The poverty trap. . .

One of our organizational goals is to move toward the day, as quickly as possible, when the minimum wage inside Central Dallas Ministries is a "living wage." 

But, what exactly does that mean in real dollars? 

Often, in such discussions, people will throw out a range of $12-$15 an hour. 

John Greenan, Executive Director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, sent me a link to what follows as it appeared on Aaron M. Renn's provocative blog, Urbanophile. 

Poverty is complicated when you are living in its midst.  Poverty is awfully hard to escape, harder than the vast majority of Americans can even begin to understand. 

What follows should give us great pause.

Megan Cottrell: Don’t Fall in the Poverty Trap – You May Never Get Out

[ Megan Cottrell's One Story Up blog might be one of the most important in the United States. It is certainly a must-read for anyone in Chicago. She covers housing and poverty, two un-glamorous subjects that have all but been abandoned by newspapers. These aren't topics beloved of urbanist blogs either, but they are critical to understanding our cities and building successful lives for all citizens. As Megan notes, the phenomenon she describes affects up to 40% of all Chicagoans. I encourage you to check out her work. ]

Until you earn about $40,000 a year, you’re pretty much stuck in poverty, an economist’s numbers show.

In fact, until you get past $40,000 a year, any raise or higher paying job you get might actually sink you deeper into poverty.

Take a look at this story from economist Jeff Liebman, who now works in the Obama Administration.

The poverty trap is still very much a reality in the U.S.

A woman called me out of the blue last week and told me her self-sufficiency counselor had suggested she get in touch with me. She had moved from a $25,000 a year job to a $35,000 a year job, and suddenly she couldn’t make ends meet any more. I told her I didn’t know what I could do for her, but agreed to meet with her. She showed me all her pay stubs, etc. She really did come out behind by several hundred dollars a month. She lost free health insurance and instead had to pay $230 a month for her employer-provided health insurance. Her rent associated with her section 8 voucher went up by 30% of the income gain (which is the rule). She lost the ($280 a month) subsidized child care voucher she had for after-school care for her child. She lost around $1600 a year of the EITC. She paid payroll tax on the additional income. Finally, the new job was in Boston, and she lived in a suburb. So now she has $300 a month of additional gas and parking charges. She asked me if she should go back to earning $25,000.

To continue reading and to view a very revealing graph, click here.

What is enough?

Randy Mayeux sent me this post from Seth Godin's blog.  It raises an interesting question for fundraisers to confront. 

What do you think?

Fear of philanthropy (avert your eyes)

Peter Singer is famous for posing a stunningly difficult question, paraphrased as, "If you are walking by a pond and you see a child drowning, do you save her? What if it means ruining a very fancy pair of Italian shoes?" Okay, if we assume the answer is yes, then why not spend the cost of those shoes to save 20 kids who are starving to death across town or the world? There's really no difference. Or by, extension, invest in research or development that solves a problem forever... The issues are proximity and attention.

My take is that most people would instantly save the kid, but given the choice, probably wouldn't take the road by the pond again any time soon. We like to avoid these situations, because these situations make us uncomfortable.

Avert your eyes.

The reporter tells you, I'm going to show you a video of the meat you're going to eat for dinner being slaughtered. Avert your eyes. Or the fundraiser says I'm going to tell you about easily avoidable suffering in the developing world. Avert your eyes...

It boils down to a simple question, "how much is enough?" She knows that one iPod is all she needs, but she wonders how much philanthropy is enough? And this is a key marketing question for anyone seeking donors.

To continue reading click here.

John Greenan on the other Jon!

To check out John Greenan's blog today click here! 

Jon Bon Jovi on Channel 8 last evening. . .

To read more about Jon Bon Jovi's visit to Citywalk@ Akard yesterday click here.

Jon Bon Jovi visits Central Dallas Ministries and CityWalk!

Yesterday Jon Bon Jovi visited to Central Dallas Ministries and http://www.citywalkatakard.com/!

As a part of his current concert tour, the rock and roll celebrity, along with the leader of his foundation and his partners in Philadelphia, is visiting organizations dedicated to providing permanent supportive housing for the homeless.

What a boost to everyone at CDM and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation to have this extremely commited public figure join us for a 2-hour tour.

His humility and unassuming attitude put everyone at ease as we enjoyed a substantive conversation about how permanent housing can radically address the nation's challenges with homeless person.

What a great guy!

What a great experience!

There is much yet to do.

Giving youth a chance. . .

Check out the Challenge Program here. 

