toledoblade.com --

Second of three parts

BOWLING GREEN - Wayne English never pictured himself at the end of a line at a food pantry, thankful for the chance to take home a bag of bread and sweets to feed himself and his 2-year-old daughter.

Mr. English, 41, began visiting the Bowling Green Christian Food Pantry two weeks ago as he scrambled to find financial footing after he was laid off from his job as a construction worker. Living week to week on unemployment checks and hand-outs, Mr. English is searching for work in a grim market for the jobless.

"If something doesn't happen in the next 35 days, I'll be homeless, sorry to say," said Mr. English, a lifelong Bowling Green resident who had been making $14 an hour working on roofing and siding projects for the past 3 1/2 years.

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Mr. English is among the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who once had steady employment but crashed into poverty this decade as they dealt with a double dose of layoffs and rising costs. His plight is especially familiar to others in Wood County, which ranks among Ohio's 10 counties that have experienced the largest percentage increases in poverty this decade.

Before he was laid off, Mr. English said he could make as much as $800 per week with overtime, a good amount compared with the "nothing a week" he takes in now.

Between 2001 and 2005, about 300,000 Ohioans entered the poverty ranks, bringing the total to more than 1.4 million, according to census data. Food banks and those working to aid the poor say the need has soared in recent months as unemployment, rising gas and food prices, stagnant wages, and foreclosures have inflicted newfound pain for families already on the brink of poverty.

The situation is staggering:

•The number of Ohioans falling below the poverty line increased by 3.8 percent statewide since 2001, from 1.1 million to 1.4 million. Wood, Lucas, and

Cuyahoga counties are among the 10 Ohio counties that have suffered the most with poverty this decade, each registering more than 4 percent jumps in the number of poor.

•The number of Ohioans receiving food stamps, now called the food assistance program - a key indicator of poverty - has reached 1.1 million, nearly doubling the 625,000 who accepted the assistance in 2001. The jump means that about 1 in 10 Ohioans receive food stamps.

•More than 13,000 Wood County residents are living below the poverty line, an increase of nearly 4,800 from 2001, according to census data from 2005, the latest countywide statistics available.

•In Lucas County, 76,191 are considered to be living below the poverty line, a 5.2 percent hike from 55,095 in 2001. There are 71,766 Lucas County residents on food stamps, up from 50,925 in 2002.

Addressing the issue

In an interview last week, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said the best way to fight poverty in Ohio is through providing quality education and creating good jobs. In addition to launching a task force earlier this year to help reduce poverty, Mr. Strickland said his administration has worked through energy initiatives and stimulus packages to build an environment that will employ more Ohioans over the long term. But for now, the state is bolstering its programs to help the poor.

"Those things, I think, over a longer term will have a positive effect and make Ohio a more prosperous state and people will have greater opportunity," Mr. Strickland said. "But in the shorter term we are trying to do some things that will give assistance to people who are in poverty right now that need more immediate assistance."

Mr. Strickland is hopeful that Ohio can stem the increases in poverty under his administration.

"Would I hope from the bottom of my heart that we could make a significant impact on the number of people in Ohio in poverty? Absolutely," Mr. Strickland said. "But for me to make a definite promise would be unrealistic because right now we do not know what the national economy is going to do and how it is going to affect us."

Manufacturing losses

There's no doubt that Ohio's abysmal economy and rising poverty are directly linked to its loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs, said Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy Matters Ohio, a policy research institute.

"We've watched this deindustrialization and mass exodus of jobs from Ohio, and it took a little while, but it is now showing up in terms of higher rates of poverty," she said.

It's important to remember that just because someone has a job doesn't mean that person isn't poor, Ms. Hanauer said. A typical family needs to be earning about 200 percent of the federal poverty level to meet basic needs, or around $40,000 as a family of four, she said.

"That's two people working full-time at two $10-an-hour jobs or one person at a $20 an hour job," Ms. Hanauer said. "If you look at the jobs in our economy, the $20-an-hour job is disappearing."

A study released in conjunction with the governor's announcement found that in 2006 nearly 1.5 million Ohioans - or 13.3 percent of the state's residents - lived in poverty. That's a larger proportion of Ohio's population living in poverty than at any time since the 1960s "War on Poverty."

In 2006, the poverty threshold was $20,444 for a two-adult, two-child family.

Historically, Ohio's poverty rate has been lower than the national average, but 2006 marked the first time it matched the national rate, according to the report.

