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Monday, December 17, 2012
Update & Action Alert from Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Northwest Harvest Advocates Update
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Addressing the Perception of Homelessness
Addressing the Perception of Homelessness
by Lily Arnold, Guest Contributor
There is a common stereotype among the average American that most homeless people are alcohol or drug abusers that have in some way or another contributed to their own situation, and this perception is causing a huge amount of apathy which is unnecessary and unhelpful to the 630,000 homeless people in the US.
A More Common Problem than You Might Imagine
The truth is that homelessness affects a huge variety of people in the US and it is more common than many people care to believe. Far from being a problem for drug and alcohol abusers, it is actually a problem that is experienced by 3.5 million people in any given year, with over a third of those being children. These remarkable figures, recorded by the National Law Centre on Homelessness and Poverty, highlight the true extent of the issue. Single men account for 44% of the homeless, single women 13%, families with children account for 36% and unaccompanied children around 7%. The issue is far reaching in our society, and if the general public were aware how easy it can be for ‘ordinary people’ to become in a situation of homelessness, they would want to do more to help.
Common Causes
Financial issues are a large contributing factor which can lead to people being without a home including poverty due to unemployment, no available affordable housing in the area, inability to get financial support from the state, and so on. Families can quickly end up without a home if the main earner is made redundant and they can no longer afford rent. Without adequate emergency housing in place to cater for the growing demand, there is simply nowhere to go. 44% of homeless people said that they had done work in the last month; however the average wage for those people was almost half of the national poverty line amount meaning that finding affordable housing options was simply not possible.
The stereotype of homelessness and substance abuse is rooted in reality, with research from SAMHSA showing that a large percentage (34.7%) of homeless people are currently suffering from a dependency on alcohol and illegal drugs. These figures are well above the national average for substance abuse, but are still a long way off from the perception that all homeless people are addicts. The issue is extremely complex, and those people who are suffering from substance abuse problems need assistance and support to get back on track with their lives. There are huge gaps in our system that are resulting in people falling into desperate situations, where drug and alcohol dependence can develop. The rates of substance abuse were highest in single homeless men, 40% of whom have previously served in the armed forces. This highlights the pitfalls in the system, allowing those who have previously served for our county to end up living on the streets.
Mental illness is another large scale problem connected to homelessness, with a fifth of people living without a home requiring help for mental illnesses of differing severity. If there is no adequate help in place to cater for the needs of these people, how can we expect the situation to improve? Someone who is suffering from a mental illness that requires treatment is unlikely to be able to help themselves out of their current situation, and their condition could be getting worse.
Positive Action in Our Communities
Homelessness is a complicated issue and there is no simple resolution, but one thing is for sure, the first thing we need to do is raise public awareness of the issue and get more people involved in helping out our fellow Americans who are in need. Tackling the causes of the problem is not necessarily going to help those who are currently living on the streets, but understanding how to prevent thousands more people each year ending up without a home will reduce numbers moving forward.
There are lots of initiatives and schemes in place to help those in need, but we always require more volunteers and helpers to get involved. Positive things happen in communities where people are willing to look past judgment and stereotype to help out their fellow people. Why not try to help educate those around you so that we can raise awareness of the issue and help out those in need? Food and shelter for all should be our aim as a society.
Other articles by Lily:
AHNC Update & Action Alert...today is Lame Duck Call-In Day to Congress!
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Monday, November 26, 2012
Advocacy Update & Action Alert from AHNC
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012
WSDA NEWS: Demand remains high for food banks statewide
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OLYMPIA – New figures gathered by the state Department of Agriculture show there remains an increasing need for food assistance, with 1 in 5 Washington residents visiting a food bank at least once during this past year.
Between June 2011 and June 2012, there were more than 8.6 million visits to food banks across Washington state, 500,000 more visits than in the previous year, according to the figures collected by the WSDA’s Food Assistance Program.
“These numbers show that, in the coming holiday season, we can expect that food assistance programs will be stretched to meet the need in many communities,” WSDA Director Dan Newhouse said. “My hope is that new partnerships we’ve formed with ranchers and dairy farmers, as well as farmers producing a variety of fruits and vegetables, will help to fill this need and that others will also step up their efforts to help the hungry among us.”
The WSDA Food Assistance Program uses both state and federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide food and money to food banks, meal programs and tribal voucher programs in Washington that help feed families in need. Often working with the state’s agriculture community, the Food Assistance Program works to alleviate hunger and provide access to safe and healthy food.
Some key facts about feeding the hungry this past year:
· The Food Assistance Program distributed 474 truckloads of USDA commodity foods to more than 1.4 million families.
· A total of 134 million pounds of food was distributed, 4 million more pounds than in 2011.
· Each person received an average of 15.68 pounds of food with each visit.
· On average, clients visited their local food bank six times in the past year.
· WSDA works with nearly 500 emergency food providers.
Every donation counts. Those who would like to help can contact the Food Assistance Program atfoodassistance@agr.wa.gov or 360-725-5641.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Meet Our Members: Walla Walla
Washington Food Coalition members in Walla Walla serve their local community and beyond!
Helpline serves as a central hub for families to come to and receive a food card, which serves as their 'pass' to the 3 local food banks in town. These 3 food banks are St. Vincent De Paul, Salvation Army, and Pantry Shelf. Helpline also keeps emergency food on hand so that they can give families enough to get through if a food bank isn't open at that time. All 3 food banks receive food from Blue Mountain Action Council, a local food distributor for hunger relief. Click here to read more on how they all work together.
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| Empty fridges hope to be filled soon at Helpline |
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| An impromptu beef donation allowed Helpline to recently hand out extra food. |
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| Handmade blankets have been stocked for winter months. |
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| Samantha Riggle, Executive Assistant, works with a faithful volunteer. |
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| Hygiene items are kept on hand to help families in need. |
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| Numbers of people helped continue to rise each year at St. Vincent de Paul. |
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| Director Skip from St. Vincent de Paul is with faithful volunteer Marie in front of 'Marie's Corner', where she prepares Christmas items for resale in the retail store they run. |
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| Cheerful volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul have fun while serving their neighbors! |
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| Clothes and household items are sorted and displayed so that food bank clients at St. Vincent de Paul can pick them up when needed. |
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| This massive stock of boxes represents clothing and household donations to St. Vincent de Paul from the last 30 days. These will be sorted and sold in their retail store to support the food bank and charity office work. |
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| The St. Vincent de Paul retail store. |
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| Bins from a recent food drive at Blue Mountain Action Council's food distribution warehouse await sorting. |
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| Great idea! Blue Mountain Action Council has these shopping carts customized so that they easily accommodate the loading and unloading of CSFP boxes (these boxes are for low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to age six, and elderly people at least 60 years of age). |
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| Blue Mountain Action Council staff proudly showing off their good-looking potatoes that were recently donated. |
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| Delicious Dave's Killer Bread that was donated to Blue Mountain Action Council. |
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