Brent Brown, our partner from bcWorkshop, dreams of turning our joint venture into just such a program for Dallas inner-city youth.  Our plan would also involve an AmeriCorps component if can land a national program grant. 

Stay tuned!

Seeking a new way. . .calling for new will

"But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginalized by our social and cultural world. They are the oppressed, exploited [laboring underclass], robbed of the fruit of their labor and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order."


— Gustavo Gutiérrez

How about a one state country. . .ready for density?

Talk about density and urban planning!

Since I'm not sure everyone can read the text, here's what it says from left to right across the page after this header line:

There are about 300,000,000 of us in the USA, spread out over 3,794,101 sq miles. . .

But let's say we all wanted to live in 1 sate together, comfortably.

Using the density of Brooklyn, NY as an example: at about 35,000 people to a square mile. . .

What state wold we all fit into?

In other words if we wanted to we could all move into and live in an area the size of New Hampshire; the 5th smallest US state (8,968 sq miles) with extra room for more parks. (because Brooklyn cold use more)

And if the area were square, it would be about 100 miles wide. You could ride a bike to the other side for the "country" in a day. Our "green belt" would be the rest of the USA. Not only would we all have access to mass transit and live in spaces with small footprints, the need for Air travel would be greatly reduced. You'd only fly when leaving the country. WE'D ALL BE NEIGHBORS.

What do you think? Any urban planners out there?

Wordless love

The greatest love stories can be told without a word.

The story of Carl and Ellie reveal the way it was intended to be between a man and a woman. . .forever.

This is dedicated to Jessika and Lou, one of my special Angels and her Beloved. Best forever and ever, kids!

YouthBuild

Here's a very strong and effective effort to walk alongside youth eager to move out of poverty and all of its limitations. Young people plus hope equals real change!

What do you think?

Shelters and housing

Here are some shocking stats: 

• New York City spends $750,000,000 annually operating emergency shelters for the homeless.
• New York City spends over $2 billion annually on all services for its homeless population.
• It is reported that Dallas spends $50,000,000 on its homeless population--I have a hunch that number is low when we factor in all costs associated with the homeless in our community.

Quesiton:  How many permanent homes, complete with supportive services, could be developed annually if major urban centers like New York City and Dallas devoted just half of the current costs associated with serving the homeless to that end? 

Just wondering. 

Unemployed Executives Working Among Non-Profits

My good friend and former teammate, Jeremy Gregg left Central Dallas Ministries almost two years ago to help create Executives in Action.

Great concept for high level leaders caught between their last opportunity and their next one.

Great for our community.

Great organization!

Way to go, Jermey!

Col K

Permanent Supportive Housing for the hardest to house and most expensive to keep on the streets

This morning at beginning at 7:15 a.m. at the Fairmont Hotel, located in Downtown Dallas just a couple of blocks from CityWalk@ Akard, Central Dallas Ministries hosts our 15th Annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast. 

Our speaker this year will be Rosanne Haggerty, national expert on housing approaches for the chronically homeless.  Following breakfast, Ms. Haggerty will join others for a panel discussion on the subject. 

The morning promises to be extremely important as we continue to advance the community conversation about permanent supportive housing as a strategy for ending chronic homelessness in Dallas. 

In view of our subject this morning, the report published by Kim Horner last Sunday in The Dallas Morning News is certainly timely. 

Horner's report describes one of our next big efforts to provide housing for our poorest neighbors.   Here's a taste of the report:

Dallas cottage project aims to benefit both homeless 'frequent fliers,' taxpayers


By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News

Fifty of Dallas' most costly homeless "frequent fliers" – people who repeatedly cycle through institutions such as hospitals and jail at a cost to taxpayers – could soon be finding homes, just south of Deep Ellum.

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing as proposed would include 50 dwellings, each 400 square feet. The residents would be the city's chronically homeless, people who often have disabling mental illnesses and addictions along with criminal histories.

The project aims to stabilize that population – and save taxpayers money.

Studies across the nation have found that each chronically homeless person costs taxpayers between $35,000 and $150,000 a year. Dallas has an estimated 600 to 1,000 chronically homeless people.

"These are the most expensive people on the streets in Dallas," said Larry James, president and chief executive officer of Central Dallas Ministries, which would provide caseworkers to assist the tenants.

The Communities Foundation of Texas and the Meadows Foundation are working with other agencies to raise the $10 million in public and private funds needed to build and operate the housing program over three years.

Residents would be referred by the Dallas County criminal justice system and the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, which runs the city's homeless assistance center, The Bridge. The agencies would research jail, mental health and hospital records to determine the homeless people with the highest costs to public systems.