Data released in August by the U.S. Census Bureau ranked Toledo among the nation's poorest cities with populations over 250,000 people. Joining the Glass City on the list of places with the lowest median household income were Cleveland and Cincinnati. Other onetime manufacturing centers such as Detroit, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh, were high on the list as well.

Youngstown had the lowest median household income of all cities with populations between 65,000 and 249,999 people.

Seeking assistance

Each week, more than 200 people visit the Calvary Hill Baptist Church farmers' market for a chance to bring home some produce for their families. An assortment of tomatoes, onions, corn, broccoli, greens, and potatoes are available at no cost for the low-income and poor, many of whom are senior citizens living in this tough-luck neighborhood on Cleveland's east side.

Last week, Mary Rome and other volunteers stood outside in a heavy downpour helping a long line of patrons bag vegetables. The demand for food is increasing quickly as people lose jobs and the cost of living rises, said Ms. Rome, a volunteer with the food market for seven years.

"A lot of them just don't have money to feed their families," Ms. Rome said. "And they have a need and they come here to get it. You just thank God that you are able to send it to them. That's why they come.

"I don't think they come out here for pleasure. They come out here because it is a need."

Linda Anderson of West Toledo remembers the first time she had to turn to a food pantry at a church near her home in 2006. She cried.

"It was a devastating experience to say the least," she said.

There were so many people in line, she said, by the time it was her turn to get food, the pantry already had run out of bread. She knew the small bag of groceries she was able to get would not be enough for herself, her husband, and four children.

After her husband, Russell Anderson, was laid off from his job in early 2005 as an estimator for a disaster clean-up firm, they struggled for more than a year.

Mrs. Anderson worked full-time at a retail job, then got two additional part-time jobs, one in telemarketing and in customer service for a local lighting company. Mr. Anderson struggled to find work and did odd jobs to bring in money.

"I actually was doing three jobs and it wasn't enough," she said.

Having just purchased their home in West Toledo before Mr. Anderson was laid off, the family began to fall behind on their payments. Each month, they had to decide which bills to pay and which not to pay, he said.

The Andersons survived with faith and prayers, help from family, and by calling United Way's 2-1-1 hotline to find organizations that they could go to for help. They also cite the generosity of others in helping them get by, like the teacher who bought their daughter sneakers so she could continue to play on the Whitmer High School basketball team.

"We didn't have $80 for basketball shoes," her father recalls.

Luckily, Mr. Anderson has now found work installing security systems in Detroit.

"We're slowly catching up on our backlog of bills," he said.

Others across the region haven't been as lucky.

Trouble in the suburbs

The need, long found in urban centers such as Cleveland and Toledo, is steadily spreading to suburban areas, where the realities of unemployment and the high costs of living are having an impact.

A food pantry opened in Parma Heights, a suburb southwest of Cleveland, in 2007 to serve the increasing number of people who need help providing food for their families. The pantry served 36 families in its opening month in July, 2007, but by last month, the pantry served 172 families.

For the past six months, Traci Day, 32, a mother of three from Parma Heights, has come to the pantry looking for help. Ms. Day, who also cares for nieces and nephews, makes $8 per hour working full-time for Wendy's.

"I manage, but barely," she said.

She's been in the fast-food business since she was about 20. Although she has her high school diploma and a year of college under her belt, she struggles to find good work.

"I'm just trying to survive. I'm just trying to make a living," Ms. Day said, but contending with the rising costs of living, her paycheck and food stamps will only go so far.

"You can't afford to live," she said. "You have to worry about your children and if they are going to eat. If you are going to have lights, gas."

Asked about her future, Ms. Day could only shrug her shoulders.

"Right now I'm not living comfortably, I know that," she said. "I want to get to where I am living comfortably. How I get to that point, I'm not sure."

Breaking the generational cycle of poverty in times like these is especially tough for people like Candice Stetzy.

"My parents always got assistance when I was growing up because they had been having problems," said Ms. Stetzy as she held her baby at the food pantry earlier this month. "My mom was the one that told me about calling 211 for the assistance and coming here for help. I kind of needed it."

Ms. Stetzy dreams of going back to school, getting a degree, and becoming a nurse. She wants a better life for a her daughter, Lily.

But for now, Ms. Stetzy, 22, and her husband get assistance from the Parma Heights Food Pantry, as well as food stamps. Her husband works as a mechanic at a Marathon station, but business is slow as people cut back on car repairs to save money.

About 12 miles from Parma Heights, another pantry opened just last month in Maple Heights.

