Admittedly I knew very little about poverty, hunger and homelessness before Alyssa and I started this project. I had a few tastes of the impact of these issues on the Tompkins County community from working with the United Way Stone Soup Philanthropy Corps and S.W.I.F.T. on campus last year, but I didn’t realize how pervasive the problem was or the extent to which local people were trying to combat the effects.

I hope that Alyssa and I have been able to expose some important elements about poverty in the Ithaca area and bring to light issues that our readers have maybe never considered. Poverty is a complicated concept, and there are dozens of theories on why it exists, but there will never be a simple, straightforward, easy-to-package solution. There is a limitless number of facets to poverty relief – the need for donations of food and hygiene products, the necessity of raising awareness, reconciling relief with people who may not want a hand out, and finding appropriate ways to fundraise – and we hope that our archive indicates this breadth.

We also aimed to show readers that there are solutions to this massive problem. Whether it was covering Loaves & Fishes’ “Empty Bowls” event, writing about a large-scale, United Way-backed food drive, tracking college students’ relief efforts or reflecting on our personal experiences with raising funds and awareness, I think that we covered a number of diverse ways that you can do your part to help. With everyone pitching in just a little bit – no matter how cliché or groan-worthy this sounds – we truly can combine these bursts of energy together and produce a “pocket full of change.”

I’ll be abroad during the spring semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but I plan to update this blog when I return to Tompkins County. Until then, happy 2010!

After exploring hunger and poverty relief efforts, from clubs on-campus to vital organizations in the town, I realized what a passion this town has for helping others.  I also learned not to overlook events going on in the area.  People often quickly walk past flyers and assume they are too “busy” to attend something that would take two hours of their time or too “broke” donate something that would cost them $5.  Yet, if we all slowed down and looked for little ways we can give back, we can help out the people in our community, and that’s what life’s all about.

However, while we are “giving back” let’s remember why we are giving back.  Truth is there does not need to be hunger and poverty in the world.  We have enough food to feed everyone and we have enough money so nobody has to struggle.  Yet, we have the separations of the West and the rest, the Developed and the Third World, the rich and the poor.  We create these divides instead of realizing there is one world and we should take care of everyone in it.

I was talking to Christine Olson, who is a faculty member at Cornell and part of the Upward Mobility Project there, about the misconceptions of people suffering from hunger and poverty.   Olson said people generally believe those suffering hunger and poverty “don’t work hard enough.”  But that is not the case at all.  It has to do with “chance,” Olson said, such as where they grew up, where they live now, what opportunities they had, if their parents helped along the way, etc.  All the experiences a person has — opportunities or closed doors, fortunate happenings or tragedies — help shape the person’s life.  So, if people are hungry or poor, it’s more likely they were unlucky than they “didn’t work hard.”

So remember to give back because you can, but also remember why you are giving back and hopefully that will help shape your outlook on the world and what changes you would like to see.

We tabled for most of the week to advertise for the drive and let people know about the need for donations – after all, families who essentially live off of food stamps can’t apply these government funds toward the purchase of other essential items like diapers, feminine hygiene products, shampoo and laundry detergent. In the end, with assistance from the Ithaca College community, we got four big boxes of donations. And even though that may only go to benefit three or four local families, I think that we made an impact in bringing some exposure to the issue and getting it onto people’s radars.

Anyway, it may seem hard to give to those in need this year.  The Ithaca Journal reported last month that philanthropic giving has slightly declined, while the need is increasing significantly.   Yet, this is a time the less fortunate need help the most.  Remember, you and your friends and family are not in this world alone.  We need to help our community, our world.  We are all in this together.

Here are some ways you can help out around Tompkins County:

• It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Cornell’s Schwartz Center for the Perfoming Arts will present this live radio play this Sat. Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.  Trumansburg Community Chorus & Newfield High School Chorus will be caroling before the show. A portion of proceeds will go to United Way of Tompkins County.  Tickets $8 students/seniors, $10 general. 607-254-ARTS or schwartztickets.com
• Free Basketball Clinic. Cornell University’s Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams are hosting a basketball clinic (10 – 11 a.m.) and a free throw session (11 – 12 a.m.) at Cornell’s Newman Arena this Sat. Dec. 12.  United Way of Tompkins County  will be collecting donations for each free throw made. Contact Woody Kampmann 607-255-0491.
• Homeless Shelter Wish List. Visit the site to see all the items homeless shelters need.  Drop off the donations at the Chapter House, 201 W. Clinton St., Downtown Ithaca 9 – 5, Monday – Friday until Dec. 23.