To continue reading, click here.

Just something about opening day. . .no matter how bad or good your team

Profits, Wages and Unemployment

Figures that surprise
Mar 22nd 2010, 14:25 by Buttonwood

IF YOU need an explanation as to why political discontent is so widespread on both sides of the Atlantic, take a look at figures compiled by Dhaval Joshi of the hedge fund RAB Capital. This recovery has benefited companies a lot and workers not at all.

In the US, Joshi calculates that, in cash terms, national income has risen $200 billion since the depths of the recession in March 2009. But corporate profits have risen by $280 billion over that period, while wages are down by $90 billion. One would have to go back to the 1950s to find profits outperforming wages in absolute (cash) terms, and even then it was on a much smaller scale. In Britain, national income rose $27 billion in the last two quarters of last year. Profits were up £24 billion and wages just £2 billion.

The latest issue has a piece on this puzzle; US productivity has outpaced European largely because the US has been quicker to sack workers. This is a decidedly mixed blessing. In theory, it is good for resources (including labour) to be relloacted to more productive use. Thus it would be OK if the workers were quickly rehired by new, growing industries or if they were at least retrained, but there is little sign of such a positive development.

Continue reading here.

Reactions?

An indescribable Easter blessing

My third grandson, Henry Folsom Frazer arrived, as I've already reported, on March 29, 2010.  He decided to enter our world about 5-6 weeks early, causing quite a stir with his family. 

But, what a blessing!

On this Easter morning, I am so grateful for little "Hank."  I've already had a talk with him, part of my granddad bonding ritual that already has tied me to his big brother, Owen and his bigger cousin, Wyatt.

For me, today, these pictures represent hope and peace.

Bono and Resurrection

Bono published this essay in The New York Times last year at Easter.  Still worth reading for soul searching: 

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.


The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”


Well, yes. It is us.

Read the entire essay here.

Immigration and wages. . .

Immigration and Wages—Methodological advancements confirm modest gains for native workers

Heidi Shierholz
February 4, 2010
EPI Briefing Paper #255

Executive summary

In the ongoing debate on immigration, there is broad agreement among academic economists that it has a small but positive impact on the wages of native-born workers overall: although new immigrant workers add to the labor supply, they also consume goods and services, which creates more jobs. 

The real debate among researchers is whether a large influx of a specific type of worker (say, workers with a particular level of education or training) has the potential to have a negative impact on the wages of existing workers of that same type. Some research argues that immigrant competition is quite costly to certain groups of native-born U.S. workers, while other research finds that native workers—even those who have levels of education and experience similar to new immigrants—may actually reap modest benefits from immigration.

We begin this paper with a review of the scholarly literature on immigration’s effect on wages, focusing on recent methodological advancements. We then use Current Population Survey (CPS) data from 1994 to 2007 to conduct our own empirical analysis of immigration’s effect on wages over this period, incorporating these recent methodological advancements. Our analysis finds little evidence that immigration negatively impacts native-born workers.

A key result from this work is that the estimated effect of immigration from 1994 to 2007 was to raise the wages of U.S.-born workers, relative to foreign-born workers, by 0.4% (or $3.68 per week), and to lower the wages of foreign-born workers, relative to U.S.-born workers, by 4.6% (or $33.11 per week). In other words, any negative effects of new immigration over this period were felt largely by the workers who are the most substitutable for new immigrants—that is, earlier immigrants.

Click here to read the full report.

Lifting families from poverty. . .

Consider:

The estimated "poverty line" (based on an antiquated index linked to the cost of food) for a family of four (4) is $21,946. 

By applying the benefits of three very equitable, simple and efficient public support programs, such a family can be lifted above that crushing line. 

Here's how.

One family member working at a minimum wage job earns $13,391, less payroll taxes--this assumes 2,000 hours of work per year. 

By enrolling in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), filing for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and including the child tax credit, this family rises to 105% ($23,043.30) of poverty and has a much better chance to move ahead. 

Finding ways to enroll more families in SNAP is essential to loosening poverty's grip on family life. 

The EITC rewards hard work and makes it possible for working families to advance. 

A challenge we continue to address is certification difficulties and outreach to inform all who are eligible for the benefits. 

Public programs and progressive public policy are essential if we are to achieve real, sustainable progress in overcoming poverty for 40 million Americans.

Authentic Community in San Antonio

Watch the interview below involving two residents of Lincoln Heights Courts who are involved in Urban Connection--San Antonio.

Our efforts bring people together in power ways.

