Reflections of From Poverty to Possibilities, Community

Guest Blogger: Lindsay Morgan Tracy, Vice President, Community Impact & Engagement 

During the From Poverty to Possibilities summit, I loved it when Anita, a Pierce County citizen who has gotten out of poverty, challenged us - - those who make up the system of nonprofits, government, service providers -- to look at service gaps. 

Anita

While Anita is now happily employed and has reached many of her dreams, she reminded the audience that the struggle continues as she loses eligibility for key benefits. This experience is known as the “benefits cliffs” describes what happens when public benefits programs phase down or out quickly, leading to an abrupt reduction or loss of benefits for families as household earnings increase, but have not increased enough for self-sufficiency to be reached.

We all talk about this cliff but who really is coalescing around this in our cities or county? This cliff incentivizes people to stay in the system. Many who are making the bare minimum wage are on government supports (which OUR tax dollars go to). 

On that vein of minimum wage –Mia Birdsong, our keynote speaker stated, “Our living wage is not a livable wage.” I know that calculating a living wage is not easy, nor is it apples to apples across our county or state. 

Yet in the 2017 Self-Sufficiency Standard stated that a single adult with a preschooler and a school-aged child in Pierce County needs to earn roughly $56,192 a year in order to meet their basic needs. This equates to $26.61 an hour.

This number does not take into consideration any debt or college loan that the adult brings into this family. This calculation also makes the assumption that they are saving $158/month. In fact, 39% of Americans have $0 saved in 2017. And let’s end this data-laden paragraph on a high note - - now 43% of Americans have $1000 or more set aside for an emergency which is up from 31% last year. Kudos!

As we all need to take ownership in the system that was handed to us…we also have the power to augment/dismantle the system and shift it for the good of the people.

Like me, you’ve all been in meetings where at least one person says, “That’s been tried.” But the question I have is “Where are the learnings” so we can keep trying and do it differently. Are the same people in the room or are there different skills sets and competencies?

We cannot start without answering specific questions. This aligns with the question that many tables asked at our event, “What is the definition of poverty? We cannot change it until we agree on this.” We can agree that things need to change and I know that the collective voice of the people in the room could move mountains. I know that the food banks or food justice organizations all came together to work differently with one another and that progress is being made in our county due to their difficult work.

In essence, who can hold all the collectives groups and people together and break down silos toward the good of our shared efforts? Do we need this? I’d love your thoughts as I feel we can make more than incremental change in our county - - I don’t feel it, I know it.

For more information or questions contact Lindsay at LindsayT@UWPC.org

Graphic:  Visual representation of the benefits cliff, Columbia University  
http://www.selfsufficiencystandard.org/Washington

Data references: https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/half-americans-less-savings-2017/

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/2014/aug/15/b-team-initiative-big-egos-inaction-sustainability

Message of Hope

Guest Blogger, Dona Ponepinto, President & CEO, United Way of Pierce County

After 30 years in the United Way movement, I still wake up every day with a strong sense of purpose. Yes, the issues we are tackling seem insurmountable and the nearly daily dose of bad news is filled with pain and suffering. Fortunately, we live in a world where kindness and support dominates. I am continually filled with hope by the inspiring things humans do on a daily basis. An inspiring article in Forbes once that summed it up to a T.

These human gifts include but are not limited to these seemingly simple acts: Help, Empathize, Teach, Love, Persevere, Learn and Believe. 

Help comes in many forms from helping babysit a neighbor’s children so she can get to her job, opening doors for people with their arms full, giving up your seat so someone who is frail can rest comfortably on their commute.

Empathizing with someone means going beyond recognizing someone’s situation, it’s being able to imagine it yourself and therefore putting away judgement or criticism. 

Teach others a skill or even being a good example for others is a wonderful way to provide service. Reading to a child, showing a coworker a useful trick in a program—there are hundreds of ways to share knowledge-- knowing there is nothing in it for you. 

Love and building a culture of caring happens at home and in business. When people feel like they can engage openly and connect with compassion the difference can be felt.

Persevere and you can achieve nearly everything. I see hundreds of examples of perseverance every year-- from the single mom who was going nowhere who is now in college, working hard and eager to contribute to her community financially and through services to the family sleeping in a one-room apartment that are making plans to buy their first home.

