Source: Pensacola News Journal
January 21, 2017
By Kevin Robinson
It should come as no surprise that food, affordable housing and financial assistance top the list of needs for Escambia County families.
What may be surprising is which and how many people in the county struggle with these basic necessities. 2-1-1 Northwest Florida reports receiving more than 19,000 telephone calls for assistance for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Agency officials estimate they receive more than 100,000 requests annually through the web.
Michael Martin, 2-1-1 Northwest Florida manager, said many of the calls come from working-class families in a "situational crisis." It could be someone losing a job, their car breaking down, a medical illness or any number of small roadblocks that send a family careening into crisis.
"One little thing can bring down the whole house of cards," Martin said.
A worker making $12 an hour earns about $1,920 a month before taxes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median gross rent in the Pensacola area is about $892. With taxes, that would leave the worker with less than $1,000 to pay for groceries, gas, car insurance, health insurance, a car note, utilities, internet, childcare costs, student loans and any number of other expenses.
That doesn't leave much wiggle room, so any unexpected costs can decimate a budget.
A 2014 survey by the Federal Reserve Board, the country's central banking system, found 47 percent of respondents would not have enough cash readily available to cover an unexpected $400 expense. Various studies have estimated that anywhere from 50-70 percent of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.
Matthew Knee, COO of Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, said his organization assists thousands of people each month with utilities, housing, food, medical needs and other necessities. He said clients range from young adults stepping out on their own for the first time, to senior citizens whose limited income forces them to choose between food and medicine, to middle-class families who can't quite stretch their money enough to make ends meet.
"It could be a $1,200 mortgage or a $30 water bill," Knee said. "We see all walks of life."
Food, shelter and utilities
Locally, 2-1-1 is administered through United Way of Escambia County and connects citizens to a network of municipal and nonprofit organizations that provide services to citizens in need. The available programs run the gamut from clinics, to shelters, to GED programs, to job placement agencies.
About four employees and volunteers field all the calls that come in. They issued some 54,000 referrals to community services last year. Andrea Krieger, CEO of United Way of Escambia, said many callers are people who typically don't think of themselves as in need.
"It's hard to ask for help, especially if you're not used to the social-service system," Krieger said. "Most of them don't know where to go for assistance with utilities or to get food."
United Way staff shared the story of a client named Natasha, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness shortly after taking over the care of her grandchildren. The illness prevented her from working, and she learned it would be months before she could receive disability benefits. She eventually fell behind in her house payments before reaching out to 2-1-1 for help.
Those types of stories are not uncommon.
In terms of calls 2-1-1 received last year, 5,030 were for utility assistance, 4,023 were for rent, mortgage or shelter assistance, and 2,355 were for food assistance.
Martin said the calls from single mothers, the ones who aren't able to provide for their children despite their best efforts, are heartbreaking across the board. He said calls from elderly citizens are also emotional, because most would rather do without than worry their families or be seen as incapable or irresponsible.
"They are very proud," Martin said. "They will pay all their bills, and if anything is left, then they will buy groceries."
Several social service providers said people struggling financially often have to prioritize which bills they pay monthly.
Depending on which lenders are calling or how bad their tummies are rumbling, families can face tough choices on whether to pay for rent, food or the car note. Utilities — water, power, gas, etc. — often get put on the back burner in favor of more pressing needs, but when the utility bills go unpaid for three months, households can suddenly find themselves staring down a $500 power bill.
Some things get put off to pay the utility bill, and the cycle goes on and on.
Statistics tell the story
Roughly 15 percent of Escambia County residents live below the poverty line, according to U.S Census data.
About 19 percent of people experienced food insecurity in the past year, meaning at some point they were unsure when or how they would get their next meal, according to Live Well Partnership of Northwest Florida.
Forty percent of people in the Pensacola area pay more than 35 percent of their income toward housing, according to Census data. Affordable housing is typically defined as less than 30 percent of your monthly income.
There were 1,471 people who reported being homeless and 671 said they were in imminent danger of being homeless, according to United Way.
Billy Ivory Gillard, a former U.S. Marine, was able to claw his way out of homelessness after spending 15 years on the street. He said he was blessed to be able to get assistance from Veterans Affairs and a local business worked with him on a down payment for a truck. Even still, there were a number of struggles to achieve and maintain self sufficiency.
"When I got my first apartment, I didn't have any transportation," he said. "If I had somewhere to go and the weather's bad, I couldn't get there. I never thought I'd be able to ride around in a truck because my credit was bad."
Gillard now gives back by serving meals to the homeless twice a month at Mount Pilgrim African Baptist Church in Milton. He said there is a misconception that people end up homeless because they are lazy and don't want to work. He also said there is a misconception that people who hit rock bottom can never pull themselves back up. He said it's possible, it just depends on how much of an effort the person is willing to make.
"The transition is as hard as the person wants to make it for themselves," he said.
Self empowerment
Martin said one of 2-1-1's main tenets is not just to get people help, but to teach them to help themselves.
"Our philosophy is empowering people to solve their own problems," Martin said. "Every time they do, they'll be better prepared the next time a challenge comes along."
It's a philosophy that is shared throughout the social service community.
For instance, Catholic Charities provides everything from mental health counseling to child placement services to temporary housing. The organization isn't faith based, so clients don't have to be Catholic to receive assistance. The organization's one caveat is that clients have to take a class on financial literacy.
Knee said the program ends up being a boon to most people.
"A lot of people have never had a mentor to sit down with them about how to budget," he said.
The organization partners with local food pantries and other agencies to provide services. Homeless shelters are working with job placement organizations and veterans' programs to provide clients with a full suite of services. Baptist Hospital employees often refer patients to 2-1-1 to help them find resources to help them recover from social hardships that often accompany physical and mental health issues.
Krieger said in recent years there has been a greater emphasis on organizations pooling their services and resources to provide more holistic solutions to families' problems.
The organization keeps an up-to-date list of the area's service providers, what needs they fill and where there may be gaps in service. United Way is working to share that information between organizations for the betterment of everyone.
"We have groups that are recognizing, 'I do food, and I do food really well, but that's not all this child needs,'" she said as an example. "That family might get food that day, but that doesn't solve the problems that put them there ... It takes all these groups doing the things they do, together."