Reply to Glenn Beck. . .Offering of Letters

Every church in the nation should respond to the recent, "over the top" commentary of Glenn Beck (encouraging church members to flee their congregations at the mention of the hated concept "social justice") by participating in Bread for the World's annual "offering of letters."

This year the letter writing to Congress will focus on U. S. tax policy and low-income, working Americans.

If you are a church member or a church leader, click here to find out how to get fully involved this year.

Bon Jovi Tour & Homelessness

Bon Jovi Tour Doubles As Homeless Research Mission

Jon Bon Jovi's new tour is bringing the veteran rock star to venues he doesn't usually visit on the road. A shelter for hardcore alcoholics in Seattle. A tour of Skid Row in Los Angeles. Perhaps a squatters village in Sacramento.

That's because this tour in support of Bon Jovi's latest release, "The Circle," is also a fact-finding mission. The singer plans on visiting as many homeless shelters and programs as time allows in hopes of getting ideas and inspiration to shape his own work with the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, a Philadelphia-based charity that fights homelessness by building affordable housing, establishing community kitchens and cleaning up vacant lots in blighted neighborhoods.

"I've spent the last quarter of a century touring, going from arena-stadium to hotel back to arena-stadium-hotel," he says. "This time, because of my foundation's work over the last six years building affordable housing, on my days off and when the opportunity arises ... I will go do shelters and try to learn more about the issue and how to combat it."

Among those stops: Skid Row in Los Angeles early next month with Steve Lopez, the Los Angeles Times columnist who wrote "The Soloist," about a schizophrenic, homeless and wildly talented cellist named Nathaniel Ayers. The book was later made into a movie.

"Skid Row is an eye-opener," Lopez said in an e-mail. "I don't know Jon Bon Jovi, but I suspect he may come out of this with a keener sense of how many people are suffering in this economy, and of how many people on Skid Row are dealing with a combination of financial, physical and mental health issues, many of them veterans."

Such themes dovetail with the latest album, which features "Working for the Working Man" and other songs inspired by the economic meltdown and political turmoil around the world.

Before he kicked off the tour with two shows at Seattle's KeyArena last week, Bon Jovi toured one of the city's most well-recognized homelessness programs, a building run by the Downtown Emergency Service Center that provides homeless alcoholics, many of whom have serious mental illnesses, a place to live - and drink alcohol.

The program saves taxpayers more than $4 million a year in social service and jail costs and creates a safe atmosphere where residents may be more likely to get sober, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year.

The singer didn't specify what aspects of the program he might incorporate into his future work at the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which has built more than 150 units of affordable housing in seven cities since 2006. Various problems of homelessness require different solutions, he said.

Thinking back on a quarter-century of hanging out in hotels around the world, does the 47-year-old wish he started working on the homelessness issue earlier?

"I don't think I was ready for it," he said. "When you're a boy in a rock band, you want to go out and see the world and do all the great things you're supposed to do when you join a rock band. Now there's another aspect to it. There's just more to be said and done, and the difference that can be felt on the trail that you've made."

Henry Folsom Frazer

So, today at about 4:00 p.m., Henry Folsom Frazer entered our world! 

The little fellow decided to arrive a bit early. . .5 weeks early to be precise!  And that caused a bit of a stir for everyone involved, especially Mom, Dad and Brother, Owen. 

He weighed in at 5 pounds 9.5 ounces and measured a rather long 19 inches.  Huge hands and feet like his big brother.  Lots of dark brown hair and, to quote a nurse "a rather calm disposition." 

He will remain in the little folks ICU for a few days to make certain his lung capacity and eating habits are well in order. 

We are so grateful that he is here.  I can't wait to be able to hold him.

Joanna, the mom here, is doing great!  And, Jordan is doing well as the very relieved father. 

Thankfully, our children have good health insurance, something everyone in the nation deserves. 

Happy Birthday, little Henry!  I'll enjoy my granddad "bonding" ritual real soon.  We're so glad to have you on the journey! 

40 MILLION IN POVERTY

Just in from Daily Finance. .  .

Living in Poverty: 40 Million Americans, Including Children and Working Poor

By SAM GUSTIN
Posted 6:15 PM 03/17/10 Economy

If the word "poverty" conjures up starving children in Africa, prepare to be shocked: nearly 40 million Americans, or 13.2% of the population in the richest country on the planet, lived at or below the official poverty level in 2008, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's an increase of 2.5 million over 2007.

What's more, that figure includes 14.1 million people under the age of 18, or 19% of all children, up from 13.3 million and 18% in 2007. In other words, nearly one in five American kids live in poverty.