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Photo Courtesy of Jyl Dowd & Erik Lehmann

Over the years, people have asked me, “How can I help people living in hunger, poverty, or homelessness?” or “What can I do?” When that question comes up, I usually respond by saying, “I think that the answer may be different for everyone you ask, so why don’t you find a person that you want to help, and ask them?” The truth is, I have spoken with many homeless people, and with every person I talk to, I hear a different story. And every time I make the time to ask for a story, not only do I get a story, but I also get the beginning of a friendship, and as with any friendship, the desire to help that friend get to a better place. To me, this is where any service begins. In truth, all you need is one genuine story to start the wheels turning about how you can make a contribution and what your part of the answer can be.

For me, the story came from a 12 year-old boy named Mikey. He was living in a shelter for adolescent youth on Long Island. I spent a week getting to know him, and each night I fell asleep wondering how it came to pass that he was living at a shelter, so one day I just came out and asked him. Then he shared a story that no one, let alone a 12-year-old boy should ever have to tell. You see, Mikey’s mom was dating this guy, and this guy had an awful smoking habit. It was bad enough that he smoked, but it seemed that this guy had this irreprehensible habit of extinguishing his cigarettes on Mikey’s back. Mikey lifted his T-shirt to reveal what appeared to be a constellation of cigarette burns all over his shoulder blades. That was the moment that I knew that I needed to do something about all the “Mikeys” of the world. If you were to ask Mikey how to help him; he would say that he needed to be in a safe place where others cared for and respected him as a person…and that you shouldn’t smoke around him, because it evokes a sense of fear in him that no one should have to endure.

Mikey’s story was a turning point for me. It left such mark on my heart that I knew I was forever changed from that moment forward. Honestly, I did not have a choice in the matter. When you personally witness such injustice, you are forced to act. I spent the next few years working in different shelters, and many people told me their stories. As a Cornell student, I helped to found the Cornell Coalition for the Homeless to spread awareness and raise funds to help those who may not always have the courage to tell their own story. When the Coalition served in the community, in addition to cooking at Loaves & Fishes, Ithaca’s Community Kitchen, we would also eat with the guests at the dinner. We would ask for stories about their needs. We learned that we could put some of the funds we raised into loans for people, who were literally a security deposit away from getting off the streets. As a student-run volunteer organization, we never knew that we could have had this much impact on our community. All we had to do was ask, and I’m glad we did!

So, if you would take a “penny for your thoughts,” perhaps we can make a Pocketful of Change!

2.2% of those who completed the survey currently had no home.

On October 28, United Way of Tompkins County and Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County released their preliminary COMPASS II-2.0 report.

The two organizations collaborate to survey residents of Tompkins County about some basic information, but mainly focus on the residents’ perception of the county.  989 surveys were completed.  This survey is a follow up to a survey conducted by the organizations in 2003.

Some interesting finds:

• 2.2% of those who completed the survey were homeless, as opposed to 0% in 2003
• around 7.6% of those who completed the survey were unemployed and 29.6% indicated that “not being able to find a work” was a critical problem for someone in their household
• The NY State Dept. of Labor has found that employment in Tompkins County has decreased by 1,485 jobs between 2003 and 2008; they also reported the county’s unemployment rate is currently 5.4%, from 2.1% in 2003
• 73.4% of low-income residents who completed the survey said they perceived that there was a shortage of affordable housing in the county, up from 55.8% in 2003
• Of those who perceived that county residents’ “lives are disrupted by frequent moves,” 60% were homeless
• 63.8% of those who completed the survey perceived poverty to be a critical problem in the county, while 50.8% percent perceived hunger to be a critical problem

Click here for the full report.

You see, Stone Soup is a grant allocations group organized very similarly to the United Way of Tompkins County. Our purpose is to raise money from a number of different funding sources, accept applications from local non-profit organizations requesting this money in order to support projects to benefit the community, and then award these funds as a grant to the non-profit.

Last year, Stone Soup’s first real year off the ground, we raised over $3,000, a sum culled from the Ithaca College United Way faculty campaign, event sponsorships like Ithacappella and Voicestream, and our big, now-annual fundraiser, February’s Family Carnival.

Stone Soup advocacy material from Feb. 2009's Family Carnival

Now, after having the “Request for Funds Proposal” posted on the United Way’s Web site for two or three weeks, we will finally bring to a conclusion the first official grant cycle of Stone Soup. Close to a dozen local groups applied, and after having mock allocations deliberations on Tuesday, I know that we have a tough decision ahead of us.

In order to prepare, we read this great article by Dr. Joel Orosz of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, who does exactly what we’re about to do: evaluate a variety of proposals and then take a bet on which organization he trusts most to effectively carry out their proposal. This weekend, inevitably, we’ll encounter some of the moral and logistical issues he faces when deciding which proposal is most deserving of our financial support.

Wish us luck!