeowners spending more than 35 percent of their household income on housing costs has climbed from 21.8 to 39.1.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends that no more than 30 percent of a household's gross income go toward housing costs, which include mortgage and property insurance payments.

Finally from Alabama, Trevor Stokes writes for the Times Daily.

The U.S. Census today released a demographic snapshot of small communities with 20,000 or more residents, the first update since the 2000 Census.

The American Community Survey averaged together three years of responses across the U.S. taken between 2005 and 2007 that allowed the Census to produce population estimates of population as small as 20,000 people. The survey results covered Lauderdale and Colbert counties along with the Florence/Muscle Shoals metropolitan statistical area.

"Communities are no longer limited to a once-a-decade look at their population's characteristics," stated Census Bureau Director Steve H. Murdock in a press release.

"The (American Community Survey's) multiyear data will allow small towns and communities to track how they are changing on an ongoing basis."

The data are distinguished from the U.S. Census taken every 10 years in that they represent an average over three years in different surveys.

"Construction of new housing units has slowed to a crawl in Florence this decade," according to an initial analysis from Annette Jones Watters, director of the Alabama State Data Center at the University of Alabama. Watters responded to questions about the data via e-mail.

More proof for the link of poor and obesity

The Colorado Health Foundation released a new study today that further establishes the link between obesity and being poor.

Low income children in Colorado are three times as likely to be obese than those of well off parents.

The foundation tells the Rocky Mountain News that the link is especially troublesome with more children slipping into poverty.

The "Income, Education and Obesity" study by the Colorado Health Foundation found that while Colorado remains one of the leanest states in the nation, its obesity rates are climbing dramatically. If current trends continue, two out of three adult Coloradans will be overweight or obese by 2017, the study's authors said.

Eating better and exercising more are the essential keys, but among low-income Coloradans with little education, getting there is complex, they say.

About a quarter of the Colorado kids living in households that earn less than $25,000 a year are obese, compared with just 8 percent of those living in households with $75,000 or more in income.

What is causing the disparity?

Fresh fruit and other nutritious foods are expensive. Grapes, at $3.99 a pound, are an extravagance to low-income parents who can feed the entire family at a fast-food restaurant.

Low-income families often turn to inexpensive food that is high in fat and high in empty calories.

Friends aim to get headstone for woman who died in poverty.

from the Greeley Tribune

Wow! This is really touching. - Kale

By Mike Peters

It's difficult for her friends, asking for donations to bury a woman they all miss, they all respect, a woman who gave so much to others. Terry Pettis was 52 when she died last week after battling breast cancer for three years.

"She was a big-time volunteer who helped police officers and emergency service people after they'd gone through traumatic incidents," said Gary McCabe, former head of the Weld County Ambulance Service in Greeley. "She always gave, never expecting anything in return ... then she died in poverty and only wanted to be cremated and buried next to her mother."

And there is the problem. McCabe and other friends of Pettis last week gathered enough donations to pay for cremation and burial of their friend. Now they'd like something to mark her grave.

"I always thought of Terry as my other mom," said Dena Adams, another friend and admirer of Pettis. "She would volunteer for anything that would help others, and while she never had much of anything, she always found some way to help someone else."

Pettis was a native of Weld County, growing up in Gilcrest and getting a degree from Aims Community College. She worked for nearly 20 years in Weld County Dispatch and earned a certificate of merit and was an employee of the year.

In 2002, she became a victim's advocate and program assistant at South Weld Victim Services, so she came to help not only the victims of crimes, but also police officers and others who had to deal with tragedies.

"I met her through my job at the Milliken Police Department," said Officer Autumn Dickerson. "She was always there to help others."

Just after Pettis lost her job, breast cancer struck. She had no job, no health insurance, but she had friends. They helped when they could, painting her bedroom, painting the outside of her house. "Terry never really had much of anything," Adams said, "because she always felt it was more important to help others."

