We like to plug these whenever we see them. A fair trade sale is taking place in Minnesota to help people of Paraguay. A village in Paraguay wants to have sinks to wash in. So money raised from this sale in Winona, Minnesota will go to the village, and the Peace Corps volunteers stationed there, to help install sanitation and water.Also, the fair trade sale sells the goods of craft makers from throughout the world. Goods sold at sales like these help to make sure these people get a decent wage for their work.The Winona Daily News's Dustin Kass reports on the conditions of the Paraguay village.Winona Daily News November 4thMany of Tonya Turben’s neighbors walk half an hour for water, just to fill up a basket that the women can use to wash their family’s laundry, dishes or hands.Most of...
from the Star Tribune This article profiles the microcredit program called "Project for Pride", and it's founder Joe Selvaggio. $1,000 dollars can go a long way, even further in these times. - KaleBy LIBBY NELSONSince 2005, the former Catholic priest and prolific philanthropist has given away more than half a million dollars -- $1,000 at a time -- to what he calls "poor people with potential."The funds from MicroGrants have bought used cars, laptops and business attire. They've helped restore good credit. They've started a cleaning business that employs immigrant women, a dance studio and a yoga studio. As worries grow about debt and credit in the United States, they also provide a debt-free way for low-income people to catch up and entrepreneurs to get started.Angie Sandifer, who became...
from the Star Tribune Now it's Minnesota's turn. The census bureau also found that the medium income in Minnesota dropped. - Kale By WARREN WOLFE, Star TribuneThe results reflect the downturn in Minnesota's economy that began two years ago, while the national figures were still improving, said state economist Tom Stinson."It's not a surprise," he said. "But the census report does reflect the reality that Minnesota hit the wall in job formation early in 2006 and pretty much stayed there. We probably won't begin to recover until next year."Even though the report shows Minnesota was declining while national measures were improving, the state remained among the highest in income and lowest in poverty.Using two-year averages, the report said Minnesota's median income dropped from $59,583 in...
from The Lake Elmo Leader by Andy BlenkushA woman named Sonny grows basil in the St. Croix River Valley. Miguel farms coffee in Peru. At Freeset Bags in India, women seeking freedom from the streets of Calcutta’s red light district can find work at Freeset to earn wages in a safe environment.These people share a common denominator – they seek a fair price for their work.Fair Trade is not a buzzword. It is an international movement gaining momentum across the globe, nation, state and St. Croix River Valley. Fair Trade networks strive for equality within international trading. It seeks to give farmers and artisans who struggle in today’s economics humane working conditions, educational resources and livable wages that allow them to compete in various markets worldwide.River Market...
By Mary Thoemke , TC Daily PlanetMarch 10, 2008In the 44 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty, efforts to eliminate the vicious cycle of poverty have revolved around delivering services and commodities to the poor. Now a new way of thinking is emerging, one that focuses on creating community action against poverty by building coalitions that are needed to bring about change, to empower the poor, and to teach them to advocate for themselves so their voices are heard.The Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Ramsey and Washington Counties developed the Low-Income Fellows Program in 2004 as a key part of its Blueprint to End Poverty. The Community Blueprint was designed to ensure the participation of low-income individuals and to increase low-income leadership...
from the Post-BulletinBy Laura GossmanPost-Bulletin, Rochester MN Getting out of poverty isn't so easy.Just ask Kathy French. She lost her job after illness forced her to miss work. Now her unemployment is about to run out. She has filled out numerous job application, but hasn't gotten any offers."I know a degree would be a big help, but I can't afford to go to school," she said. "I'll probably have to take a job at Kwik Trip or McDonald's."A recent survey from the census bureau pointed to an increase in poverty in southeastern Minnesota, and several other indicators seem to confirm that.According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2005, an estimated 8,685 people in Olmsted County were impoverished, compared to 6,818 in 2000. Surrounding counties also saw an increase.These numbers are difficult...
from the Post BulletinBy Laura GossmanPost-Bulletin, Rochester MN Kathy French has lived in poverty most of her life.The 28-year-old Rochester woman grew up in the housing projects in Winona and remembers moving from one home to the next."I went to eight different elementary schools," French said.Recent statistics seem to show poverty on the rise in Rochester.French and her son are not the only people feeling the effects of poverty.A total of 26,908 people in the seven-county area were below the poverty level in 2005, and poverty rates seemed to have increased in all seven counties between 2000 and 2005.French's mother, Linda Bradford, was a single mom with four children. French was the youngest.The family eventually moved to Rochester, where her mother found a job with Olmsted...
from The Post BulletinBy Christina Killion ValdezPost-Bulletin, Rochester MN Without a job and in need of medical care, Kathy French stood in line outside the Salvation Army Free Clinic last August in hopes of seeing a doctor. Now she's asking members of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota to get in line, too.The commission, which is made up of 18 legislators and two citizens, will be in Rochester on Thursday as part of the final leg of a statewide listening tour focused on poverty."The whole point of this listening tour is for them to understand what poverty looks like in Minnesota," said French, who helped organize the tour of southeastern Minnesota, including stops in Rochester, Winona, Albert Lea and Faribault.To French, the line best represents the struggle people...
