Out at home: Teenage homelessness on the rise, By Paul Levy, April 19, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Suddenly, homeless teenagers are all over the Twin Cities — cities and suburbs alike — sleeping in port-a-potties and cars, camping under bridges or riding buses all night. ‘Part of it is the economy, but we’re also doing a better job of identifying who is homeless,’ said Karrie Schaaf, considered a state expert on youth homelessness in the metro area. ‘And now that times are hard economically, they’re coming out of the woodwork.’ Some are children of economically stressed families that have been forced to double up with other families; they simply don’t have room to house older kids, said Schaaf, youth director for the Emma B. Howe Family YMCA in Coon Rapids. Others were evicted from their homes on their 18th birthdays by struggling families facing foreclosure, said Judy Johnson, housing supervisor in Anoka County. In Minnesota, the number of 18- to 21-year-olds in shelters more than doubled in the past three years, rising from 455 in 2006 to 987 last October, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said. In Anoka County, the homeless 18-21 population doubled in the past year alone, according to a January survey…”
Tag: Minneapolis
Suburban Poverty – Twin Cities, MN
Poverty is hitting the suburbs with more sting, By Mary Jane Smetanka, March 6, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “In a startling shift, Twin Cities suburbs now have more poor people than the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Job losses, foreclosures and disappearing insurance coverage have pushed requests for food stamps, medical assistance and emergency housing aid to record levels. Homeless numbers are rising. Food shelves are scrambling to meet demand. It’s a trend mirrored in suburbs across the nation, where a recent study found that suburban poverty has grown five times faster than it has in big cities. Worst hit are single moms and unskilled workers whose finances were shaky before the economy dipped. But financial stress reaches well into the middle class…”
Food Stamp Program Enrollment
- Hard times, hard choices: The decision to go on food stamps, By Jim Spencer, December 6, 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Three years ago, the National Republican Congressional Committee gave Ini Augustine a Congressional Medal of Distinction, recognizing her prospering temporary-employment business. Today, Augustine is among tens of thousands of Minnesotans forced on to food stamps for the first time by a recession that first imploded the stock market and now has exploded stereotypes of welfare recipients. ‘I’ve been working since I was 13,’ Augustine, 28, said. ‘I never had trouble finding a job.’ Until now…”
- In Twin Cities, foods stamps are feeding the suburbs, By Jason Hoppin and MaryJo Webster, December 7, 2009, Pioneer Press: “Off carefully planned streets and behind manicured lawns, welfare is increasingly putting food on the dinner tables of Minnesota’s suburban families. As job losses batter Minnesota’s economy – 70 percent of the state’s $1.2 billion deficit is attributed to lost wages – the use of food stamps, called Food Support in Minnesota, is on the rise. But a look at the numbers shows that while the use of food stamps is still most prevalent in the urban core, it is in the suburbs where their use is rising the fastest. Both wealthier and less diverse than other parts of the state, the suburbs are often perceived to be free of the ills that gnaw at bigger cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul. But over the past decade, that has started to change…”
- Number of S.J. residents receiving food assistance up by thousands, By Zachary K. Johnson, December 7, 2009, Stockton Record: “Thousands more county residents now receive food assistance every month than did just a year ago, mirroring a nationwide climb in the number of people receiving federal food stamps benefits. In October, 77,814 county residents benefited from the program, an 18 percent increase from the 65,861 residents in October 2008, according to San Joaquin County Human Services Agency, which administers the program. The number of people in the program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, has been rising steadily since at least July 2008, when the number of people getting the benefit was at 63,520…”
- Under-use of program costs county millions, By Zachary K. Johnson, December 7, 2009, Stockton Record: “Up to 142,000 people in San Joaquin County struggle to afford enough to eat, but many of them are not receiving federal assistance to help put food on the table, according to reports recently released by a statewide advocacy group. If everyone eligible for food stamps benefits in the county received them, another $46.8 million in federal money would flow into the county each year, according to the California Food Policy Advocates. But the impact would be greater, generating $86 million in economic activity as food stamp beneficiaries spend more money, according to the group’s Lost Dollars, Empty Plates report released last month…”