It could be me. It could be you.

No doubt most of my readers have never been so poor that they had to sign up for public, safety net benefits.  You know, like SNAP (Food Stamps) for example. 

In addition, those of us who are fortunate beyond imagination sometimes form opinions about people much less fortunate than we.  Some of our opinions are misguided. 

I suppose this discussion falls under the category "You have to be here to really understand." 

How would you feel if you knew that today you would be going to the food stamp office to apply for relief to feed your family?  How would you handle the knowing stares of the people around you? 

How would I feel when I checked out that first time at the local grocery store using my SNAP benefit card?  What would the cashier and other customers think of me? 

What impact would the constant berating of programs like SNAP in media have on me and my children? 

Take a moment and read the compelling story of a young mother's first experiences with just these dilemmas, feelings and impressions.

Reactions?

Working, but still poor. . .

Here at CitySquare, we've known the hard truth for a very long time.  Most of the low-income people with whom we work also work at a job, often more than one job. 

The problem is not work. 

The problem is pay and earning power. 

Consider the analysis of Bill Quigley that follows.  Take time to go to the complete text of the report.  Then, tell me what you think. 

Is it realistic to think that everyone who works should be able to sustain themselves by that work?

Working and Poor in the USA
Sunday 22 January 2012
By: Bill Quigley, The Center for Constitutional Rights

"Our nation, so richly endowed with natural resources and with a capable and industrious population, should be able to devise ways and means of insuring to all our able-bodied men and women, a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1937

Millions of people in the US work and are still poor. Here are eight points that show why the US needs to dedicate itself to making work pay.

To read the entire report click here.

Stories

We're not short on moving, important, wonderful people stories around here.

A bit of background on just one story.

We make a habit of attempting to employee the people who come to us seeking assistance with various challenges, almost all associated with poverty. 

Last year we hired a woman who, when she came to us, had been homeless for several months.  She was alone.  She had been employed as a reporter for a local trade publication and had been laid off in the financial downturn.  Her health was not the best.  She was emotionally spent, basically at the end of her rope.

She did have the good fortune to work into a sleeping cubicle at The Bridge, Dallas' homeless assistance center.  After meeting her, she began to volunteer and eventually we hired her.  She has found her place among us and is a very productive member of our team.

At our annual Christmas party last week she approached me with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. 

"Larry, do you know where I will be this Saturday?"  she asked.

"No, where?" I replied.

"Watching my daughter walk across the stage as she graduates from college!" she beamed.

She thanked me for the opportunity to work again.  I tried to push the thanks back to her, telling her that she had earned everything on her own. 

"No, that's not true.  Thanks for the new start," she said softly.  "Thanks for the new start.  My daughter is going to be great!" 

Stories. . .about people, amazing, miraculous people.

They keep me going.

Portfolio at the bottom. . .

Almost thirty years ago I realized that, if I bought into an IRA, I could save about $1,200 in tax liability for that one year. 

At the time I served a church in Richardson as its Senior Pastor.  I had no financial advisor.  So, following my usual "best practices," I opened the Yellow Pages and thrust my forefinger into the book where it landed on a broker named Scot Smith.  Best choice I ever made!  I have very little money, but Scot has stuck with me through it all and he has managed my funds very well.  Whatever retirement income I end up with will be in large part due to Scot's hard work on my behalf. 

So, I've been wondering.  If I have the benefit of a financial counselor near the top of the economy, why shouldn't folks nearer the bottom enjoy the same guidance benefit? 

My options orbit around a good job, 401K investments and a little inheritance income.  

Those at the bottom have the prospects of an entire range of public benefits designed to lift people into self-sufficiency.  Part of the problem though has to do with connecting eligible persons to the options and opportunities that they could enjoy.   

Take our entry level employees at CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries).  These are hard working individuals.  Our minimum wage at CitySquare is $10 an hour.  That translates to an annual wage of under $21,000, a pay scale that equals poverty status according to current federal poverty standards. 

What if we offered financial benefit counsel to these employees and to others who come to  us seeking assistance?  What if we trained and offered the services of "financial counselors" for the bottom of the economy? 

My question is necessary for a number of reasons. 

First, most people don't know what benefits are available for putting together a plan for a better life.  Overcoming a lack of basic skills is a major challenge for low-income wage-earners.  During that time of crucial learning, either in a classroom or on the job, people need assistance and support.  Connecting people to the resources can mean the difference between success and failure, as in continuing life at the bottom.

Second, obtaining the available benefits is not easy.  In fact, the longer I work in this sector the more I believe the system is set up to block eligible individuals and families from obtaining the benefits needed to be successful.  In short, it is hard to be certified for most of the assistance and human lift programs that are available.  For example, in 2008, Dallas County left over $500,000,000 of SNAP benefits (food stamps) on the table by not enrolling all qualified residents in the nutrition program that benefits individuals, families and retail grocers!  A competent counselor makes all the difference in the world to the process and to success. 

