Hardship grows amid wealth: Residents face unexpected need in communities across North Jersey, By Harvy Lipman, June 24, 2012, The Record: “Karen Levi doesn’t think of herself as being poor. After all, she has a condo in Mahwah, 10 years’ experience in marketing and publishing and, before the recession struck, she was making $75,000 a year. But the fact of the matter is that Levi hasn’t had a full-time job in three years, even after returning to school last year to get her certification as a paralegal. A divorcée who supports a 20-year-old daughter in college, she took in $31,000 last year working a range of part-time jobs and collecting unemployment checks. When her jobless benefits run out for good at the end of this month, she’ll lose nearly two-thirds of her income. That will pretty much land her at the official federal poverty level of $11,170 for a single person – an amount that experts agree greatly underestimates the cost of living in a place like North Jersey…”
Tag: Newly poor
Suburban Poverty
- In suburban America, middle class begins to confront poverty, By Izhar Harpaz, June 23, 2012, NBC News: “The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colo., conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. But often these days, the closed doors of well-kept houses hide a decidedly different reality: hushed conversation about food stamps and Medicaid, depleted bank accounts and 401K’s, kitchen shelves stocked with groceries from food pantries..”
- Suburban families suffer through poverty, By Cary Aspinwall, June 25, 2012, Tulsa World: “Cindy Moore woke up one warm June morning to realize she had only a bag of rice to feed her three young grandchildren. So she and her sister drove the grandkids from Leonard to Bixby Community Outreach Center, where they received a cart full of groceries and some clothes to get by. ‘I promised my husband when he passed away that I’d take care of the family because that’s what you’re supposed to do,’ she said. ‘We might not have much, but we have love.’ Even in the area’s more affluent, rapidly growing suburbs, with relatively stable home values and employment rates, many families are hurting…”
SNAP Enrollment and Eligibility
- Long-term poor no longer make up bulk of those collecting food stamps on Treasure Coast, By Eric Pfahler, February 18, 2012, Vero Beach Press-Journal: “Skyrocketing need has put a strain on programs designed to feed the hungry, but technology and charitable giving have prevented the state’s safety net from bursting on the Treasure Coast. As of November, a record 3 million Floridians, including more than 85,000 Treasure Coast residents, receive food stamps through the state-run, federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The numbers are about triple the number on food stamps five years ago, according to state data. About 15 percent of both Treasure Coast and Florida residents are on food stamps. The increase has forced Florida Department of Children and Families employees to handle more calls, process more paperwork ensuring eligibility and create more partnerships to make sure people are getting aid. Local food pantries, meanwhile, are working to get more food to help people when food stamps do not provide enough food…”
- In Missouri, murderers can get food stamps, but those with drug convictions can’t, By Jason Hancock, March 1, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Get out of prison for murder, child molestation or just about any other felony in Missouri and you can still get food stamps. But if you have a felony drug conviction, forget it. You’re banned for life. To Johnny Waller, who had a drug conviction in his past, that just doesn’t seem fair. And that’s why the 34-year-old Kansas City resident traveled this week, as he has for years, to the state Capitol to speak out for legislation lifting the lifetime ban. ‘I just believe everyone should get a second chance,’ he said. Missouri is one of only nine states where a felony drug conviction means a lifetime ban from ever qualifying for food stamps. Congress allows states to opt out of the ban, which was imposed in 1996 as part of welfare reform legislation. To date, 41 states and the District of Columbia have lifted or modified the ban, including Kansas in 2006…”
- Michigan Senate approves bill preventing lottery winners from getting public food assistance, By Dave Murray, March 1, 2012, Saginaw News: “People winning a lot of money in the lottery would be prevented from receiving public food assistance under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Thursday. The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, was prompted by a Bay County man, Leroy Fick, who last year was reportedly still using food stamps about a year after collecting a $2 million prize. The lottery winner said in news reports that he was using the food stamps after state employees told him to continue using the public assistance…”