We’ll be there.
Summer/Fall 2011
The New Face of the Poor:
A Perspective from St. Vincent de Paul Seattle|King County
Friends & Neighbors in Seattle|King County:
We believe many middle-class families in America are becoming The New
Face of The Poor. They are our neighbors, relatives, friends, and people
living next door.
We see the new poor in our food bank lines, we hear them in calls to our
Help Line and we are learning more about the depth of this problem in
discussions with neighbors, community leaders and colleagues. The New
Face of the Poor is a mirror reflection of who we are, average Americans
who for the first time ever, are now facing serious survival crises.
We all know there is no easy solution to the US poverty problem. The
discussions over job creation, the debt ceiling, and cutting entitlements
have produced huge divisions among us. However, at St. Vincent de Paul
Seattle|King County, we believe there is a common thread that must serve as
the imperative to bring us all together in this discussion. It is about
being humane and demonstrating common decency.
This is a fundamental truth: many people, including middle-class
families, are now being exposed to the travails of poverty and they have not
necessarily done anything wrong. They are humans, they are neighbors,
friends, and family members, and they don’t deserve to be treated poorly.
What do we do? We must all increase the intensity of our discussions about
neighbor survival help in times of emergency. Keep reading.
According to Brooking Institution research, “anti-poverty policy in the
United States has been in large part a struggle to provide the poor with
enough cash and in-kind benefits to have a decent if spare standard of
living while simultaneously trying to help them and especially their
children achieve self-sufficiency and get a foot on the ladder to success.”
Unfortunately, the numbers of middle-class families now needing this kind of
help have been increasing dramatically during the past several years. We
believe Seattle and King County are not immune to this phenomenon.
During the past several years our deteriorating economic conditions have
continued the pronounced decreases in employment to population ratios among
key groups, low wages, and stagnant economic growth. All of these factors
have helped create a new class of poor people, families and individuals not
traditionally associated with the impact of no job, no housing, no food, and
no hope.
The middle-class is becoming The New Face of the Poor. Who among us
doesn’t have a family member or a friend who is suffering in this tough
economy? Families in all of our communities have been forced to shave costs
to the core. And when the times require deeper cuts, sometimes there is
nothing left to eliminate. That is where many of our families are now. They
need our help just to get by---to survive.
How Do We Know the Landscape Has Changed?
We know there has been a consistent and dramatic shift upward in the raw
numbers of people we are now hearing from and seeing on a daily basis. We
also see them in our thrift stores and in the lines at our food bank every
week.
Our 54 neighborhood volunteer groups are making 20,000 home visits per year
helping people who are suffering. Calls to St. Vincent de Paul Seattle|King
County Help Line via the Community Information 211 Line have risen over 50
percent in the past several years. We are now annually handling over 29,000
calls from the poor and neighbors who need survival help.
We handle more 211 referral calls than any other government or social
service agency in our area. Our food banks are now distributing the
equivalent of 1.6 million meals per year to hungry families from all over
Seattle and King County.
Who is in Poverty in Washington State?
The Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic
Development estimated last year that over 640,000 people in our state live
in poverty. That doesn’t take into account people near poverty, those who
are underwater on mortgages or whatever.
Typically, the federal government defines poverty by an income level
designation that has been followed and understood for decades. Program
funding for basic needs such as food, shelter, and disability payments have
always been related to income and/or health levels.
According to the US Census Bureau, the overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3
percent, or 43.6 million people, according to the latest reports issued in
2010. For a family of four with two
adults and two children, the federal “poverty threshold” is $21,834,
according to the Census Bureau. That means that a family whose yearly income
is less than that is, according to the government, “in poverty.”
WA State Poverty/Research Study from Northwest Area Foundation 2009
In the study, Washingtonians say it takes almost twice as much to get by as
the federal government says it does.
About 70 percent of Washingtonians say that it takes at least $40,000 for a
family of four to make ends meet in their community, almost double the
federal poverty threshold of $21,000.
Almost 66 percent of Washingtonians say that for a family of four, if both
adults each make $10 per hour, it is still not enough to get by.
More than 30 percent of us say they or a family member living with them have
lost a job in the past 12 months. More than 35 percent of them say that they
have had their hours cut at work.
About 30 percent have had problems paying for basic necessities like
mortgage or rent, heating or food. And more than 60 percent say people are
struggling because of circumstances outside of their control. Just 25
percent say it’s due to poor choices.
About 68 percent of Washingtonians say more people are struggling in their
community now, compared to a year ago. And about 58 percent say they would
benefit personally if the number of people struggling in their community was
reduced.
Almost 50 percent of the public does not know where they could go in their
community if they needed help with basic necessities like food or shelter.
Forty-eight percent of Washingtonians say they are not familiar with
government services in their community like temporary housing assistance and
food stamps.
Where Does St. Vincent de Paul Stand in all of this?
Our mission is singularly clear and focused and has been consistent for 178
years:
“Inspired by Gospel values, the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic volunteer organization, leads
individuals to join together to offer person-to-person service to the poor
and the suffering. And in doing this work, we all enrich our lives
spiritually.”
And it is important to note that we serve everyone who needs help without
regard to religion, faith, race, color, creed, national origin, or sex. St.
Vincent de Paul is a very stable, durable, and compassionate organization.
Our Seattle|King County Council has been operating locally since 1920, over
91 years of continuous and unwavering stability and service to people who
need help. Globally, we have served the poor for 178 years and we are now
represented in 142 nations around the world.
Neighborhood Volunteer Conference Support
Our 54 “all-volunteer neighborhood conferences” are making in home visits in
record numbers to thousands of people who desperately need help with
avoiding eviction from their dwellings, shut-offs from utility service from
unpaid bills, and more. Our volunteers are investing over 121,000 hours into
this effort.
St. Vincent de Paul Believes Teaching People How to Think is A Strong
Solution
St. Vincent de Paul is working on a new and promising initiative that
prepares ex-offenders to become economically self-supporting through a
case/life management system of proven practices. We will be working with
other community agencies on this endeavor. We believe
we can bring about behavioral changes through the work of skilled
professionals teaching new and targeted thinking interventions that enable
individuals to move toward self-sufficiency. We are intentionally creating a
network of community partnerships, marshaling resources to advocate for
justice, protection, and ultimately restore the dignity of our poor. We will
keep you apprised of progress on these efforts.
St. Vincent de Paul Bottom Line
The numbers of people who have trouble scraping together food for their
families, money for a place to
sleep, and funds to just get by are not going away. If anything, the numbers
of our neighbors here in Seattle and King County trying to survive are going
to become more pronounced. We have no intention of sitting idly and watching
thousands of people suffer from poverty. We intend to continue to be
compassionate and strong advocates for the poor.