Poverty Awareness Month

CLIFTON  January is Poverty Awareness Month, an initiative to highlight the ongoing plight that so many Americans experience every day. More than 40 million people in the United States live in poverty, affecting people of all races, backgrounds and ages from the cities to rural communities. In the state of New Jersey, almost one million people live in poverty.

Addressing the issue of poverty is a mission of the U.S. Bishop’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which created PovertyUSA, the domestic anti-poverty program. The CCHD seeks to educate and promote understanding about poverty and its root causes. To be considered living in poverty, a family of four, consisting of two adults and two children, has to make below $25,700 a year. Those faced with poverty make minimum wage and live paycheck to paycheck, some holding multiple jobs. Also affected are seniors living on fixed incomes and wage earners suddenly out of work.

Diocesan Catholic Charities is no stranger to serving those living in poverty. Its Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS) agency provides assistance to the poorest in all three counties of the Diocese.

Scott Milliken, CEO of Diocesan Catholic Charities, said, “Poverty exists at many different levels. Some people think of those in poverty as being unemployed, homeless or completely reliant on government benefits. For example, at Catholic Charities, we help more than 1,000 each week at our food pantries. More than 70 percent of these individuals work one or multiple jobs to make ends meet and provide for their families.”

Since 2008, CFCS has seen its numbers grow significantly in providing basic services to thousands of people due to various reasons. The most common causes stem from financial insecurity, persons who live in a very precarious financial existence, job-to-job and those 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 a fixed income. Those lacking adequate health insurance to manage unforeseen medical issues can also lead to a financial crisis.

Ariel Alonso, director of CFCS Community Emergency Support Programs, said, “Poverty has many faces and is often right before us. The general public thinks of poverty in the context of people who are living on the streets, homeless or living in shelters.”

Children and seniors account for a significant number of those affected by poverty. In New Jersey, 15.3 percent of children, nearly 300,000, and 8.2 percent of seniors, numbering 108,000, were living below the poverty line in 2017 according to the CCHD.

In some cities that CFCS serves, poverty is above average compared to other areas in the state. In Passaic County, both the city of Paterson and Passaic poverty affects many of its residents. In Paterson, nearly 30 percent of the population live in poverty. In the city of Passaic, 33 percent live in poverty.

Alonso 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, living paycheck to paycheck. We help seniors/disabled persons try 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, and hear our plight.”

In 2018, CFCS provided services to more than 25,000 people according to the agency’s annual report. Last year, the program provided 706 households with rental assistance, a 40 percent increase from the previous year; 74 households with utility relief and 115 households with 539 nights of emergency hotel placement; about a 62 percent increase from previous year. The program also assisted 14 households with permanent supportive housing. This year because of the growing need, it has already been approved for an additional 12 households with permanent supportive housing while the emergency support department expanded with two housing programs in the last two years with Intensive Case Management and Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing. In addition, Catholic Charities this past year established an unmet needs fund to support individuals and families that “fall through the cracks” just slightly above or below traditional eligibility guidelines. Seventeen families benefited already from the unmet needs fund with basic items such as: beds for children; rent help to avoid eviction; transportation, emergency hotel stay and food.

According to the CCHD, some of the root causes of poverty are lack of education, family environment, such as single parent homes and mental and physical disabilities. Racial injustice is also a cause for poverty.

One of important goals of Catholic Charities is to help families sustain themselves. Milliken said, “Catholic Charities programs often help people in need get back on their feet, connect them to long-term self-sustaining solutions or provide them with support so that they can focus on providing for their families. Your support of our important ministry helps to make a difference in the lives of so many.”