Third, an effective financial counselor often becomes a friend.  Most of us higher up the economic scale tend to forget the importance of supportive friendship.  Scot is my friend.  I trust him.  He gives me sound advice and clear direction.   Why would we expect things to be different among low-income persons?  And, this raises an important issue.  I believe that there may be a need to shift away from a classic social work/case management approach to this work.  What's needed will involve an approach more nearly like a financial advisor whose goal is to see a customer achieve maximum return on investment of time and effort. 

While the financial opportunities for low-income workers vary rather dramatically from state to state (with Texas ranking near the bottom on most public benefits), there are numerous resources available designed to advance people out of the underclass.  Included in this "portfolio of benefits" are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, Supplement Security and Disability Income, utility assistance, Women, Infant and Children program (WIC), Head Start, Free and Reduced School Food Program and various housing assistance programs. 

By weaving together a plan or linking up with applicable public benefits, a person with the assistance of a thoughtful financial advisor can begin to move forward.  At the same time, each of these possible investments in the lives of low-income individuals and families puts additional dollars into the economy where they are utilized. 

There is hope to be found here.  The question or the rate-limiter for impact relates to public will, as well as a willingness to view the various resources from a fresh, new perspective and without shame or reservation.  After all, lifting people in our economy is the purpose behind each fund opportunity.

"I see this every day. . ."

"This is the most amazing statement I believe you have ever made. Have you ever seen residents of a poor neighborhood make an annual trip to a surburb of perhaps $200,000 houses for a drive to "clean up" the community? I never have. On the other hand it is an annual event to go to a poor neighborhood and make a "clean sweep" of junk and old tires, old appliances tossed out the backdoor, etc. It takes dozens of people all day to do this, even serving lunch. So no, one will not find junk on the property of nicer neighborhoods at the same rate."

The statement above was posted as a comment in response to something I had written here not long ago about property values and urban redevelopment.  The comment comes from a regular reader who seldom, if ever, agrees with me. 

My daughter, Joanna, had an interesting comment about the statement. 

"Dad, I wanted to reply that I see this every day of the week in my neighborhood," she said.  "Poor, hard working people come into my neighborhood every week to clean the houses, to keep the landscape looking perfect and to haul off everything we throw away and waste.  We pay them to take care of all of the dirty work."

I like that.  I like that alot.  Thanks, Jo!

Many poor neighborhoods are filled with houses owned and ill-maintained by absentee landlords (i.e. slumlords).  Codes aren't enforced.  City services can become sub-standard.  Residents do the best they can with the resources available. 

I guess I'm like my daughter.  We've just seen the folks.  We just know the people.  Cheap judgment and knee-jerk hatred just doesn't get it.
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David Shipler--a seminar on American poverty

For those who want to dive deeper into the reality of poverty in America today, here's a "seminar" that you'll find extremely helpful.

David Shipler spoke at Central Dallas Ministries not long after he wrote, The Working Poor: Invisible in America. His insights were profound, helpful and challenging. His well-researched work is a must read for anyone really concerned about poverty today.

In regard to the video below, I'm not sure I've seen anything that better justifies the investment of your time.

I'd appreciate your opinions after you hear Shipler's comments.

The "Near Poor"

Fifty-three million Americans live between the poverty line and the middle class.

We encounter thousands of these individuals each year.

What you'll see in the video below is a brief presentation on the "near poor" presented by Professor Katherine Newman (Princeton University).

New book from William Julius Wilson worth your time

William Julius Wilson writes provocative, groundbreaking stuff.

Included in his bibliography are books like When Work Disappears, The Declining Significance of Race and The Truly Disadvantaged.

Now, Wilson is out with his latest study that promises to be his most important work to date. More Than Just Race tackles the historic debate sparked over four decades ago by the social commentary of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," or the so-called "Moynihan Report."

As would be expected, Wilson comes at the issue from a new perspective that rings true upon reading the first reviews of his latest book. As a matter of fact, I heard a group of young black men speaking in exactly Wilson's terms just last week as we discussed a new project that aimed to create real jobs for their community.

For a sample of Wilson's thinking, take a look at the review from Slate below:

How To Understand the Culture of Poverty

William Julius Wilson once again defies both right and left

By Sudhir Venkatesh

Pop quiz: Who made the following observation? "At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of [black America] is the deterioration of the [black] family. It is a fundamental weakness of [black Americans] at the present time." Each year, I pose this question to my undergraduate students. Most will guess George Bush, Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, or Bill Clinton. This is not surprising, given their age. More telling is their perception that such a view might come from the political left or right. It reveals just how commonplace the link of family-race-poverty is in the American mindset.

But there is a little trickery going on: Replace "black" with "Negro" and change the date to 1965. The correct author is Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He wrote these words as part of a policy brief to help President Lyndon Johnson understand the distressed social conditions in urban ghettos. "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action" leaked to the press and created a firestorm of controversy with its contention that a "tangle of pathology" engulfed black America.
The so-called "Moynihan Report" brought about a new language for understanding race and poverty: Now-familiar terms like pathology, blame the victim, and culture of poverty entered American thought as people debated whether Moynihan was courageously pointing out the causes of social ills or simply finger-pointing. Moynihan forced a nation to ask, "Is the culture of poor blacks at the core of their problems?"