Learn from your children, coaches and even mistakes. Be bold and open and curious about the world and don’t be afraid to think differently. It will open your mind, your heart and you will thrive.

Believe in change, goodness and a world of hope. If I didn’t believe in possibilities I would not have spent decades taking on tough challenges. I am so grateful to work with inspiring people and to see real and measurable change happen in our community. There will always be bad news but if we practice these activities, they become part of our daily lives.

And that is the best gift you can give during the season to yourself and to others.

29 going on 30: My journey, my life, living the United Way

Loyalty, Baseball and Crakerjack. Or is it Crackerjacks?

by Pete Grignon, Chief Financial Officer, CPA 

“Son, we’re going to a baseball game.” Nap, my father, was a loyal baseball fan who took me to many a game at Cheney Stadium to watch the local home team, Tacoma Giants (1960-1965).  The memory of my father taking me to the ball park is the main reason why I still follow the game to this day.  He would quietly explain to me how the game was played while recording every play on a scorecard. He would cheer on the team and get upset with the umpire.  At five years old, the only thing I could think about was the food: popcorn in the first inning, followed by a hot dog with a hearty spread of mustard from a wooden stick and a dollop of relish in the third. I can still hear the booming voice of the hot dog man, “Hot dog, get your red hot, hot dog,” and see the steam rising from the large metal container he lugged up and down the stairs. The sixth inning was time to open that box of Cracker Jack, or what I remember as Cracker Jack(s). During the seven inning stretch we would belt out, “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.” I remember, “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks.”  For those of you born in the fifties and sixties, is that what you remember, the plural version?

A little history on Cracker Jack: In 1896, the first lot of Cracker Jack was produced, the same year the name was registered. It was named by an enthusiastic sampler who remarked: "That's a crackerjack idea!" (a colloquialism meaning "of excellent quality"). In 1916, mascot Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo were introduced on the cover. In 1912, toy surprises were included in every box. In 2013, some prizes became codes for people to redeem "nostalgic" games on the Cracker Jack app through Google Play for Android-powered devices.

My dad remained loyal to our local baseball team until the day he died. Stuck with them through the winning AND losing seasons. He was also loyal to my mom and his children.  Some of his reliability must have rubbed off on me when I went to work with United Way over 29 years ago. I still believe United Way is the best way to help the most people as we work with others to solve our community’s toughest challenges. What are you loyal too?

SNAP Challenge - Challenge Complete

by Nicole Milbradt, Director of Marketing

As the weekend came, we finished out our SNAP week with more of the same. The kids loved the syrup we purchased for the pancakes. Probably because the top two ingredients were sugar and more sugar. 

The boxed mac and cheese made for some interesting conversation. As I opened the packet that came in the box and poured it into my liquid my youngest said, "What...is...THAT!?!" I explained that I was making the cheese sauce. Her curious little mind went wild... 

"So that is cheese powder? How do they make cheese powder? Why is it that color? Are you sure they used actual cheese in there? Are you sure it isn't radioactive? Stuff that color is usually radioactive."

For the first time since having children, they had mac and cheese left on their plate. During this process, I confess there were times I thought "Man, my kids are spoiled." But I realized that they are just used to eating foods made with natural ingredients and lean meats and having fresh fruits and veggies. All kids should have that same opportunity. Yet one in four children in Pierce County are hungry. 

My family learned a lot from this experience. We learned:

• Eating on the SNAP budget did not provide enough food for a family of four.
• We were often distracted by either our empty tummies or our anticipation for the next meal.
• Being hungry made it hard to concentrate and made us pretty cranky.
• The foods we were eating caused us to have digestive issues we didn't expect.
• Parents in SNAP families likely have to give up their own food to feed their kids.
• Shopping on such a tight budget was extremely stressful.
• Having to settle for less-healthy options to stay on budget was very discouraging.

But there were positives too. We learned there were many things we could do to help - food drives, volunteering, donating food or money. But if we are really going to make a difference for the families experiencing hunger, it's going to take all of us. I challenge you to try to live on the SNAP allowance for just one day. That's four dollars for the entire day. Can you do it?

