We welcome you to JobBank USA and hope your job hunting experience
is a pleasant one. We hope you find our resources useful.
November 21, 2007
The housing market bust has punished homebuilders, lenders and investors. Now the homeless and the hungry may be victimized.
In Ross County, local food pantries have seen the local economy affected by national trends as demand for food assistance rises.
Charity executives are nervously monitoring the mortgage debacle while food and energy costs continue to rise. Food banks and homeless shelters are already grappling with reduced federal aid as fears grow that more people will need help just as charity giving starts to decline.
Shelters and food banks are already reporting more need among households. One shelter in Minneapolis served as many people by the end of September as in all of last year. In New York, food banks are serving 24 percent more people, but receiving half as much federal aid as in 2004.
"There is some growing concern" about the effect of the housing slowdown on charitable donations, said Michael Nilsen, a spokesman for the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
The backbone of those charities, U.S. households with $200,000 or more in annual income or more than $1 million in assets, are also the ones most likely hit by the recent drop in stock prices sparked by the mortgage mess, according to research.
Those households make almost two-thirds of charitable donations, according to Bank of America Corp.-funded study. But research also shows stock prices have more of an effect on their giving than income changes, said Patrick Rooney, director of research at Indiana University's Center for Philanthropy, which carried out the Bank of America study in 2006.
Locally, the Ross County Health District has seen an increase in people utilizing the Women, Infant and Children program which helps pregnant mothers and those with young children get the nutrition they need.
"It's pretty much gone up steadily, and we usually see that increase as the economy gets shaken," Yoakum said. "There were people affected when Kenworth does a layoff or shutdown, and so we usually expect to see an increase."
The WIC program served 2,419 individuals in October, up from 2,333 people served in October of 2006.
"When people come in, we do a brief check up and they are assigned a nutritionist and issued coupons depending on what is identified as their nutritional need," Yoakum said.
Despite the roller-coaster ride stocks have taken in recent months, the Standard & Poor's 500 is up 2.9 percent so far this year. But as of Nov. 16, the benchmark index was 6.3 percent lower than a record high hit in October.
There are anecdotal reports the mortgage mess is forcing corporations to pull back too. Carol Schneider, media relations manager for the Food Bank for New York City, said a major U.S. bank - she wouldn't name the company - has reduced its donation by 60 percent this year, citing the fallout from mortgage losses.
If a recession can't be avoided, look out. The inflation-adjusted level of private donations fell in 2001-2002 - amid the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks and Internet stock bubble bust.
Unfortunately, when giving falls, it's most often when demands on charitable groups are rising, said Rick Belous, United Way's vice president of research.
Food pantries around the country are scrambling to meet rising demand from households that can't afford food because of rising housing costs.
The crisis also affects renters, who are heading for emergency shelters after landlord-owners foreclose on apartments and houses, said Steve Berg, vice president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Nearly 500,000 mortgages nationwide were foreclosed in the third quarter, double the number in the same period last year, according to housing data company RealtyTrac Inc. Some experts estimate 2 million homes could be foreclosed in 2007 and 2008.
Other factors are pushing more people toward emergency shelters and other forms of aid. High oil prices have increased transportation and heating costs, forcing many low-income families to choose between heating or eating, advocates said.
Federal data show food costs up 4.5 percent this year, with even bigger price increases in staples like milk and eggs, said Stephanie Nichols, public relations manager at the Greater Boston Food Bank.
Meanwhile, food banks are receiving less aid from the federal government, resulting in empty shelves at food pantries and soup kitchens across the country.
Food from a commodity surplus program run by the Agriculture Department has declined 70 percent the past three years, the nonprofit America's Second Harvest said, due largely to increased demand that has boosted farmers' sales and what they can charge.
Funding for another Agriculture Department program has remained flat, at $140 million annually, since 2002.
Hunger relief groups are urging Congress to approve a new farm bill that would boost annual funding for emergency food assistance to $250 million. The House approved the legislation in July, but the Senate failed to pass the bill before leaving for Thanksgiving recess.
Without the promise of increased federal help, charitable groups are urging people to give as much as they can.
Email This Page!