Poverty Awareness Month

CLIFTON  With the recent freezing temperatures covering the entire East Coast, many news outlets reported on the homeless or those living in poverty without working heat in their apartments. That points to the sad reality in the United States that some 46 million people live in poverty. Of that number 15 million are children, according to the U.S. Census Bureau report on Income and Poverty in the United States.

Bringing to light this issue, January is Poverty Awareness Month, a month-long initiative to bring forth the ongoing issue facing so many people in the United States. Poverty affects people of all races, backgrounds and ages. In the state of New Jersey, nearly one million people are living in poverty.

Addressing the issue is the mission of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which launched Poverty USA, the domestic anti-poverty program. CCHD seeks to educate and promote understanding about poverty and its root causes. Its mission goes beyond helping those living in poverty. It seeks to prevent poverty and stopping the cycle of poverty among families and helping families help themselves. A family of four, consisting of two adults and two children, making below $22,811 a year, is considered to be below poverty level.

Some of the people affected by poverty are the newly unemployed, seniors, minimum wage earners and disabled people, who struggle daily to make ends meet. In the Diocese of Paterson, helping this population day in and day out is Catholic Charities, with staff on the frontlines helping those living in poverty. Its Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS) agencies provide services in the poorest communities of the Diocese, while Department of Persons with Disabilities assists those persons with developmental disabilities and Straight and Narrow serves those trying to overcome addictions.

Chris Barton, executive director of CFCS, said, “The general public often thinks of poverty in the context of people who are homeless or living in shelters. But poverty exists at many different levels.”

According to Barton, these levels are numerous. There is financial insecurity, where persons are living in a very precarious financial existence, living paycheck to paycheck or job to job or working at or below minimum wage, often working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Then there are those with food insecurity. In this population, people struggle to make choices about paying the electric bill or putting food on the table. CFCS’ food pantries primarily support the working poor and seniors/persons with disabilities who can’t make ends meet on just their Social Security checks. There is also a health insecurity level that CFCS staff often encounter. Many do not have healthcare coverage and therefore cannot access primary preventative medical services. Without health insurance, most cannot afford to seek care or pay for prescriptions. When a medical situation arises, the cost of doctor visits and medications can lead to a financial crisis.

In Passaic County, in the city of Paterson nearly one-third of its residents live in poverty and in Morris County, in Dover, more than 20 percent live in poverty.

Since 2008, CFCS has seen its numbers grow significantly in providing basic services to thousands of people due to job losses, long-term unemployment and home foreclosures. These services include emergency assistance such as food, rental/mortgage assistance, utility bill payments, temporary shelter and even medical bill and prescription assistance.

Barton said, “CFCS works in a variety of ways to help support those who are living in poverty — whether they are homeless — living on the street or in shelters and/or working — but still struggling to make financial ends meet. We help seniors/disabled persons trying to remain safely in the community without adequate resources. We rely on our partnerships with federal, state, county and municipal funding agencies, as well as the generous donors throughout the Diocese who support our mission, to answer this call.”

In 2016, CFCS provided services to nearly 64,000 people according to the agency’s annual report. Its Basic Needs department assists people living in all three counties of the Diocese through food pantries and clothing boutiques. Since 1984, CFCS has been providing Community and Emergency Support Services to individuals and families facing homelessness or risking homelessness. The program provides direct financial assistance in the form of rental and utility payments to prevent an eviction or utility shut off. Last year, the program provided 285 households with rental assistance; 43 households with utility relief and 72 households with 248 nights of emergency hotel placement. Because of the growing need, the emergency support department expanded with two housing programs — Intensive Case Management and Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing.

One of the important goals of Poverty Awareness Month is the prevention of poverty and helping families sustain themselves. CCHD was established in 1969 to empower groups of poor and low-income people to address the root causes of poverty in their communities. According to the CCHD, those root causes are lack of education, single-parent homes, mental and physical disabilities and racial injustice. Another factor is the economic cycle. At minimum wage, a full-time worker earns only about $15,000 a year. Health insurance is unaffordable to many including 48 million people who lack coverage. Housing has become inaccessible to low-income people and more than eight million pay more than half their annual income for rent or mortgage payments.

The CCHD has many youth programs for parishes to teach young people about poverty whether it is to live in solidarity and assist those in poverty and to break the cycle of poverty for youth already at risk. The CCHD has also provided more than 9,000 grants to self-help organizations led by poor persons.

[Information: www.povertyusa.org.]