One of the fastest-growing impoverished segments is the "working poor," adults who spent at least 27 weeks either in the labor force or looking for work. Of the 39.8 million Americans living at or below the poverty level in 2008, some 8.9 million adults were defined as the "working poor," an increase of 1.4 million from 2007.Additionally, 4.5 million families were counted among the working poor in 2008, up from 4.2 million in 2007.

The new data reinforce the toll the Great Recession has taken on working families and the poor across the United States. After three years of annual income increases, the real median household income declined by 3.6% between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303, the Census bureau found.

Read more here. 

Opportunity in a Dark Night of the Soul for the Western Church

Many Christians view the decline of Western Christendom with alarm, as if God had fallen from heaven.  Enormous effort is put forth to launch church growth programs to shore up membership, increase giving, and keep denominational ships afloat.  But the history of God's people is a history of life cycles, a history of clarity about call and identity, followed by complacence, followed by collusion with the powers, followed by catastrophic loss.  Contrary to being a disaster, the exilic experiences of loss and marginalization are what are needed to restore the church to its evangelistic place.  On the margins of society the church will once again find its God-given voice to speak to the dominant culture in subversive ways, resisting the powers and principalities, standing against the seduction of the status quo.  The church will once again become a prophetic, evangelistic, alternative community, offering to the world a model of life that is radically "other," life-giving, loving, healing, liberating.  This kind of community is not possible for the church of Christendom.  Christendom opposes prophetic community with its upside-down power and its exposure of golden calves.

from Elaine A. Heath, The Mystic Way of Evangelism:  A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, pages 26-27

Jackson Browne

The music of Jackson Browne moves me.  Music with heart, a social soul and a prophetic challenge all rolled into one experience. 

Check out his website here.  You'll f ind all sorts of interesting options for changing the world at his site!  Love this guy.

Dallas Observer reports on Grand Opening. . .

Check out the report from The Dallas Observer today. . .

Great media coverage of CityWalk Grand Opening!

We enjoyed great media coverage on last evening's "grand opening" at CityWalk!

Check it out. . .

here. . .

and here.

Possibly more later!  Thanks to all who supported us through this entire process!

Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets

Recently, I received a copy of a most provocative book by Steven H. Goldberg, Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets:  Why Philanthropy Doesn't Advance Social Progress (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).  Clearly, this book is worth the attention of anyone involved in non-profit management, fund development and the delivery of high-impact approaches to addressing vexing social challenges. 

Goldberg, trained as an attorney, assembles the thinking of a wide variety of folks working to change the equity equations of our economy and our culture to benefit those who suffer in marginalized positions. 

For example, I love the definitions he digs up for the term "social entrepreneurship" (page xxv).

"Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector, by:  adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value), recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission, engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning, acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand, and exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created."  (J. Gregory Dees, "The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship")

"A social entrepreneur is any person, in any sector, who uses earned income strategies to pursue a social objective, and a social entrepreneur differs from a traditional entrepreneur in two important ways: . . . their earned income strategies are tied directly to their mission. . . [and] social entrepreneurs are driven by a double bottom line, a virtual blend of financial and social returns." (Jerr Boschee and Jim McClurg, "Toward a Better Understanding of Social Entrepreneurship:  Some Important Distinctions")

"We define social entrepreneurship as having the following three components:  (1) identifying a stable but inherently unjust equilibrium that causes the exclusion, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve any transformative benefit on its own; (2) identifying an opportunity in this unjust equilibrium, developing a social value proposition, and bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude, thereby challenging the stable states hegemony; and (3) forging a new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group, and through imitation and the creation of a stable ecosystem around the new equilibrium ensuring a better future for the targeted group and even society at large."  (Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg, "Social Entrepreneurship:  The Case for Definition")

What is your take away here?  I'd love to read your reactions.

Check out article in The Dallas Morning News today about CityWalk@Akard!

Great story by Kim Horner in this morning's edition of The Dallas Morning News concerning our CityWalk development!

Here's how it begins:

Low-income development is changing minds in downtown Dallas

By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News
khorner@dallasnews.com

Skeptics envisioned a skid row when developers first proposed 200 downtown apartments for low-income and formerly homeless residents.

Sharon Denise Tillis, who used to live in a shelter, was among the first to move into CityWalk@Akard, a new low-income housing development. The waiting list has 300 people on it.

But so far, the project, CityWalk@Akard, has not lived up to those fears.

The 15-story apartment building opened just three months ago, and only 10 residents have moved in so far. But neighboring property owners say the project has already improved, rather than hurt, the neighborhood.

To read the full report click here.