from the Columbus Dispatch A new study from Ohio State University shows that the bigger the city the tougher the turnaround. - KaleThey found that a 10 percent increase in job growth lowered the poverty rate 50 percent more in metro areas under 350,000 population than it did in metro areas above 1.5 million population. Central Ohio has 1.7 million people.A closer look led the researchers to conclude that new jobs don't help poor people unless the jobs come to their neighborhoods or policymakers figure out better ways to get them to distant jobs."Job growth can reduce poverty in a place like Columbus -- if we can get job growth near where poverty is," said Mark Partridge, an OSU professor and one of the authors of the recently published study.For instance, jobs that are created in...
from the Columbus Dispatch This profiles a low income clinic in Ohio to help with treating asthma. - KaleBy Misti CraneBreathing isn't supposed to be a struggle.It isn't supposed to require medicine you can't afford and office visits with co-payments that cut into the grocery budget.But for low-income people with asthma and other chronic lung conditions, that's reality.Answering the growing need for free care tailored to lung conditions, the Central Ohio Breathing Association has created a clinic to serve those people with household incomes at or below 175 percent of the poverty level. Under current federal guidelines, that would be $37,100 a year for a family of four.The lung-health clinic, open on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the association's offices on Old Henderson Road, technically...
from the Columbus Dispatch Another story on the federal poverty guidelines as it relates to Ohio. This is related to what New York Mayor Micheal Bloomberg has been saying about the guidelines. - Kale New study finds federal poverty levels unrealistically lowBy Catherine CandiskyA single mother of a preschooler living in Franklin County needs to earn $34,260 a year to pay for housing, child care, food and other necessities.A married couple with two children -- one in preschool and one of school age -- needs an annual income of $49,818 to make it in Franklin County, more than twice the federal poverty level.A report released this morning shows what it costs in each of Ohio’s 88 counties to pay for basic needs without government or private assistance. The analysis provides figures for...
from the Toledo Blade By ANGIE SCHMITTBLADE STAFF WRITERJosh Fowler may not have understood fully the gravity of the situation when he and his mother found themselves homeless, again, last year.For 7-year-old Josh, being homeless meant a 40-minute ride on a city bus to and from his school. It meant two moves while his mother, Karen, 40, underwent a second stint in drug treatment. It meant sharing a bedroom with his mother and sharing his toys with unfamiliar children at Aurora House, a transitional home for women on Toledo's north side.Meanwhile, the kindergartner was trying to absorb the basics of reading and math at East Side Central Elementary.Initially, his grades suffered."It was always hard to struggle with consistency," Ms. Fowler said. "I was not able to parent him the way I...
from WTOL Toledo By Shelley Lee,FOSTORIA - Mission service in the suburbs. Sounds like easy work, help a few kids at a Bible school program, serve in a soup kitchen. No problem.Not quite.Just seven miles from prestigious Boston neighborhoods, working in the town of Lynn, Mass., where 11 Wesley United Methodist youth travelled last week was anything but easy.With 53 percent of the population listed as low income, 80 percent of the school age children on the free lunch program, and a ranking of the fourth highest percentage of homeless in the state, this place was no walk in the park. Healthcare is also mandatory in Massachusetts which creates a serious financial problem for many.Jenny Miller, youth director at Wesley U.M. for nine years, led the group with Paul and Krista Harrison, and...
from The Columbus Dispatch
After 150 years, the Sisters of Mercy still dedicate their lives to serving the needy
By Meredith Heagney
CINCINNATI -- In 1858, they were a group of 11 young immigrant women who came to America to live in poverty so they could help others who had it even worse.
Today, the local order of the Sisters of Mercy operates a range of services that includes schools, hospitals and countless one-on-one contacts.
The past 150 years haven't changed the order's mission: to serve the poor, sick and uneducated, particularly women and children.
Sister Louise Huitink is one of the sisters carrying on the work of her predecessors. Her specialty is caring for the elderly poor, bringing them groceries, managing their finances and taking them out for their birthdays.
She...
from The Lantern, OSU Theresa AttallaSometimes people just want to be acknowledged for their work.This is the simple goal of Global Gallery, located 682 N. High St. in the Short North. Established in 1991 by four local area churches, Global Gallery has taken it upon itself to spread the message of fair trade by selling products and educating the community about the importance of fair trade and the cultures it represents."The mission of Global Gallery has been an important driving force in my life," said Connie De Jong, arts scholars coordinator at Ohio State and executive director of Global Gallery.De Jong began as a volunteer worker and fought to keep it open when at one point it was going to close. Now, there are four locations in the Columbus area: Short North, Easton, Yellow Springs...
