NH Facts

1130 children and youth were reported as homeless in 2007. (NHNH) There are 2,248 homeless people on any given day in New Hampshire. (New Horizons) From July 2007 - July 2008 approximately 4,800 jobs were lost in New Hampshire. (Analysis of NH Industry)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

As the roster of corporations and financial institutions on line for government bailouts seems to grow, some public policy advocates in Washington D.C. are calling on policymakers to focus more efforts on the nation's poorest. The ranks of the destitute are growing quietly but alarmingly as much of the world focuses on troubles surrounding Wall Street. "Recent data show poverty is already rising quite substantially," says Robert Greenstein, the executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "There is a strong potential for more hardship and destitution than we have seen in this country in a number of decades." http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081125/us_time/08599186184300

We should all be aware that although all men/women are created equal there are times we do not live equally. It is my hope that we as a nation, community realize our position and realize that giving affirms our humanity!

If it's wrong to be a socialist, then is it right to be
anti-social?

"One Nation Under A Groove"

CJ perez

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

"There Are Many Roads to Homelessness"

Sure, we can all agree that poverty does exist. It exists throughout the world. Poverty usually conjures up images of unknown faces in a distant third world nation. However difficult it is to acknowledge, poverty does exist in every community. Sometimes poverty is hidden by the strength of those who live it everyday. They endure their daily challenges without a hint of unhappiness or discomfort. For a child living in poverty, they do not out to be outcast or treated any different. However, a child cannot be blamed for their poverty; we tend to blame the parents. But should we be blaming anyone? It is easier to blame the victims for their poverty and not attempt to consider the individual causes or even take responsibility. Some of us blame their lifestyles or poor choices. We question why we should be held responsible for the challenges the poor and homeless are faced with everyday. While some people find excuses not to give back to their community, others are simply ignorant about the poverty and homelessness present their community.
To quote the executive director of the NH Coalition to End Homelessness, “There are many roads to homelessness.” Yes, people do make poor choices. Yes, people do have severe mental health issues. Yes, people have drug addictions. However, 85-90% of the homeless in New Hampshire are not the stereotypical homeless ((i.e. mentally ill, addicts, etc.). They are teenagers who have been kicked out. They are single parents who have stayed their welcome at family members’ homes. They are the elderly who cannot afford the increase in the cost of living. “There are many roads to homelessness” and each road is different for each person. For a second, imagine what your road could be?
We like to imagine that those in our community who are faced with poverty and homelessness are as distant as the unfamiliar faces from distant nations. However, with the rising cost of living and the recession that is occurring, poverty is much closer than we wish to recognize. Perhaps we ignore the homeless stranger because we fear that we may face a similar fate. Honestly though, I think we ignore the stranger in need in our community because it is easier to do nothing. Apathy will not result in disappointment. However, I believe there is truly a part of us all that does care for even a complete stranger. Most of the time people do not “give back” to their community because they don’t know how. Also, we fear that we can’t make a difference. There is some humility when one realizes there own limits as a member of the community. Warmth from the Millyard has provided community members the opportunity to give what is in their means. The drive has asked for a variety of donations from gloves to jackets for infants to men. Our class has simply been liaisons for those in need. The power of the ask has been surprisingly successful. It has also demonstrated the compassion in all of us.
Once the drive ends on Friday, the immediate needs of hundreds of people will be met. But this is only a band-aid to the problem. Coats and gloves cannot end poverty and homelessness. Social activism needs to take place for any great change. The poor and the homeless unfortunately do not have a political voice. As a community, we need to take on this role for those in need. We must put aside any stereotypes, assumptions or misconceptions of those who are faced with poverty and homelessness. Also, we cannot wait for others to ask for our assistance when taking on community issues. We do not have to explore or investigate what our community needs. If we just go to any nonprofit and just ask, they will let us know the needs and how we can help. Most importantly, the service we can do for our community ends up being more meaningful to us than the ones we helped. The appreciation of others is worth all our efforts. A smile of thanks is priceless.

Liz Neilan

The need continues to grow...

Requests up, donations down at state's pantries, shelters
By MIKE CULLITY
New Hampshire Union Leader
Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

Amid the struggling U.S. economy, the number of families requesting food from the Tri-County Community Action Program's five northern New Hampshire pantries has jumped drastically this year.

Each community food pantry has seen an increase of 20 to 50 percent in requesting families in 2008, said Phil Guiser, programs director for the Berlin-based organization that serves community needs across Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties. But the numbers tell only part of the story.

"People are telling me our clients are more distraught," Guiser said. "We're seeing more people who, when they tell their story, break into tears. . . . It takes a toll on our staff as well."

