Posted on 12/12/2001 12:20:38 PM PST by mdittmar
Hunger and homelessness rose sharply in American cities this year as the nation slipped into recession and could get worse in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Examining the situation in 27 cities, the report found that requests for emergency food aid climbed an average of 23 percent and requests for emergency shelter rose an average of 13 percent during the year, from November 2000-2001.
"This survey underscores the real impact of the economic slowdown on real people," New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial told a news conference.
The annual report found an increase in requests for emergency food assistance in 25 of the 27 cities surveyed with no change reported in the other two, Chicago and Charleston.
However, resources available for emergency food aid failed to keep up with demand in most cities, increasing by only 12 percent.
Two thirds of the cities said they were unable to provide an adequate amount of food for those in need and 85 percent said they had cut either the size of the meals they provided or the number of times people could come to get food.
In one third of the cities, hungry people were actually turned away, the report stated. Over half of those needing help were families with children and over a third had jobs.
"Hunger remains a very real problem in America and that problem has gotten worse over the past four years," said Robert Forney, who heads America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger-relief charity.
Citing the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks and the current recession, all of the cities participating predicted that both food assistance and shelter assistance requests will increase again in 2002.
That is already happening in cities like Denver, Nashville and Salt Lake City where layoffs in the travel, tourism, service and communication industries have been driven to food banks for the first time in their lives.
The survey also found that 19 cities reported increases in requests for emergency shelter compared to last year. It found that 22 percent of the increase came from families.
Resources were stretched beyond the breaking point. Over half of the requests for shelter from families went unmet, the survey said.
Officials estimate that 40 percent of the homeless were single men, 40 percent families with children, single women were 14 percent and 4 percent were children. Half of the homeless population was black.
In half the cities, families seeking shelter were broken up when temporary accommodation was found.
Bring out the same old stories,dust them off whenever a Republican gets the WhiteHouse.
"The rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious."
Joseph Goebbels
Adolf Hitler's Nazi Propaganda Minister
And of course, the obligatory 'Toys for Tots' load. Gives me an excuse to buy toys.
Those Repubs sure can produce the homeless, eh?
Unwed mothers, too! (you forgot the unweds..;^))
For 8 years I watched the Thanksgiving and Christmas local news broadcasts (Channel 3 out of Hartford, CT) talk about how fortunate the hungry and homeless were to have the shelters and how everyone was being fed more than they could eat and how happy they were and, and, and.....
"Gosh things are just so wonderful here at the downtown shelters and we are hearing this from all over the state, back to you guys in the studio."
This year....you guessed it.
"It's always sad this time of year to see so many, many people and especially the children with no place to call home that are forced to depend on the meager offerings of this shelter and others like it across the state. I guess all of us should be very thankful this year. Back to you....."
Sad, but I think that's absolutely correct. With the raft of benefits and services, public and private, there's virtually no way you can go hungry in the U.S.
I'm also continually baffled by those in our society who seem to have no support network whatsoever -- no family, friends, church or other group to help our in times of need. Short of mental illness of chemical dependency, I just can't understand it.
Does this mean that CNN wil run those pictures of starving kids in Orlando and have Christianne (Hors de combat) Amanpour reporting from DisneyWorld?
Me thinks this is what they are trying to make Bush look like.
So are bummery and fraud.
Why was this posted under Humor?
On the otherhand, these communist food hand outs discourage self-relience. Few people will starve themselves to death is they know they are not going to get a free hand out.
I say we get rid of all the communist hand out programs. If I had the 40% of stolen income taken in the form of taxes I could afford to do alot more charity. As it is I only donate 10% of every penny I make as well as a small portion of my time.
Is there any doubt the prosperity, self-reliance, and charaty created by abolishing most taxes would take care of many problems. Most importantly people could discover what it is like to give of themselves instead of this inpersonable redistribution system we have now.
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