[read more here]

Reactions???

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"Let's block off the street"

Common wisdom says that folks in this country can work hard, keep their noses clean and sooner or later they will "make it" through their sheer effort alone. While this assessment works out occasionally, it is not the prevailing reality for millions of poor people who understand generational poverty.

People who will protest my judgment here simply don't understand all of the forces that conspire against the urban poor. The factors that work counter to breakthroughs for low-income Americans are legion. Some relate to public policy, be it educational opportunities, enhanced skills training, health care, decent and affordable housing, access to higher education. . .the list goes on and on.

Most people who have no direct experience with America's poor just don't understand the enormous odds working against these individuals and families.

But, it goes far beyond public policy.

There is neighborhood reality that grows particularly painful as communities change.

Let me provide an example from my own personal experience. Actually, the entire matter was beyond disgusting.

I live in what has become a transitional neighborhood. When we moved here a decade ago, we purchased an 80-year-old frame house in a very challenged part of old east Dallas. Our particular block was a mess. All of the houses, save one, were built between 1910 and 1922. Adding to the diversity are three multi-family properties on our block. At the end of our block and just across the street you encounter neglected, run down multi-family properties and a row of bungalows built in the 1930s. In short, the neighborhood is a mixed up deal!

About six years ago, we were invited to a neighborhood meeting. More accurately the meeting was a block party with one basic agenda. A good number of my neighbors presented a plan to close one end of our street. Purportedly the reason was to provide traffic control against people who traveled up and down our block on their way to Fitzhugh, a major artery into Fair Park and toward Central Expressway.

The real reason: to separate our block from the low-income Hispanic families who live at one end of the street.

You got it: my neighbors wanted to build a barrier against the poor families who live at one end of our street.

Never mind that they caused no problems.

Never mind that they all worked.

Never mind that their children attended the public school in our neighborhood.

Never mind that they were an asset to our community, our city and our neighborhood.

Their crime?

They are poor.

They are immigrants.

They "aren't like us."

Thankfully, our meeting ended at about the time it began. The idea of segregating a part of our neighborhood didn't last past the opening statement for such a ridiculous proposal.

But, you know, I've thought about that meeting and its underlying bias and racism many times since it happened.

We just don't understand what poor people and their children face in this nation, what they have to put up with, what they have to battle and endure.

We just don't understand.

Until we are there, we never will.

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Work and the Earned Income Credit

The very best program for social uplift is a job. With the exception of persons dealing with severe, chronic disabilities, employment must be the central piece in any strategy to overcome poverty.

The basis for the highly successful Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) initiative is this fundamental belief in the supreme importance of work. Here at Central Dallas Ministries we have encouraged the low-income working men and women that we know to file a tax return to secure this credit. At one point, our public interest law firm secured a grant from the Internal Revenue Service that allowed us to do this work more effectively.

As a tax strategy to reduce poverty and its ill effects on the nation, the EITC was the idea of Richard Nixon, and was signed into law by Gerald Ford in March 1975. The program has received broad bipartisan support from its inception and has been expanded over the years.

The EITC provides a tax refund to all workers in poverty, who earn less than a certain amount annually--regardless of whether they pay income taxes. The EITC is designed to move people aware from federal welfare assistance and into lives of work. Bottom line: the EITC establishes a minimum annual salary for workers. If a worker earns less than the baseline minimum, she or he receives an earned income credit that raises annual earnings to the established minimum.


Ronald Reagan referred to the EITC as "the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress." He increased funding for the effort, as well as the minimum baseline several times. George H. W. Bush expanded the EITC as well.

Senator John McCain has been a consistent supporter of the EITC. Last Saturday (October 18, 2008), the Washington Post reported that, "In fact, in 1999, Mr. McCain opposed efforts to change the earned-income tax credit, which gives payments to the working poor, and called it a 'much-needed tax credit for working Americans.' And in this campaign, he has proposed to use the tax code to do more such 'wealth-spreading."

The Hoover Institute describes the EITC as: "...probably the most cost-effective anti-poverty program the federal government operates."

Using the federal tax code to incentivize work, lift families and promote economic growth is sound policy. The EITC has been supported by leaders from both major political parties. It is an effort that works, while rewarding work!


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Amazing new resource

The Center for Public Policy Priorities sent me a link to an amazing new tool for calculating the impact of "work supports," those public program benefits designed to assist hard working, low-income people, such as child care assistance, health insurance, the Earned Income Credit, food stamps and other public resources.

The "Texas Family Resource Simulator" will allow you to find out and create customized graphs illustrating how family resources and expenses change as earnings increase, taking into account public benefits.

A project of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, with help from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the tool is very enlightening.

Check it out at www.nccp.org/tools/frs.

To learn more about the Center for Public Policy Priorities, visit http://www.cppp.org/.

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