Added McCabe: "It seems Terry was always giving and never wanted anything back or any recognition. Maybe because of that, there are a lot of people who didn't know her." The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Peters Catholic Church, 915 12th St., Greeley.

HOW TO HELP Contributions for the Terry Pettis grave marker can be sent to the First National Bank, 1701 23rd Ave. in Greeley.

Household income up, poverty level falls in Colorado

from the Denver Business Journal

Here they come! The US census bureau figures generally remain the same for the nation. Here is a look at Colorado.

The median household income of Colorado residents has increased by more than 8 percent since 2004, or four times the national average.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported the median income in Colorado has risen to $59,209 (based on a two-year average from 2006-07) from $54,719 (based on a two-year average from 2004-2005).

The 8.2 percent increase is considered statistically significant, according to the Census Bureau.

Nationally, the median income rose by 2 percent during the same period, to $49,901 from $48,934.

During the same period, the percentage of Coloradans -— and Americans as a whole — living in poverty dipped. A family of four earning less than $21,203 a year is considered to be living in poverty.

The percentage of Coloradans in poverty dropped to 9.8 percent during the 2006-07 period from 10.7 percent in 2004-05. Nationally, the poverty figure fell to 12.4 percent from 12.7 percent.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Fort Collins Officials Unveil Plan to End Homelessness

from Fort Collins Now

An effort in Colorado to end homelessness. Their goal is to end it in 10 years. - Kale

By Matt Brady

Philip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, made a special appearance in Fort Collins at a press conference held at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 21 to rally locals as the city announced its commitment to ending homelessness in ten years.

In the first step toward that goal, UniverCity Connections' Homelessness Initiative Task Group unveiled a comprehensive report, over six months in the making, that lays out in detail the numbers and makeup of Fort Collins' homeless population. The report also provides recommendations, specially tailored for Fort Collins, for how to end homelessness.

Recommendations include determining how many new units of permanent and supportive housing are needed to shelter the homeless population, and to develop coordinated plans with local medical and detox centers to close gaps in connecting the homeless to services.

The investigative report, funded by an anonymous donor through the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, was spearheaded by Dr. Jamie Van Leeuwen, who was selected by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to head up Denver's Road Home. The Road Home is Denver's manifestation of its own 10-year-plan to end homelessness; since its implementation four years ago, Denver has seen a 36% reduction in chronic homelessness.

Dr. Van Leeuwen was brought in to head the report as an objective, outside observer. He said in an interview that it's now Fort Collins task to take the report and put it to action, whereas he will continue on separately with his work in Denver.

"It's not my opinion you need," he said. 'The community needs to say this is what we need and here's where we need it."

Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson spoke alongside Mangano and Van Leeuwen to announce Fort Collins resolve to join Denver in cities that are choosing to make strides to eradicate homelessness.

He threw his support behind the new initiative by becoming one of nearly 400 Mayor and county officials across the country to sign the America's Road Home Statement of Principles and Action, which was co-convened last October by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and has been adopted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National Association of Counties.

"The hardest part of solving a problem is finding it," Mayor Hutchinson said to the crowd. He went on to express enthusiasm for the report, which he believes has successfully mapped out the homeless problem in Fort Collins, making it easier to know the tools and efforts needed to address it. "This sets a very solid foundation to build on. It's a tremendous step, a springboard and a foundation."

Mangano praised Fort Collins' initiative in forging the report, saying that the local community has done a great and rare thing by addressing the problem of homelessness before it becomes a local epidemic.

"I'm proud to be in your city today," he said to the crowd. "Many cities that are so beautiful and affluent as yours could be in denial about poverty. You should be so proud to be a citizen of your great community. Your intent is to make it a livable and beautiful community for every citizen."

Mangano went on to say that Fort Collins is now part of a national conspiracy to end homelessness. He said that the methods of "maintaining" homelessness over the last 25 years haven't been working, and that in the last seven years--since he began spearheading government efforts on homelessness--efforts have shifted not toward maintaining but abolishing homelessness.