from the Toledo Blade Like Toledo, city struggles to map revivalCLEVELAND — Even as chain stores like Ann Taylor are abandoning downtown’s Tower City Center mall, A.J. Ballard has no difficulty selling $35 T-shirts to young shoppers eager to mimic the urban look favored by professional athletes and pop music stars.“If you have a good concept, you can do phenomenal business here,” said the 28-year-old man from Willoughby, Ohio. He helped develop and now oversees Ideal and two other mall boutiques that have attracted a wide range of shoppers from visiting pro athletes to pop star Miley Cyrus.Since the 1970s, downtown boosters have expended lots of energy determining what to do with failing retail sites.Now, they say, their efforts are beginning to show results.Along famed Euclid...
from the Columbus DispatchBy Catherine CandiskyTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCHDemand for help putting food on the table has grown faster in the Columbus area during the past year than any other metropolitan region of the state.The number of people receiving food stamps and public assistance is up 9.4 percent in the central Ohio area from a year ago.Statewide, enrollment in the two tax-funded programs increased 7.3 percent between May 2007 and May 2008, according to state statistics compiled by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.“Ohio families are struggling to pay their housing costs, fill their gas tanks and put food on their tables," Brown said. “It's alarming that the number of Ohio families in need of food assistance has risen so rapidly in the past year.”Brown, who has been visiting food...
from the Wapak Daily NewsSenator’s report shows more people need federal, state assistanceBy WILLIAM LANEYThe number of Ohioans qualifying for a federally funded summer nutrition program has increased greatly in the past year, a U.S. legislator says, but only slightly more than 10 percent from the Buckeye State are taking advantage of the food assistance initiative.“I have just issued a report and all the current trends are going the wrong way — there is more unemployment, more stagnant wages, higher cost for fuel, higher cost for food — and people are living with more expenses and no pay increases,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Mansfield, said Wednesday in a teleconference about a reason for the increase in those seeking assistance. “We have learned much of that is...
from the Lancaster Eagle Gazette By TIERRA PALMERLANCASTER - More than two-thirds of the 12,000 telephone calls Fairfield County Job & Family Services receives each month are from people who need financial assistance or access to health care."Many of these families have worked all their lives. They're not asking to own a house or even to send their children to college. All they're asking for is to be able to eat and to take their children to the doctor when they're sick and to be able to get to work," said Laura Holton, community services director for JFS.Holton, like other local social service providers, hopes an initiative recently established by Gov. Ted Strickland will help identify solutions for the growing poverty problem.Strickland signed an executive order May 28 establishing...
from The Columbus DispatchBy Holly ZachariahRenee Colvin isn't too interested in orchestrating a Sunday-morning church service.No, this 20-year-old Ohio Wesleyan University senior has her eye on other things when it comes to serving God; things such as ending human trafficking, ensuring that people of all races and nationalities earn a fair wage, removing obstacles for the poor and getting the homeless out of shelters and back into life."I don't think I can change the world," she said, "but I really do think I can make a difference."Colvin represents a growing movement in this country, a younger, fresh and different face of Christianity. She is part of a generation that increasingly seems to not worry so much about how many bills to drop into the plate on Sunday mornings or whether the...
from the Toledo Blade By IGNAZIO MESSINABLADE STAFF WRITERA collaborative of some of Toledo's strongest social and community agencies will tackle the poverty problem in the city by concentrating efforts like a laser - hitting one neighborhood at a time, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced yesterday."This group is a proactive, action-oriented group designed to implement best practices in fighting poverty," Mr. Finkbeiner said.The mayor said the group had not identified its first target area, but is considering neighborhoods in the south end and East Toledo.In 2006, nearly 1.5 million Ohioans - 13.3 percent of the state's 11.5 million residents - were living in poverty, according to a report released last week.That figure is up from about 1.2 million in 1999, or 10.6 percent of the state's...
from the Cleveland Plain DealerPosted by April McClellan-CopelandThey were a hardworking Geauga County family trying to make ends meet when their lives were swept up in the foreclosure crisis.Although both parents work, they couldn't keep up with ballooning mortgage payments that grew $300 beyond their budget. Soon, the electric company turned off the lights -- twice. The finance company repossessed the car. The kids had to drop their dance classes and other activities.The family, struggling to keep their home, felt so pressed that they had to ask for help.They are among a growing number of suburbanites who are falling on hard times and are turning to charities or government programs for food or for help paying the bills. The Geauga family asked the United Way to help them get their...
from the Toledo BladeRate is the highest since 1960s: 13.3%By KATE GIAMMARISEBLADE STAFF WRITERA new report has found a larger proportion of Ohio's population is living in poverty than at any time since the 1960s "War on Poverty."In 2006, nearly 1.5 million Ohioans - 13.3 percent of the state's 11.5 million residents - were living in poverty, up from about 1.2 million in 1999, or 10.6 percent of the population then.The poverty rate was 10 percent in 1969, rising as high as 12.5 percent in 1989.The study was released last week, in conjunction with a state conference in Columbus. The same day, Gov. Ted Strickland signed an executive order creating a state anti-poverty task force.Titled "The Real Bottom Line: The State of Poverty in Ohio 2008," the study was conducted by Columbus-based...