With winter approaching and Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, organizations across New Hampshire that provide emergency food and shelter are grappling to meet increased demand with depleted resources.

On Friday, the New Hampshire Food Bank had 205,000 pounds of food in its Manchester warehouse, executive director Melanie Gosselin said. Although that's up slightly from a mid-July low of 137,000 pounds, it's about 400,000 pounds less than typical late-fall levels, she said.

►How you can help meet the need

"Our inventory is up a little bit (from summer), but requests from the agencies we serve are up 40 percent this year," Gosselin said. "Our distribution is only up 24 percent, so there's still a big gap there."

In 2008 the food bank anticipates distributing 5.2 million pounds of food to more than 350 agencies throughout the state, Gosselin said. That's up from 4.3 million pounds in 2007.

But increased demand and last summer's high diesel fuel costs prompted the food bank to exhaust resources it would typically spend around the holidays. "We're playing catch-up," said Gosselin, adding that the food bank is working hard to fulfill 11,000 requests it has received for Thanksgiving turkeys.

Doing more with less

The Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter has averaged 20 new requests per week for food from its pantry over the past eight months, said Eileen Brady, a social worker there. And requests for Thanksgiving food boxes from the Riverside Christian Church Food Pantry in Merrimack are up 20 percent over last year, said Bill Davis, the pantry's administrator.

In Keene, the Community Kitchen this year has distributed between seven and 11 percent more food boxes per month than last year, said executive director Ann Davis. Even though the food pantry collects a million pounds of donated food per year, it has spent more than $100,000 on wholesale food purchases this year to supplement its donated supply.


First-time Food for Children volunteer John Harding of Manchester stacks flats of strawberries to be distributed to recipients at the "Food Drop" at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester yesterday morning. (BRUCE TAYLOR)
"We may have to stop purchasing food, because we're running out of money to do that," Davis said. And although the Community Kitchen can obtain food from the New Hampshire Food Bank for a delivery fee of 18 cents per pound, the food bank can't always fulfill its requests, she said.

As a result, the kitchen has stepped up its efforts to cultivate donations from food distributors and local businesses, Davis said.

But in these economic times, finding more donors is difficult. Like other agencies around the state, New Horizons for New Hampshire in Manchester has more people requesting food, but fewer donations.

"That is a concern for us," said program director Kevin Kintner.

New Horizons typically receives more donations around the holidays and is gearing up for that, Kintner said. But he worries about January and February, when donations traditionally slow down.

"Those would be the months we'd like to see more come in," he said.

Like food pantries, New Hampshire homeless shelters are wrestling with greater demand. In Rochester, all six bedrooms at the Homeless Center for Strafford County have been full since the second week of October.

"We're turning people away already, and we're not even in the cold part of the season," director Jan Walsh-grande said.

The Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter's two facilities, which have a total of 30 beds, are running at or near capacity, executive director Lisa Christie said. And although there's room at New Horizons' 76-bed shelter in Manchester, Kintner expects the vacancies won't last long.

"We're not full yet, but we're getting there," he said.

Times getting tougher

Several economic factors are fueling increased demand for emergency food and shelter in New Hampshire, observers said. In August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast that food prices would rise by 5 percent to 6 percent in 2008, the largest annual increase since 1990.

Although gas prices have retreated from their summer highs, the temporary spike hurt many whose finances were already precarious. In the North Country, some elderly residents are still paying off last winter's heating bills, Guiser said.

Layoffs, reductions in hours, and less seasonal hiring have also driven people to seek relief.

"People who were borderline aren't anymore," Ann Davis said. "They were just staying afloat, but now it's getting to the point where they have nowhere else to turn."

"We see plenty of people who are employed," Brady added. "That's scary. Employment should bring some security, and it really doesn't."

Although the picture is bleak, it's not devoid of bright spots.

Last week, for example, an anonymous donor pledged to match all contributions to the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter for the rest of the year, up to $500,000.