The philosophy has met success, resulting in nationwide reductions in homelessness. Furthermore, it revolves around the numbers-driven philosophy that it costs the state more in shelter and medical costs to allow a homeless person to drift outside than to set them up in permanent housing and bring medical services to them.


Link to full article. May expire in future.

Governor says education best way to fight poverty

from The Denver Post

The jump in impoverished kids spurs a vow to treat school as an "investment."

By Allison Sherry

Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday called conditions for Colorado's 180,000 impoverished children "intolerable" and said his focus on education — preschool to college — is the chief way to get people out of a spiraling life cycle.

Responding to a Colorado Children's Campaign report released this week that showed the number of kids living in poverty increased 73 percent from 2000 to 2006, Ritter vowed to treat the state's education system as an "investment."

"It's not the only thing we need to do. It's the No. 1 thing we need to do," he said. ". . . If we don't make a commitment as a state to 3- and 4-year-olds living in poverty, then we're not going to see this turn around."

Ritter told policymakers and the media that it's easy to talk about policy and the lives of poor people in the "hallowed" halls of the state Capitol.

"They have faces, they have names and they have real struggles," he said.

The number of impoverished children in Colorado grew at the fastest rate in the nation, the report said. Researchers analyzed six years of census and community-survey data.

"This snapshot of yesterday is awful," said state Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, in a statement. "But we are going to make tomorrow much, much better."

Ritter pushed his education platform, saying he has already taken small stabs at correcting the problem.

Steps include 25,000 more 3-, 4- and 5-year-old slots for preschool and full-day kindergarten; a $65 million boost to the state's public colleges and universities; and health coverage for 50,000 more of the state's children.

Also, Ritter is peddling a measure — likely to go to voters this fall — that would devote $130 million more a year to college scholarships for low- and middle-income people. The money would come from increasing the taxes that oil and gas companies pay to mine in Colorado.

Still, Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, a former president of the Colorado Children's Campaign, said there was more work to do.

There are some state constitutional restrictions, such as the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, that would require voter approval to amend.

But O'Brien hopes to look into earned income tax credits for low-income people, she said.

"I'm going to sit down with the governor and talk about this," she said.

St. Vrain poverty rate outpaces state average

from the Longmont Times Call

Colorado leads country in cases

By Victoria A.F. Camron

Carlota Loya Hernandez knows the 80 or so children living at Casa de la Esperanza need more than good reading skills to be successful.

“I want the kids, by middle school, to be computer literate. That’s a huge push for them,” said Hernandez, resident program coordinator at the nonprofit housing center. Owned and operated by the Boulder County Housing Authority, Casa de la Esperanza provides educational and recreational activities for migrant workers and their families.

The educational opportunities at Casa de la Esperanza are one way to reduce childhood poverty — which is skyrocketing in Colorado, according to state officials and representatives of Colorado Children’s Campaign.

The number of Colorado children living in poverty increased 73 percent between 2000 and 2006, the largest rate increase in the country, Colorado Children’s Campaign president Megan Ferland announced Tuesday at the state Capitol.

“This is a trend our state cannot continue,” Ferland said.

With about 180,000 children living below the federal poverty line — $21,200 for a family of four in 2008 — Colorado has a childhood poverty rate that is still lower than the national average: 15.7 percent in Colorado, compared with 18.3 percent nationally, according to the report.

But the measure of poverty used by the St. Vrain Valley School District — the percentage of children eligible for free or reduced-price lunch — has risen much faster than the state average: by 8.4 percentage points in the St. Vrain Valley School District, compared with 3.6 percentage points for the state between 2003 and 2006.

For the 2007-08 school year, income for a family of four had to be below $26,845 per year for free lunch, and below $38,203 per year for reduced-price lunch.

To break the cycle of poverty, Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday, adults throughout the community need to make early childhood education the top priority.

“It really is thinking about our educational system as an investment,” Ritter said.