from WBNSCOLUMBUS, Ohio — There are more families in poverty now in Ohio than in the last 40 years, according to a new report.The study shows more than 13-percent of Ohio’s population is poor. That’s about 316,000 people.Numbers have not been that high since the 1960 War on Poverty.The study was prepared for the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies and looks at numbers from the 2006 Census.The largest population group in the poverty level is single mothers and their children.The numbers show that 30% of Ohioans fall below the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold which means they are struggling even though they may not be in poverty. (The threshold is 200% of the poverty mark which is $20,444 for a family of four.)Most of the families in poverty did have someone who was...
from Naples NewsBy TRACY X. MIGUELKim Denmark is on a pilgrimage.Denmark, 46, has been walking since 1999 across the United States to raise awareness about the plight of the poor and homeless in America.Starting from her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, Denmark has walked about 264,000 miles so far through 16 states in a quest to reach 49 states, ending in Washington, D.C.She spent Tuesday walking about 8.3 miles through Naples, starting at Collier Boulevard and U.S. 41 East, heading west along U.S. 41 and ending at the Naples mayor’s office on Eighth Street South.Many motorists honked their horns in support of Denmark along with her small group of supporters, who walked beside her.Customers at Trixie’s Torpedo Sandwiches on Eighth Street South near Fifth Avenue South cheered.Denmark, who...
from the Columbus DispatchBy MARK FERENCHIKThe foreclosure mess gripping central Ohio affects not only homeowners but renters, too.People losing their homes end up in apartments and other rental units, leaving less space for low-income renters.So it was under that cloud that two buses left yesterday for a tour of affordable housing that the Columbus Housing Partnership has built or renovated in Franklin County.The point: It can be done.The warning: The city needs a whole lot more of it.“There's a huge gap between the number of affordable housing units and the need,” said Amy Klaben, the Housing Partnership's president, who says the county needs 17,000 more units for families making less than $15,000 a year.Poor people often spend 55 percent of their income on housing, Klaben said.The...
from the Columbus DispatchBy Bobby PierceAfter biking 3,100 miles from San Diego to Columbus, cyclists from Ride for World Health left this morning for Athens, Ohio. The group hosted an event at The Ohio State Medical Center yesterday to raise money and awareness for global health issues.Founded in 2004 at Ohio State University, Ride for World Health aims to address healthcare access, the correlation of poverty and illness, HIV/AIDS and women’s and children’s health. Their first cross-country ride was in 2006.Each year the nonprofit organization chooses a charity to help. This year, the 22 cyclists are riding for Doctors Without Borders.Starting on April 6, the riders made stops in Los Angeles, Denver and Kansas City for “Global Health Days” at medical centers prior to arriving...
from The Columbus Dispatch By Rita PriceTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio -- The vegetable garden is going in now, and Heather Algoe will tend it with a fervor not afforded a mere hobby.She needs this food to feed her family.With every bit of extra cash swallowed by the gas tank, Ohio's working poor are making difficult, sometimes humiliating choices: They're shutting off utilities, pawning keepsakes, lining up at food pantries and turning to county welfare offices by the thousands to apply for gasoline vouchers and cards."I'm scared," said Rojanne Woodward, director of the Pickaway County Department of Job and Family Services. "How much longer can we expect low-income people to keep working with prices the way they are?"Families in rural areas are hit hard-est, especially when...
from the Mansfield News Journal By LINDA MARTZMANSFIELD -- The state has appointed a 20-year-old nonprofit group to be Richland County's new low-income services provider.The 20-year-old Central City Economic Development Council, which builds affordable housing for low-income county residents, will now run federally funded programs designed to help area residents escape poverty. The Ohio Department of Development decision means low-income services will again be administered by a local agency.The CCEDC expects to handle about $180,000 in poverty block grant funding for the remainder of this year and $240,000 next year. The Home Energy Assistance Program, home weatherization improvements, job training, education and transportation programs will be affected."We will be collaborating,...
from the Columbus Dispatch Family incomes too high, too low for aidBy Catherine CandiskyAll eight Ohio families that have applied for a new health-care buy-in program for uninsured children with special needs earn too little to qualify for coverage.That's right. They're too poor.It seems the families, with a combined 10 children, fall into a new no man's land in Ohio's Medicaid program.They earn too much to qualify for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which offers tax-funded coverage at no charge, and too little for the buy-in program for middle-class youngsters uninsured because of pre-existing or chronic conditions.Gov. Ted Strickland's administration announced yesterday that it will ask legislators to approve a plan to ease eligibility for the buy-in program in an attempt...
