What Sesame Street, my son and others have taught me about “food insecurity”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

In my day it was known as plain old ‘hunger’. What’s up with “dressing up” the issue by calling it ‘food insecurity’? It seems like now I’m hearing that term all the time. So I started thinking that maybe I didn’t fully understand ‘food insecurity’ and it turns out it is much more than just hunger.

I started learning about food insecurity from my son who is an elementary school principal at a Title I school where the majority of children live in families with little to no income. While he knew that most of the children would qualify for free lunches, he was apalled at how hungry they were. When it dawned on him the children would only eat that one meal each day at lunchtime at school, he implemented free breakfasts for the students as well as provided backpacks filled with food for the weekends from his local Backpack Buddies program.

Another time I learned about the ‘food insecurity’ issue was in a Sesame Street special featuring the new muppet, Lily, who comes from a food insecure home. She’s a pink muppet in a blue dress and she is hungry. She goes to a community garden for food where she meets Elmo and Grover and shares a bit of her story on how her rumbling tummy is about much more than hunger. Continue reading →

How can you compete with a billionaire?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mrodgers

Do you know who Warren Buffet is? Bill Gates? Of course you do. How about Patrice and Precious Motsepe? Not ringing a bell? Well, Mr. and Mrs. Motsepe are a couple from South Africa – and they also happen to be among the wealthiest individuals and families in the world.

Another thing they have in common with Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and most recently Richard Branson, along with another 101 billionaires (so far!) around the world is they have pledged to donate half – or more – of all their wealth to charitable causes during their life or immediately upon their death. They have all embraced a philosophy of philanthropy created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet called “The Giving Pledge”.

At the core of the pledge is this affirmation: “We are inspired by the example set by millions of people who give generously (and often at great personal sacrifice) to make the world a better place.” Each donor decides how much they will ultimately pledge, and to what organization and causes.

According to the National Philanthropic Trust, 81% of the high net worth individuals in the U.S. that donate to charity cite “giving back to the community” as their chief motivation for giving.

But all of this is only for “high net worth” individuals, right? Well, according to the same report 65% of all households in the U.S. give to charities. And while the average amount of all donations was $2,213, the middle amount given was only $870. You don’t have to be a “high net worth” individual to donate $870.

And in 2011, 73% of all charitable giving came from people – like you and me. And while billionaires can easily afford to pay someone to research the 1,080,130 charitable organizations to decide where to donate, you don’t have to.

United Way of the Greater Triangle supports many successful and vital programs in the Orange, Durham, Johnston and Wake county area. Eighty-seven agencies and 162 programs that focus on hunger and literacy, safety and well-being of children, single parents, homeless and more provide services for the 1.4 million people of the four counties.

That’s a powerful reach that helps “make the world a better place.” And while you may not have the money of a billionaire, your money, along with your neighbor’s and mine, can have a powerful and lasting impact on our world right here in the middle of North Carolina.

Go to http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org, look around our website and see the ways you can help. If you can’t donate money, there are plenty of other ways you can give – donate your time, advocate our mission to help others, tell someone about 2-1-1. Just know that we’re here to support your community, and a better community is better for you.

Listening to Community About Health Needs

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

Sarah Tencer is a UNC student pursuing her masters while interning for our Community Impact Department at United Way of the Greater Triangle. She wrote this about her experience interning with us.

With the passing of the Affordable Care Act, health service providers are required to conduct needs assessments (figuring out what the PEOPLE think the problems are) in their communities. In Wake County, our wonderful service providers are doing something we love here at United Way : Collaboration! Hospitals, health clinics, and others have come together and, with the help of the UNC Institute for Public Health, are finding out the health needs of people living in Wake County.

As an organization who works with all different types of partners, United Way has been asked to have a presence at the table! I am an intern here in the Community Impact department, and have been fortunate enough to accompany my supervisor to these steering committee meetings and have even had the opportunity to go out in Wake County and talk to people about their opinions!

This group went out door-to-door and conducted surveys with all sorts of people, have analyzed data that other groups have collected, and are in the process of conducting focus groups. It was such a neat experience to go and knock on peoples doors not to sell anything, but to find out what they THINK. People were surprised that our only agenda was to gather ideas and to LISTEN. You don’t get that much anymore!

While not everyone was receptive or maybe didn’t have the time to talk to us, I learned so much from the ones I did get to talk to! People care about the health of their community; they just need a place to talk about it! So let’s keep talking! That’s the first step in making a difference!

Image from sprudge.com

Kick in the gut…

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

If you’ve been there – then you know it is a kick in the gut. If you haven’t been there – then it’s a lesson in deep frustration and extremely educational. No matter how you come to be at one of our Poverty Simulations, you will NOT leave untouched!

A participant in one of our Poverty Simulations.

The Poverty Simulation is a unique tool that educates everyone about the day to day realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. The participants role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security.

The task of each family is to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities during the simulation while interacting with various community resources staffed by volunteers. These resources include social workers, loan officers, employers, grocers, utility collectors, police officers, teachers and more.

It is a powerful way to help citizens understand what it is like for people who live in poverty. It opens people’s eyes and provides insight into the state of chronic crisis that consumes so many working poor families.

During the simulation, participants are seated in family clusters with community resources located at tables around the perimeter of the room. To start the exercise, each family is given a card explaining its unique circumstances and a small amount of money. Although it uses play money and other props, fictional scenarios, and time limits, the Poverty Simulation is not a game. It is a simulation tool that enables participants to view poverty from different angles in an experiential setting.

Interested in having a Poverty Simulation at your workplace, warehouse, place of worship? Fantastic! Contact Stan at (919) 463-5023 to arrange for one today!

Financial Stability for the State of NC

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Stan Holt

Any good financial literacy program that we fund at United Way of the Greater Triangle has at its very core a simple philosophy. It must teach smart budgeting and in order for households to get ahead, there has to be more income than expenses. Unfortunately, the State of North Carolina is beginning to walk on some very thin ice as the General Assembly begins planning for changes in the tax code. These changes are supposed to improve state revenue. However, the recent plan that is being considered by North Carolina’s Senate leaves North Carolina and its middle class and poor citizens vulnerable.

The proposed plan would eliminate personal income tax, corporate taxes, and business license taxes. That eliminates $12 billion in revenue that is used for public schools and human services across the state. So how do they propose to raise revenue? The plan’s proponents suggest increasing sales taxes on goods and services. Sounds reasonable, I’d love to pay fewer taxes on my personal income. Oh wait, that means the tax on food, gas, home repairs, and car repairs will all increase. Hmmm. I wonder if we are “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

The opponents of this argue that expanding the sales tax means a much bigger contribution from the non-wealthy. According to the Budget and Tax Center, “Under the (proposed Senate) plan, a family earning $24,000 would see its taxes increase by $500, or by 2.1 percent of its income, while a household earning $1 million would get a $41,000 tax cut, representing 4.5 percent of its income.” It also means that if personal income tax goes away things like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Care Tax Credit are likely to go away too. Cutting these tax credits are essential ways that working households are increasing their income. In fact we know one of the best antipoverty strategies around is helping qualified households receive the Earned Income Tax Credit.

United Way of the Greater Triangle is committed to helping provide services in our communities to those of limited wealth. However, I fear the path the state may go could undermine efforts to improve each households situation. I’m worried that we will see even greater human service needs if services and education take further cuts because the state’s primary revenue stream has been eliminated.

Graphic from antiguaobserver.com