In this video from WAFF, we find out more about one woman's effort to shed light on human trafficking going on in Northern Alabama. Trafficking for sexual exploitation in the area gained national headlines last year with the rape and murder of a trafficked five year old girl. This helped to prompt activist Pat McKay to help inform the area about the problem. The meeting mentioned took place last night....
One of the poorest states in the nation actually saw improvement in it's poverty percentage in 2008. More people moved above the poverty line in Alabama than any other state in the union.From the Tuscaloosa News, this Associated Press article tells us about the improvement that might be short lived. The numbers were gathered in 2008 and reflect “the calm before the storm” of the recession hit the state, said Kimble Forrister, director of Alabama Arise. At the time, the state’s unemployment rate was better than the rest of the nation, Forrister said.The census figures reported Wednesday by the Press-Register in Mobile show that the number of people below the poverty line fell by 47,000 to 712,835. That was the largest numerical drop of any state.Alabama’s poverty rate fell 1.2...
Youth from throughout Baldwin County, Alabama participated in a 30 hour fast over this past weekend. The event raised money for World Vision, and the youths also helped out at the county soup kitchen. From the Press Register, reporter Andrew Dunning tells us what moved the youth to starve."This is the first time youths from St. Andrew by the Sea Community Church in Gulf Shores, Providence United Methodist Church in Spanish Fort and Christ Presbyterian Church in Daphne have teamed up to participate in the 30-hour Famine," said Sharla Berry, director of Youth Ministries at Christ Presbyterian Church. Berry said that the kids started the 30-hour fast at 6 p.m. Friday when youths gathered to hold a candlelight service. The participants lit 600 candles — one for each child who died from...
Here is a story about a great program that strives to eliminate homelessness in a county of Alabama. The Sanctuary Trust finds homeless people in the county and has a group of churches sponsor the family. The Trust provides a temporary home, while the churches help with other needs, like food or starting savings. From The Birmingham News, writer Scottie Vickery introduces us to two leaders of the program. If Ken Flowers and Werner Beiersdoerfer have their way, the issue of homelessness in Shelby County will be eliminated one family at a time.Already the men, trustees with the Sanctuary Trust for Shelby County, can mark two Montevallo families off their list.Each of the families -- a father with two daughters and a single mother with five children -- lived for several months in...
This post is a bit off topic, but we found it to be a shocker. A new Gallup poll shows that Alabama, Iran and Zimbabwe have similar percentages of religious people. The percentages were 82 percent for Alabama, 83 percent for Iran, and 81 percent for Zimbabwe.How this relates to poverty is that the Gallup poll findings show a correlation between religion and income. This AFP article that we found in Google News allows Gallup to explain the link. "Eight of the 11 countries in which almost all residents (at least 98 percent) say religion is important in their daily lives are poorer nations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia," the report said.The poverty rate in Alabama was 17 percent in 2007, according to the US Census Bureau, while World Bank statistics show around 20 percent of Iranians live...
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...
from NBC 11 Atlanta GAINESVILLE, Ala. (USAToday.com) -- This speck-on-the-map town, once Alabama's third largest, is home to fewer than 400 hardy souls. It has four tiny churches: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Episcopalian.Through the years, so many people have left that members of different churches worship together so they can keep the congregations going. They call themselves "Methobapteriapalians." Says Maxine McClusky, a member of Gainesville Baptist and St. Albans Episcopal churches: "Sometimes on Sunday morning, it's just one or two of us and the preacher."This is life in a vanishing place: Sumter County, Ala., one of the nation's fastest-shrinking counties. Since 2000, the population of the county, in west-central Alabama along the Mississippi border, has declined 10.1%,...
from The Tuscaloosa NewsBy Lydia Seabol AvantStaff writerTUSCALOOSA | The rising cost of food isn't just affecting people's grocery bills at home. It's also hitting local food banks, soup kitchens and the number of people who sign up for food assistance.With gas prices also at record highs, people living at or under the poverty level are bearing the brunt.'We are constantly being told by people that they just can't make ends meet anymore because of the price of gas and groceries costing what they do,' said Judy Young, director of the Tuscaloosa County office of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. 'A lot of people are coming in who thought they would never have to apply for food stamps.'In the last year, the overall price of food jumped 4.5 percent, with the cost of certain...
from Everything AlabamaBy JEFF AMYBusiness ReporterAlabama's gap between its richest and poorest families is the nation's second-widest, and has grown in the last decade by the second-highest amount, driven in part by income declines among the poor.The figures come from a report set for release today by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, two liberal-leaning Washington, D.C. institutes. It used Census Bureau data to reach conclusions.In Alabama, advocates for the poor said the figures should spur the Legislature to relieve state tax burdens on low-income people and provide them help seeking more education. Those who see a society divided between rich and poor as harmful warn that a widened breach has social and economic consequences. They say poor...