from the Columbus DispatchBy Catherine CandiskyThe 17-month-old girl clutched a bottle of milk in one hand and her pregnant mother's skirt with the other as they met with a nutritionist at a West Side clinic.The girl represents thousands of children: One of every two babies in Ohio receives food and nutrition services through the Women, Infants and Children program, the tax-funded nutrition effort for low-income women and children.Enrollment in the 35-year-old program is at an all-time high in Ohio as stagnant wages and soaring food and energy prices make it difficult for many families to keep food on the table -- and for WIC to adequately serve needy families."Around this time, we need to get rid of the bottle," explained Anna Marie Fornadel, a registered dietitian, smiling at the girl....
from the Kentucky PostReported by: Tom McKeeGreater Cincinnati professionals from all walks of life gathered Tuesday at Duke Energy Center for the first of two days of speakers suggesting ways of moving people away from poverty."Bridges Out Of Poverty" is being sponsored by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati."In 2006, Cincinnati was identified as the third poorest city of its size in the United States," said Kate Keller, Senior Program Officer of the Foundation.Five different groups are hearing presentations by Dr. Ruby Payne, an expert on generational poverty, and Carol Weisman, a speaker, author and trainer in volunteerism, fundraising and governance.Keller said sessions are being held for non-profit and for-profit organizations, educators, health care providers and...
from Salem NewsBy KEVIN HOWELL, Salem News staff writerNEW WATERFORD — When reviewing applicants requesting court-appointed counsel in early 2006, Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Carol Robb noticed that the applicants had an enormous employment turnover. The individuals showed the ability to get a job, she said, but not to maintain long-term employment.When she began to research the matter, she discovered a book written by Ruby Payne called “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” According to Robb, the book displays distinctions in the academic arena concerning backgrounds, language and characteristics.The book described the hidden rules in economic class which prevent individuals in poverty from succeeding in different classes, Robb said. Using the concept of hidden rules,...
from the Akron Beacon JournalAmid a sluggish economy, a record 1.1 million Ohioans are getting food stamps, the state's welfare agency said. That's about 10 percent of the state's population.Caseloads have almost doubled since 2001, when an estimated 628,000 people were in the program, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.Low wages, unemployment and more expensive groceries, gasoline and other necessities have contributed to financial hardships facing many families. Ohio's jobless rate is 5.3 percent, up from 4.4 percent in 2001.Caseloads have been increasing for the past seven years, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the Job and Family Services Department, which oversees the food stamp program."The economy and loss of manufacturing jobs are at the root of what's...
from The Columbus Dispatch But price of food means they don't go as far nowBy Catherine CandiskyNearly one in 10 Ohioans now receives food stamps, the highest number in the state's history.Caseloads have almost doubled just since 2001, with 1.1 million residents now collecting benefits, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.Low wages, unemployment and the rising cost of groceries, gasoline and other necessities are to blame for financial hardships facing many Ohio families.Caseloads have been rising steadily in the past seven years, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the state agency which oversees the food-stamp program."Look at unemployment during this time," he said.Ohio's jobless rate is 5.3 percent, up from 4.4 percent in 2001."The economy and loss of...
from the Athens MessengerCASEY S. ELLIOTTLegislators need to do more to help the poorest of the poor, several area advocates said Wednesday.The directors of the Athens, Vinton and Hocking County Departments of Job and Family Services, the directors of Hocking and Athens County Children Services, and the director of the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board for Athens, Hocking and Vinton County (317 Board) have sent a joint letter to state and federal legislators asking for their help in reforming public assistance to the needy.Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services, said all the agencies came together to do this because they recognize that the assistance has lagged behind the need."We are concerned that the state hasn't focused on the...
from the Cleveland Plain DealerLoss of good jobs is blamedRobert L. SmithThe number of people using food stamps has risen sharply in Cuyahoga County in recent years, especially in the suburbs, which experts see as evidence of more hunger and weaker jobs.The number of county residents in the federal food stamp program surged 40 percent between 2002 and 2007, according to a study by the Center for Community Solutions released Thursday.The study found that about 14 percent of Cuyahoga County's 1.4 million people received federal food stamps last year, probably a historic high."That's very likely the highest percentage ever enrolled in the program," said Joseph Gauntner, the county director of Employment and Family Services.The federal food stamp program helps low-income people to buy food,...
from The Tribune ChronicleWARREN — In a six-year period, only three states in the nation were able to go from providing less funding to their high-poverty school districts to providing more.Ohio was one of them.A study was released Thursday by The Education Trust that provides a state-by-state analysis of funding trends from 1999 to 2005, comparing the resources available to districts serving the highest percentages of low-income students and students of color to the resources available to districts with low percentages of those same students, a news release states.The study shows that Ohio was among 10 states that increased funding equity between its low- and high-poverty districts by more than $200 per student.Ohio also was noted along with Maryland and Wyoming for moving from...