Maple Heights is not exactly the type of community where you would expect to find a food pantry. But there it is, amid a string of vacant storefronts in a strip mall and in the shadow of a Home Depot - a staple of suburban life.

Ralph Fotia, a volunteer there, said he was surprised by the number of people in his community who qualified to receive assistance at the small pantry.

"Normally, you think this happens only in the inner city," he said.

What he is witnessing at the pantry, Mr. Fotia said, is missing from the debate about who will be America's next president.

"I think this is very indicative of what's happening in this country, when thousands and thousands of people rely on food pantries."

Closer to home

While Lucas County's poverty is still largely concentrated in Toledo ZIP codes, statistics from the Lucas Department of Job and Family Services show that it has been on the rise in suburban areas.

In the last five years, the county's department of Job and Family Services has seen more than a 40 percent jump in families seeking food stamps from suburban ZIP codes. During that same period, the number of families in the city of Toledo seeking food stamps increased as well, but not as quickly, by 27 percent.

Driving along Seaman Road in Oregon, approaching the newest Feed Your Neighbor pantry site, the houses are small but well-kept. Most have tidy yards with neatly mowed grass and flowers.

It's not the kind of neighborhood you would expect to see a food pantry in. Yet, at the New Harvest Christian Church, 3540 Seaman Rd., a food pantry is open four days a week.

It is the first Feed Your Neighbor site Toledo Area Ministries has opened outside the city of Toledo.

"We did this because a lot of people from Oregon were coming to our Feed Your Neighbor sites in East Toledo," said the Rev. Steve Anthony, executive
director of Toledo Area Ministries.

Don Schiewer, one of the church's pastors, estimates the site serves about 1,200 people every month.

The Rev. Anthony added, "I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. The national indicators for our economy are not good. The working poor will be hit very hard."

Call volume into United Way's 2-1-1 hot line also has increased from suburban ZIP codes.

"The influx of calls has primarily been from people who have never had to ask for help before," said Jeanette Hrovatich, director of community outreach services for United Way of Greater Toledo.

"There's a definite trend in the suburbs," she said, adding that hundreds have called from Perrysburg, Maumee, and Oregon asking for help with food, utilities, and rent or mortgage assistance.

In the one-year period from July, 2006, to June, 2007, the hotline got 230 calls from Perrysburg.

The following year, 457 calls. In the first three months of this fiscal year, there have been 94 calls from Perrysburg.

The top three requests? Assistance with utilities, food, and rent.

Similarly, calls from Maumee have increased from 316 to 546 in the 2007-2008 fiscal year with 124 so far since July.

In Oregon, calls have gone from 355 to 593 in the same period, with 204 so far this year. The top three calls are for help with food, utilities, and mortgage or foreclosure problems.

"A lot of people are starting their conversations with us, 'I've never called you before and I've never asked for help before,'•" Ms. Hrovatich said.

A scary predicament

In Wood County, there's a number of options for people who need food.

For nearly 25 years, the Bowling Green Christian Food Pantry has been one place the poor have turned.

Shirley Woessner, the pantry's director, said the need never has been so severe. In typical years, July is usually the peak month of the year, but then the need usually tapers in August and September. But this year, July was a record-setting month - and the numbers haven't fallen.

"They are embarrassed to come here, but it is the economy," Ms. Woessner said. "There's nothing you can do about it."

The demand has taken a toll on the pantry's reserves, causing it to run out of staple items.

"I never thought we'd see the day that we run out of macaroni and cheese," Ms. Woessner said.

Corey Montgomery, 28, of Bowling Green waited earlier this month outside the pantry with one of her four children.

Ms. Montgomery, who was laid off during the summer
from her job as a telephone interviewer, now lives with her mother and takes her children for free church dinners when they can.

Growing up in Bowling Green, she never expected she would encounter such a struggle.

"I figured I'd get out of school, find a good-paying job, and be able to support myself and my children, own my house," Ms. Montgomery said.

Instead, her life is packed with the constant stress of bills piling up and few, if any, job opportunities.

"They say there's work around here and there's not," Ms. Montgomery said. "We go out looking for jobs almost every day and we come out empty-handed."

Mr. English, who lost his construction job and relies on food from the Bowling Green Christian Food Pantry, said his predicament is especially scary given that he lives alone with his 2-year-old daughter, who he said he has full custody of, but he is just trying to "think positive."

At least he can count on help from family, he said, if he is forced to vacate his home.

He said his father and brother have told him he could live with them while he looks for work.

Contact Kate Giammarise at:
kgiammarise@theblade.com
or 419-724-6133.

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