Learn more about United Way of Pierce County's work to resolve hunger in Pierce County by visiting http://www.uwpc.org/hunger-initiative.

SNAP Challenge DAYS 4 and 5 – Finishing out the week

by Nicole Milbradt, Director of Marketing

This morning I had to break it to the hubs that he had to go back down to one muffin in the morning or we wouldn’t have enough to get through the week. I also had to break it to him that we were out of bananas but we could each have another apple instead. Tomorrow, however, would be a different story.

It occurred to me that in a SNAP household, that fruit would probably have been gone long ago. If the kids hadn’t opted out, I was planning to give them my fruit as an afternoon snack. I suspect SNAP parents often give up their own food to feed their kids.

We didn’t end up having as much left over at last night’s dinner so that gave us no other option but good old PB&J again. I was so hungry but the sandwich just wasn’t cutting it.

My body was also revolting. The processed foods, higher fat content and lack of fresh veggies was taking it’s toll (TMI?) and I wasn’t alone. I was tired and cranky and hungry. Really hungry.

After our discussion, the family was all back in on the challenge. But that night we agreed that if they were feeling too hungry, they could supplement our SNAP food with things we had on hand. After all, that’s what the program is supposed to do… supplement. It’s right there in the name Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program – SNAP. More than 45 million people participate in the SNAP program and 76 percent of them are families with children.

Unfortunately, the reality is that many families live just like we were attempting. They use the SNAP funds to buy most of their food and “supplement” out of their own pocket when the can. Many rely on regular visits to the food bank because funds aren’t there. It’s a trend our partners at local food banks are seeing far too often. What used to be a service to get people in crisis through the rough times is now as important to feeding their families each month as the SNAP benefits.

It needs to change.

SNAP Challenge - DAY 3 – Lessons Learned

by Nicole Milbradt, Director of Marketing

Today is Day 3. It is also a late start day. I did not prepare for that. Late start means no breakfast for free-and-reduced lunch kids. Luck for us, there is enough pancake mix for this weekend’s family breakfasts to make a few servings for today.  But I have to work so the teenager gets to try her hand at it. She’ll be in college in less than a year so I like to think of it as a teaching opportunity.

I showed her how to make the first one. The other five were hers. She learned a lot from her teaching opportunity. She learned that if you flip too soon, you slop mix all over the side of the pan and if you are really talented, the stove top. After she cleaned it up and tried again, she learned that you can’t have the pan too hot or you burn the pancake (who burns pancakes!?!). She also learned that when you throw out two of your six pancakes, you have less to eat and you aren’t full when you finish breakfast.

Since I was off to work, she also learned that she could make herself and her sister their normal lunches and opt-out of the SNAP challenge. Traitors.

At dinner, we had an interesting conversation…

“Mom, why are you doing this again?” asked the little.

“I’m trying to help people understand what a family who is like ours but is struggling to put food on the table has to go through.” I continued, “We are lucky. We only have to do this for a week… or a few days for you. But what if you had to do this every day?”

“I was hungry all the time. Does that mean that those kids are hungry ALL the time?”

Thankfully, I knew that there are a lot of people working on the problem and that those people are helping families in need with access to food at food banks and hot meal sites. I explained to her how those services worked. I told the family how, even though extra food from food banks helps, many people have to visit those food banks every chance they get, just to get by.

I was worried that my kids’ decision to opt-out of the challenge meant that they didn’t get it. I was glad to be wrong.

The youngest started naming off friends at her school she was scared might be facing hunger. Kids who came to school without lunches. Kids who talked about being hungry.

“Momma, how can we help?”

With a full heart, I told her there were a lot of things we could do. We could volunteer at a food bank or meal site. We could donate food to drives like the Letter Carrier’s Drive each spring or drives at her school. We could donate money to organizations like United Way of Pierce County that had made ending hunger a priority.

She immediately threw out some ideas of her own… “I can take extra snacks to school each day and share them. And I can share things in my lunch with people who don’t have one. We can share the food from our garden and our apple tree.”

In just three short days, their empty tummies had helped them realize just how fortunate we are and how important it was to help others who don’t have the same opportunities. Even though my tummy was still growling , I knew right there that it was totally worth it.