The lack of investment shows up locally in the number of low-income 4-year-olds who don’t have a preschool to attend. The St. Vrain Valley School District and Head Start have about 500 preschool seats available — but another 800 children won’t be able to attend preschools, according to the district and Head Start.

The school district has seats for 210 low-income preschoolers in the Colorado Preschool Program and is asking for 90 more seats in the fall, said Janet Gutman, director of early childhood education.

Early childhood programs pay off because children who perform well in school are more likely to graduate and stay out of legal trouble.

“It’s important for us to continue to invest in Head Start,” executive director Amy Ogilvie said.

Hernandez is making sure the young residents of Casa de la Esperanza are getting an early start as well.

At 3 years old, the children begin using computers to work on their reading, science and math skills, she said.

“I have first-graders that e-mail each other,” Hernandez said.

Study: Colo. led nation in child poverty increase

from the Associated Press via Google

By STEVEN K. PAULSON

DENVER - Colorado led the nation with a 73 percent increase in the number of children living in poverty over six years, according to a new report.

Megan Ferland, president of the Colorado Children's Campaign, said the number of children under 18 in poverty soared from 104,000 to 180,000 between 2000 and 2006. The national average was an increase of 9 percent.

Ferland cited trends in several areas that are affecting the overall poverty rate increase, including the number of children living in single-parent households; the availability of jobs paying a living wage for low-skilled workers; the changing demographics of the state; and the number of students who drop out of high school.

"This is a trend our children, and our state, cannot afford," she said. "Kids growing up in poverty often struggle with educational, health, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and a range of other challenges that decrease their chances of success and often rob them of hope at an early age."

1 in 5 in state can't get by

from the Denver Post

A study on self-sufficiency says 20 percent of Coloradans don't make enough to take care of basic needs.
By Elizabeth Aguilera

One in five Colorado residents earns less than the amount needed to cover basic needs, according to new data.

The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute on Wednesday released its second annual Self-Sufficiency Standard, which calculates a bare-bones budget for basics like food, housing, child care, transportation and other necessities. The standard, which is calculated for a variety of family types, including single-parent families and households with infants or older children, is calculated for all Colorado counties.

Ginger Wiggins is among those living below the Self-Sufficiency Standard, which is $33,856 for a single parent and a preschooler in Denver.

The college student budgets $450 a month, earned through her part-time job at Starbucks combined with some public assistance. She and her toddler daughter live in subsidized housing, receive a discount on child care and depend on student loans. Still, even though she graduates in May, she faces a long road ahead.

"I can see that even starting as a first-year teacher in special education, I won't make enough money to pay for child care and health care and insurance," she said.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard and the new VisionKEI online tool to help calculate what families need to reach self-sufficiency were revealed Wed nesday to representatives from agencies across the state who work with low-income families.

Tracey Stewart, coordinator of the self-sufficiency study for the institute, said the standard provides a more accurate measure of family income adequacy than the federal poverty level, which does not consider all the necessary expenses a family might have.

State Treasurer Cary Kennedy said state officials use the self-sufficiency study when creating policies.

"What a help it is for policymakers to have these tools so we can really evaluate how to help families and to understand how they struggle on a daily basis," she said.

Wiggins plans to get a master's degree in social work and will continue to shop at thrift stores, limit visits to Grandma's to save gas and utilize only free activities like the park.

Diminishing poverty one village at a time

from the Campus Press

Paul Polak discusses new book at Old Main
Heather Koski

Paul Polak, founder of the International Development Enterprises, engaged a full house at Old Main auditorium Wednesday night in discourse about poverty.

In his book, "Out of Poverty: What Works when Traditional Approaches Fail," Polak addresses the root causes of poverty and provides a practical guide for affordable solutions to farmers in developing countries.

Polak, a former psychiatrist, said there is interaction between poverty, economics and health. By working with thousands of farmers in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Polak and his IDE organization has created a solution amoung the three links.

"I am a recycled psychiatrist and hope to recycle around a few more times yet in my life," Polak said. "Global economy is a reality; we need to get used to it and help poorer, less fortunate people succeed in the global economy system."