from the St James Plain DealerBy Mark Anderson, Staff WriterFor the second time in a month, Watonwan County had a chance to tell lawmakers how they can help us.On Tuesday, Dec. 11, state legislators held an early childhood hearing in St. James. A separate committee, the Legislative Commission To End Poverty In Minnesota By 2020, made a brief stop in St. James on Thursday, Jan. 10.The End Poverty Commission is in a fact-finding mode, and just wanted to hear what is going on in St. James to end poverty. “We are here to serve the people of Minnesota,” said Gregory Gray, the commission director.Mario Garcia of St. James told the commission that education is the most important aspect of solving the poverty issue. He said people in this area are looking for educational opportunities to...
from the Post BulletinBy Laura GossmanPost-Bulletin, Rochester MN From 2000 to 2005, the number of people in southeastern Minnesota below the poverty line grew by about 7,000 people -- roughly equivalent to the population of Stewartville, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.A total of 26,908 in the seven-county area were below the poverty level in 2005, and poverty rates increased in all seven counties between 2000 and 2005.In Olmsted County, the poverty rate went from 5.4 percent in 2000 to 6.6 percent in 2005. Winona County saw the biggest jump, from 8.5 percent in 2000 to 14.1 percent in 2005.Statewide, the poverty rate was 9.2 percent in 2005, up from 6.9 percent in 2000.Olmsted County community service director Paul Fleissner said he's seen more people needing government...
from The Worthington Daily GlobeKari LucinWorthington Daily GlobeWORTHINGTON — Four members of Minnesota’s Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020 visited Worthington Friday to hear southwest Minnesotans speak about their experiences in and with poverty and the government programs that deal with it.“My definition of poverty is when you’re so low that you run into this tunnel and you can’t find your way out and there’s no light at the end,” said Madeline Vander Wol of Slayton, whose four children attended the Southwestern Minnesota Opportunity Council’s Head Start program.Vander Wol was one of several people to tell their stories to commission members Rep. Morrie Lanning, Sen. John Marty, Gregory Gray and Donna Bauer.The image of someone in poverty is often someone...
from the West Central TribuneCarolyn LangeWILLMAR — Being poor, and unable to afford decent housing, is one reason why victims of domestic assault often return to their abusive partners.Usually women will return to the batterer seven times because they can’t afford to live on their own, said Sharon Mace, the advocacy programs coordinator for Shelter House Inc. in Willmar.Mace told members of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020 that more affordable housing is necessary in rural communities like Willmar and that transitional housing “would be like a dream come true.”Without affordable housing, women trying to escape domestic abuse are at risk of being homeless or living in substandard conditions that aren’t healthy for the woman or her children, said Mace, who had...
from The Echo PressBy Al Edenloff, EditorAlexandria Echo Press People living in seedy, falling-down homes or cardboard boxes in a garbage-strewn alley are popular images of poverty.But it’s not always so obvious.For more people, even those with steady jobs, poverty is an ongoing struggle to pay for basic needs – housing, food, heat, electricity.It’s more common that many think. In fact, an estimated one in 10 children in Douglas County is living in poverty.It’s a pressing enough issue that the United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties has made poverty its priority issue.“It is crucial that we start to address the poverty that exists throughout Douglas and Pope County,” noted Jessica Boyer, community impact director. “That is why United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties is...
from The Stillwater CourierBrad Swenson, Forum Communications Company Jed, who lives in his car in the woods, came to Bemidji this summer from California. He’s been homeless for 28 years.“Living in a car in the woods is hiding like a fugitive even though I’ve done nothing wrong,” Jed, in his mid-50s, told a legislative panel Thursday night, charting a path over 28 years that has taken him from the Twin Cities to Oregon to California and now to Bemidji.Saying he was diagnosed with a mental disease, he qualified for Supplemental Security Income, he now owes the federal government $13,000 because the Social Security Administration can’t verify his residency status.He’s been to a host of local public agencies and some real estate firms seeking a cheap place to live, or at least...
from the Timberjay NewspapersBy Marshall HelmbergerLack of transportation and childcare, homelessness, and state and federal regulations that punish the poor are among a number of barriers that keep generations of rural residents in poverty. That was the message heard by members of a legislative commission on Friday during a visit to Tower and other parts of the Iron Range late last week.The Commission to End Poverty, which includes Sens. John Marty, Scott Dibble, and Carlos Mariani, was in northeastern Minnesota to take testimony from low income residents and their advocates. Commission members plan to introduce comprehensive anti-poverty legislation in the 2009 legislative session and the fact-finding tour was a part of that effort.The commission held one of its informal meetings at the...