from AL.comBy BOB JOHNSON MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama House committee has issued a list of recommendations for fighting poverty, including eliminating the state sales tax on food.But House Speaker Seth Hammett said it's a worthwhile goal that will never happen unless the governor and legislative leaders collectively come up with a way to replace the $500 million in tax revenue that would be lost by removing the sales tax on food.The House Poverty Task Force was appointed by Hammett and has been meeting since last summer."Poverty affects all of us, either directly or by raising crime rates, declining neighborhoods and even the state's ability to pay for the needed services such as additional state troopers, or additional funding for public schools," said task force chairwoman Rep....
from The Birmingham NewsCity's rate near rural Black BeltJEFF HANSENNews staff writerChildhood poverty estimates released this month show a sharp divide for metro Birmingham students.School-age children in Bessemer, Birmingham and Tarrant had poverty rates approaching the levels of Alabama's impoverished rural Black Belt, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.Just a few miles away, students in Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Trussville, Hoover and Shelby County had some of the lowest rates of poverty in the entire state. Mountain Brook had the least poverty out of 132 Alabama school districts, with Vestavia Hills, Trussville, Hoover and Shelby County following, respectively.No other area of the state shows so great a gap among public school systems operating side by side.This creates two...
from The Huntsville TimesBy CHALLEN STEPHENSTimes Staff Writer challen.stephens@htimes.comCrunching the numbers with poverty factored in shows variety of winnersMost once-a-week tutors find their way into Lincoln Elementary School through a network of churches. But Joan Prewitt simply walked in the front door and asked if she could help.Prewitt, a grandmother, had tried the same thing at another elementary school, but she never heard back. But Lincoln has a volunteer coordinator paid with private donations, and Prewitt became one of more than 50 volunteer reading tutors who help propel Lincoln's test scores into the ranges more typical of middle class schools across town.Neighborhood poverty or affluence predict test scores for most schools across Madison County. But Lincoln Elementary...
from The Tuscaloosa NewsMONTGOMERY | About 16 percent of Alabama's 4.4 million residents live in poverty, according to U.S. Census figures, and a new legislative committee started work Tuesday looking for ways to reduce that number.The Alabama House Task Force on Poverty set a goal of coming up with proposed legislation in the coming session to deal with several aspects of poverty - including human suffering, housing issues and helping people improve their economic condition.The House passed a resolution in this year's regular session to set up the committee."I hope we can walk away with something we can use to help people," said Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, chairwoman of the panel and sponsor of the resolution that set up the committee.It includes legislators, representatives of...
from Yahoo NewsBy Bob Johnson, Associated Press WriterNewly Formed Panel Begins Work on Fighting Poverty in AlabamaMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- About 16 percent of Alabama's 4.4 million residents live in poverty, according to U.S. Census figures, and a new legislative committee started work Tuesday looking for ways to reduce that number.The Alabama House Task Force on Poverty set a goal of coming up with proposed legislation in the coming session to deal with several aspects of poverty -- including human suffering, housing issues and helping people improve their economic condition.The House passed a resolution in this year's regular session to set up the committee."I hope we can walk away with something we can use to help people," said Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, chairwoman of the panel...
from Daily CometMONTGOMERY, Ala. - A task force formed by House Speaker Seth Hammett to study poverty in Alabama will hold its first meeting next week.Hammett created the House Task Force on Poverty to identify conditions that create or worsen poverty and to propose legislation or public policy initiatives to reduce or eliminate poverty.The commission includes eight House members and representatives of state agencies and organizations that deal with issues related to poverty."We want to look at policies that adversely impact those in poverty and look at new policies that could lift people out of poverty," said Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, chair of the task force. She said the task force will review proposed legislation that could be introduced in the upcoming regular session of the...
from Everything AlabamaMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A national report on the health and well-being of children and teenagers shows Alabama's overall ranking declined.The annual Kids Count report, released yesterday by Voices for Alabama's Children, measures each state's progress on ten statistics, including infant mortality, poverty rates, single-parent families, teen death rates and low birth weight babies.The report ranks Alabama 48th this year — dropping five spot from its best ranking of 43rd last year.The study said Alabama recorded increases in several categories including number of children living in poverty; the high school drop out rate; and the percentage of children living in poverty. However, the state did see a slight improvement in the teen birth...
from The Crimson White OnlineUA programs support week with five eventsBy Meghan MenardAn estimated 100 sleeping bags will surround Denny Chimes from 8:30 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday as people gather for the Grate American Sleep-Out to raise awareness of worldwide homelessness, said Whitney Clearman, coordinator of Hunger and Homelessness Week.The sleep-out is one of five events that will take place during the annual Hunger and Homelessness Week Monday through Friday, she said."I'm hoping students come out and show their support," she said. "The more people we get out, the more awareness we will raise and the more notice the state will take."A Peace Corps information session, in which returning volunteers will speak of their experiences, will kick off the week Monday at 3 p.m. in 253...