According to Polak, 85 percent of the world's 525 million farms are less than five acres. Roughly 800 million people around the world live on a dollar a day and make a livelihood from farming. Polak believes these figures indicate that understanding small farmer prosperity is the key towards creating a realistic effort to end poverty.

"There needs to be a revolution in water, agriculture, design and markets for small farmer prosperity to succeed," Polak said. "Learn to keep your eyes open and really see everything; you can then walk through a village once and write a book."

By developing innovative solutions to simple problems, Polak has helped farmers worldwide increase their income. Treadle pumps, for example, are devices used to access and distribute groundwater. The pumps, which cost $25, can water a half-acre of vegetables per succession. According to Polak, one farmer can earn an extra $500 a year with the treadle pump method.

In addition to treadle pumps, Polak has designed small farm drip-irrigation systems starting at $3 and low cost water storage liners that can provide an average family with water for a year.

Polak said the lack of media services in rural villages has contributed to the grossly inefficient markets in developing countries. To advertise the treadle pumps and other low cost farming solutions, Polak and IDE have recruited village leaders to create songs and short movies to help sell and create awareness of the products.

"All commercial principles are applied but to a different audience," Polak said. "The business school at CU could make a huge contribution by working with students in village markets around the world to learn and understand how to help people in poverty."

Polak concluded his discussion with a poem entitled "A Deeper River" before opening the floor to questions from the audience.

"You don't need me or IDE to create poverty solutions," Polak said. "Go to a village and make connections with people; figure something out, be creative."

Environmental Center Director Dave Newport said Polak's talk, which was hosted by the E-Center and Engineers without Borders, was fantastic in terms of audience numbers and discussion content.

"Polak gets an A+ for engaging the audience with his humor and knowledge and the audience gets an A+ too for caring about poverty and attending the talk," Newport said. "The diverse mix of people here tonight was the best part."

Denver building on new ideas for helping homeless

from The Denver Post

By Christopher N. Osher

Armed with data showing there's a hidden cost to leaving the unemployed, mentally ill and alcoholics alone on the streets, Denver officials are pushing forward with a $20 million plan to build 200 new housing units for the homeless.

The plan is in keeping with Mayor John Hickenlooper's homelessness initiative, which holds that the past patchwork system of shelters wasn't the best way to tackle the issue.

The proposal is still being finalized and then, depending on financial terms, could go before the City Council this spring. The council has emphasized the need to spread the housing instead of clustering it in strongholds of poverty. While support seems strong among most council members, some reservations persist over that issue, which could raise the ire of some neighborhood activists.

"I can't emphasize enough the importance of this project moving away from the traditional islands of poverty that just warehouse folks," Councilman Paul Lopez said during a recent council committee meeting on the subject.

The administration, sensitive to those concerns, is pledging to make sure the housing is spread around the city, in areas close to mass transit. They are also promising to include on-site managers.

"We would really do our due diligence and make sure these facilities are not in the same old spots," said Roxane White, director of Denver's Department of Human Services.

In the past, the emphasis was on getting a homeless person an emergency meal and bed for the night. Now, the Hickenlooper administration is stressing the need to get behind the root problems that cause homelessness in the first place.

And the best way to do that, officials say, is to provide actual, long-term housing first.

The homeless placed in the new units can stay for months, where they will be encouraged to take advantage of intensive support services, such as drug- addiction counseling, job training and medication for mental illnesses.

Savings can be big

It's a theory that first took hold in Philadelphia. More than 300 communities, including Denver, have now embraced it.

A two-year study by Denver CARES, Denver Health Medical Center's addiction rehabilitation and detox facility, found that the number of emergency admissions dropped by 76 percent among 82 clients directed into housing programs. The number of admissions dropped from 3,701 to 899.

Because detox treatment is so expensive, those reductions represented big cost savings, to the tune of more than $500,000, Denver officials say.

But Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz remains a persistent critic. She argues that voters didn't get to have a say on the proposal after the administration declined to put the new housing in the recent $550 million bond package that voters approved.

"This is a blatant violation of the trust of the voters," Faatz said during a recent meeting. "This is a way to go around the voters. They have been so generous to Denver, and then to turn around and slap them . . ."

She remains suspicious that the new housing will produce actual cost savings to the general fund and worries that promised federal and state funds might dry up.

Only by taking away the emergency pressures of surviving day to day on the streets can the homeless actually stabilize and get back on the road toward becoming productive members of society, administration officials counter.

"What we now know is that once we move them indoors and surround them with services, there is a cost of moving them off the streets," said Jamie Van Leeuwen, the project manager for the mayor's initiative against homelessness. "But compared to the cost of them living on the streets, there is a significant difference."

One success story

Denver CARES was where Paula Holland ended up after three months on a friend's sofa. The friend called police after Holland's vodka drinking got out of control.

Holland had crashed at her friend's place upon returning to Denver after spending four years as a semi driver in Fort Worth, Texas. The isolation of the truck-driving job brought her back to Denver, where she hoped to find new work and the supportive embrace of friends.

Instead, she found no work and resorted to drinking to deaden the pain. She would smoke cigarettes and drink the vodka until the bottle was empty and stop just long enough to buy another bottle.

"It was about getting numb and getting away from it all, and then I wanted to get away from that too, but I didn't know how," Holland said during a recent interview.

From Denver CARES, she got enrolled in a supportive housing program in August provided by Arapahoe House at the Wright Center — the type of housing Denver is looking to create. Her case worker there enrolled her in a job-training program that taught her cooking skills.

Holland went on to an internship as a cook at the Wright Center, where she learned how to judge proper portions for about 20 other residents.

Last week, she talked about how recent job interviews as a cook at a club looked promising. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she said she finally got the proper dose of medication and no longer experiences the crashing lows that once paralyzed her.

She is graduating from the Wright Center and moving into a studio apartment in Capitol Hill, where her rent will remain subsidized. Once she gets a job, she's expected to pay up to 30 percent of her income toward rent there. She can stay there for two years until she is able to live fully on her own.

‘Nickel and Dimed’ author says poverty a major issue

from the Reporter Herald com

By Marisa Beahm
The Reporter-Herald
FORT COLLINS — Author and activist Barbara Ehrenreich wants to shatter people’s assumptions about the people who live in poverty.

“Poverty can hit anyone at any time, no matter how educated or well-credentialed you think you are,” she said during a speech Saturday.

Ehrenreich is known for her best-selling book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” for which she studied working-class poverty by entering into the low-paid work force in three different states to see if she could make ends meet.

She brought the lessons from the experience to a crowd of about 600 at the Northside Aztlan Community Center in Fort Collins.

“(Ehrenreich) is an insightful social critic,” said April Biasiolli, a graduate student at Colorado State University who attended the luncheon talk.

The author of 18 books, Ehrenreich was the keynote speaker in the series “Life on a Shoestring: Perspectives on stepping out of poverty,” a six-week program featuring 40 events in Fort Collins to foster a community dialogue about poverty.

The time Ehrenreich spent working in low-wage positions, which included jobs as a maid, a waitress and at Wal-Mart, dismissed any notions the Ph.D. had that low-paying jobs were unchallenging.

“I will never use the word unskilled again,” Ehrenreich said. “Every job takes intelligence, skill, a great deal of concentration and deserves our respect.”

Ehrenreich said easy credit makes poverty look like less of an issue, because people can use credit cards as a crutch.

“Plenty of people have been living in a recession for a long, long time,” she said.

Another issue people face today is that a college degree doesn’t ensure a well-paid job anymore because of trends such as outsourcing, according to Ehrenreich.

“Poverty increases as high-tech jobs disappear,” Ehrenreich said.

To overcome poverty, Ehrenreich said society must treat it as a moral issue and focus on developing jobs that pay a living wage, not just a minimum wage.