"It really helps us answer the question, 'Will we be able to feed everyone this year?'" Christie said.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

One Community Under A Groove

I had believed that I was a community activist by the time that I had spent talking and working with some of the kids in my neighborhood. Many of these kids called me Uncle CJ because mister was just too formal and we speak of each other like family. I am always sure to ask the kids if they are doing well in school. “Remember, Uncle CJ is good at math, so you don’t have an excuse for failing. You just need to call.”, is what I tell them. I volunteer as a coach for the Manchester East Cobras as well.
However I enrolled in a course long project at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, Warmth From the Millyard, which was the beginning of my evaluation of just how uninvolved in my community that I had been. Our focus was to bring warm clothes to the local establishments that had members who may currently be struggling with poverty. Giving warm clothes was not our only responsibility though. “Bring awareness of the poverty that has a strangle hold on our citizens” was something that I had wrote, once to be poetic. The class took no time at all to shake me from my ignorance.
I was made aware of a tent community that was removed from its location near exit 4, in Manchester. You can actually see it from the highway on I293 going towards Macy’s in Bedford. I found that it is often believed that the homeless choose to be homeless for one reason or another. There are almost 1100 kids in our public schools that are currently homeless. The Nashua Soup Kitchen and New Horizons often struggle to meet the needs of the citizens that come through their doors because of the lack of food they are experiencing. I also found that there are more than 2000 refugees that are currently living in Manchester. Most of the refugees come from desert countries meaning that there will be a struggle to last through these tough New England winters if no one lends a hand.
My evaluation of my role as a community activist is that I am guilty of ambivalence. I’ve spread my thoughts of positivity and goodwill to places within my reach. I have neither pressed myself to go out of my comfort zone nor have I asked the hard question, “What more can I do?” As the economy has become our Nations new form of “Shock and Awe”, there is a deeper impression found on my belongings and funds imprinted from my grip of insecurity. I am guilty of closing my doors and pulling the shades with the excuse that it is cold. Rather than face my neighbor who is in far more need; I tell my children of great heroes like Dr. King and Mother Teresa, in an effort to redeem myself.
But I move on. I will move forward with my self assessment with the understanding that it was of no use to assess myself if I choose to remain the same. I make no commitment to be the next recipient of the Nobel Peace Award. What I do make commitment to is to inspire as I live. Make an effort to be someone that my community believes I am committed to. And when we all make note that as one goes down we all suffer but as we rise as one we all succeed, I will know I have helped make my community better than when I came to it.
“One nation under a groove” George Clinton

CJ Perez

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Impact WFTM has had on me...

Being involved in the 2008 “Warmth from the Millyard” warm clothing drive has been an amazing experience for me. Throughout the course of the semester I have been more and more impressed with not only the group of people that I have worked with on this project, but also the entire greater Manchester community as a whole. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first began working on this project, and I may have even been pessimistic about the support that we would receive, but I am glad to say that I was completely wrong with my low expectations.
When we set our original goal of receiving more than the 800 items the project was able to gather last year, I had a feeling that we could achieve it, but I wasn’t sure if we would eclipse it by a great amount. I’ll admit that I had my doubts, especially with the economic downturn that the country has recently experienced and the fact that people are really trying to tighten their belts in these tough times. Clearly I was wrong in having these doubts, as we comfortably reached our goal….before we had even started the project!!! Although I originally thought that the tough economic times would discourage people from donating to our cause, it seems that the tough situation that the country has found itself in has actually motivated people to do more to help those with the greatest needs. This was a really eye opening realization for me, and it has restored a lot of my faith in the community that I have grown up in, as well as mankind as a whole.
While this project has reaffirmed to me that people are always willing to help, especially in the hardest of times, it has also opened my eyes to many of the issues that exist in the community that I live in that I may not have realized, and it has shown me that those issues affect everyone within that community. I was aware that there was a large homeless population in Manchester, however I was not aware of how serious the problem actually was and how little has been done to alleviate the problem. It seems that instead of people taking action against homelessness in Manchester, those who are in the best situations to fix this problem have been content to brush it aside and try to sweep it under the rug. If there is one homeless person living in Manchester, it doesn’t simply affect that one person, but it affects the entire community and brings the quality of that community down. Although we are not able to alleviate all of the problems that exist in our community as individuals, if we work together to raise awareness of these problems and agree to not tolerate them, eventually something will have to give, and something will be done.
When I first became a part of this project, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Being allowed to take a class that focuses not on information from books, or theories or formulas, and being able to focus on issues that are going on that many of us overlook but affect us all in many different ways has been an experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Although this is my last semester of my undergraduate collegiate experience and I became part of this project by chance more or less, there is definitely no way that I would trade being a part of this project for anything else I have experienced in my college years. Being able to make a difference in the community that I have grown up in and become very attached to has been something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and it has encouraged me to play a more active role in bringing to light the issues that many of us overlook everyday. I hope that the “Warmth from the Millyard” clothing drive continues to be run and grow after we have contributed our part to it, and I’m sure that the greater Manchester community will continue to be better off because of the efforts of this program to raise awareness about the issues that affect us all in our community.

Shane Rozamus

Sunday, November 2, 2008