A theater version of “Nickel and Dimed” is being performed by Open Stage Theatre through March 22 at the Lincoln Center.

“It made everybody squirm, and that is a good thing,” said Carol Bennis, executive director of Beet Street, a nonprofit that fosters creativity through diverse cultural experiences and programming.

In addition to Beet Street, Life on a Shoestring is also sponsored by WomenGive, a women’s leadership initiative with United Way that addresses economic self-sufficiency for women and girls in Larimer County.

Travel gap found with top schools

from The Rocky Mountain News

Low-income students have poor access to the best
By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Poor children in Denver have to travel farther to get to the city's highest-performing schools, a study to be released today shows. Even if they can get there, chances are that those schools are full.

A report by the Piton Foundation shows Denver's top schools are clustered in the city's southeast quadrant, home to its wealthier families.

Thirteen of 18 Denver Public Schools rated "high" or "excellent" by the state of Colorado are there.

Yet only one school in the city's poorest areas - the broad swath of Denver west of Interstate 25 - is rated as highly by the state.

That's the charter school, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, which targets low-income kids. And in far northeast Denver, in the rapidly growing Montbello and Green Valley Ranch areas, no school has achieved an excellent or high rating.

Elementary students in those neighborhoods, who have a poverty rate of 75 percent, must travel more than four miles to reach top-rated schools.

Contrast that to southeast Denver, where more than 90 percent of children can find a high- or excellent-rated elementary school within two miles. That area's student poverty rate is 48 percent.

"Most people know that there's a relationship between test scores and the income of a neighborhood because there's a relationship between poverty and test scores," said Van Schoales, urban education officer for Piton, "which isn't to say it has to be that way."

Beating the odds

As proof, Schoales points to a growing number of schools nationwide achieving success with students in poverty.

In Denver, only three of the 18 schools rated high or excellent have student poverty rates of more than 50 percent.

They are Asbury Elementary, Dora Moore K-8 School and KIPP, which has the highest student poverty rate by far at 89 percent.

"There's an increasing number of schools showing they can outperform what their demographics might project, which is exciting," Schoales said.

The study, which involved nearly 65,000 students in elementary and middle schools in Denver, Aurora and the Mapleton Public Schools in Adams County, mapped the distances between lower-income families and higher-rated schools in the 2006-07 school year.

"We wanted to find out exactly how far people needed to travel to go to quality schools," Schoales said.

The study also considered whether those schools could enroll most students for whom they are the closest high- or excellent-rated school.

The answer in nearly every case is no.

Consider Morey Middle School, one of the few top-rated schools outside southeast Denver, which enrolled 773 students in fall 2006.

Morey is the closest high- or excellent-rated school for 2,477 students, the study found.

Piton included the three school districts in the study because all are undergoing major reforms, and all are, in one form or other, creating new schools.

The hope, Schoales said, is that district leaders will consider geography and locate new programs successful with poor children in low-income neighborhoods.

Siting new schools

This spring, DPS leaders are soliciting "requests for proposals" for new school programs from charters, traditional schools and others inside and outside the district.

Brad Jupp, Denver's senior academic policy adviser, said the district can, and has, told those interested in opening programs in Denver that a certain area is preferred.

For example, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy was told to locate within the square bounded by Interstate 25, Alameda and Mississippi avenues and Federal Boulevard, said school founder Richard Barrett.

That wasn't because the area is impoverished, though it is, Barrett said, but because the nearby schools were then crowded. It worked out because KIPP's mission is preparing poor children for college.

"For us, it means fewer kids to have to bus," he said.

More recently, West Denver Preparatory Charter School chose to locate in southwest Denver because founder Chris Gibbons wanted to serve low-income families. Michelle Moss, the DPS school board member who represents southwest Denver, welcomed West Denver Prep.

"Southwest Denver just has not been a place where we have developed either magnet programs or high-quality schools," she said.

Choice in southwest

Moss believes that's partly because it's easy for families unhappy with DPS programs to slip across the county line into Jefferson County or Littleton schools.

So the parent activism in other areas, such as Padres Unidos, which led the effort to overhaul North High School in northwest Denver, has not developed in the poorest areas just south of Sixth Avenue.

A parent group has formed in the more affluent and more southern neighborhoods around John F. Kennedy High School.

The group, now known as the Southwest Denver Education Coalition, helped the high school and nearby Henry Middle School become part of the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. So options have improved in southwest Denver, Moss said, but she hopes the Piton study will lead to more.

"This is something the board needs to pay serious attention to," she said. "It certainly helps us focus on the fact we do need to be more selective about where we're putting programs and encouraging people to put programs."

Others were less impressed with the findings.

In Mapleton, where one of the nation's most radical reform efforts is unfolding, Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio said it's not news that poor children don't perform well in school.

The 6,000-student district north of Denver eliminated neighborhood schools last fall and now requires parents to pick from among 17 small schools and academies. None of the schools was rated high or excellent.

"What is happening in these schools is new and exciting and different," Ciancio said, "and they don't get results in a year."

Maggie Gomer, who has four children in Denver schools, disagrees with the study's reliance on state ratings, which are based on state test results.

"There's a lot of things within schools other than test scores and, frankly, we focus way too much on those scores," said Gomer, who heads the Southwest Denver Education Coalition.

"A lower rating does not mean good things are not happening in those schools."

Schoales said the state rating was the only indicator that could be used across all three districts.

"It's important for us to know that those kids aren't performing where they need to be, and we now need to figure out how to get them to the next level," he said. "It's not a destiny," Schoales added about poverty.

"Many people think it is. . . . We now have enough evidence to prove it isn't."

In Denver and in Aurora, relatively new superintendents have launched districtwide reform efforts aimed at lifting all schools - not just those in poor areas. A majority of students in both districts are eligible for federal lunch aid, an indicator of poverty.

Districtwide improvement

So they're interested in programs successful with poor children, said DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet and Aurora Superintendent John Barry, but they need to see improvement districtwide.

"Our efforts need to be about creating as many great schools throughout the district as we can," Bennet said, "so that your ZIP code doesn't determine whether you are going to be able to get a high-quality education."

Change is occurring in some of Denver's poorest neighborhoods. This fall, four out of five "transformed" schools slated to open are in impoverished areas. That means the schools will close this spring and reopen with new programs.

How those schools will fare, and whether their communities will rally around them, remains to be seen.

At North High School in northwest Denver, a school rated "low" in an area where the student poverty rate is 82 percent, a reform effort officially launched in August still feels new.

On Wednesday, scores of students and teachers and the occasional politician turned out for an evening open house showcasing academic programs and student clubs.

Cheerleaders leaped in the hallway beside the Chinese language table, and a teacher showed off student work in the school's state-of-the-art 3-D computer lab.

"We just decided we would come to North and give it a try," said Heather Kroona, who with her husband chose the school over East High for son Aaron Janicke, a ninth-grader.

"So far, so good."

But aside from Kroona and a few others, what was missing at the open house were parents - particularly the unfamiliar faces of parents of prospective students.

That disappointed Jennifer Draper Carson, whose job includes recruiting new families to the new North.

"I really want to dispel the urban mythology about this school," she said as she searched for moms and dads in the energy-filled main hall. "We need to reach the parents."

About the study

The Denver-based Piton Foundation explored where low-income students in the Denver and Aurora districts and the Mapleton district in Adams County live in relation to quality schools the state rates as "high" and "excellent."

The study involved nearly 65,000 students attending elementary and middle schools in the three school districts in 2006-07. In addition to income and geography, the foundation looked at capacity in the high- and excellent-rated schools.

The objective was to determine where the greatest need exists for quality schools to serve low-income students. The study also sought to answer the question: If low-income students could get to the top-rated schools, is there room for them to enroll?