Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force – SRRT/ALA

Library user advocates successfully challenged San Francisco’s Public Library Link+ automated interlibrary loan system’s large fee for lost books.

SFPL patrons can now negotiate lost book replacement fees.

As more and more people fall victim to the sub-prime mortgage mess more and more people are finding themselves without a home, living in tent cities.

Springtime is one of the neediest months for families of the working poor in Minnesota (and elsewhere).

What do these families need? More food at food pantries (80% of the contributions to Minnesota’s food shelves come from individuals). Food pantries keep food that often needs to be cooked, which what working poor families can use. Those people who are homeless are often directed to homeless shelters, not food pantries.

To find a food shelf or make a contribution to one in Minnesota call 651-721-8687 ext. 331 or go to Minnesota Food Share’s website.

The Shriver Center has just released the 2007 Poverty Scorecard: Rating Members of Congress. The collected stats are interesting.

Members of Congress from states with high rates of poverty are less likely to support anti-poverty measures than other members of Congress …

[The scorecard] assigns letter grades to each member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives according to their voting records on the most important poverty-related issues that came to a vote in 2007, including legislation on affordable housing, health care, education, labor, tax policy and immigrants’ rights …

In general, states whose Congressional delegations generally opposed anti-poverty measures are clustered in the south and western parts of the country. States whose delegations had the worst voting records and highest poverty rates were South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona.

The University of South Carolina School of Medicine will receive a $1.2 million grant from the City of Columbia in order to implement Housing First, a program that will place 25 homeless people into apartments and homes in the city of Columbia beginning in April.

Columbia is the first Housing First program to have a medical school coordinate services for the clients.

To find out more about the project, contact David Parker, director of Supportive Housing Services at the university’s medical school rdavidp@gw.mp.sc.edu.

Carol Pogash of the New York Times reports that many students are avoiding free lunches rather than look “uncool”:

Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services for the public schools in Berkeley, Calif., said that attention to school cafeterias had traditionally focused on nutrition, but that the separation of students who pay and those who receive free meals was an important “social justice issue.”

“Fewer people know about it,” said Ms. Cooper, whose lunch program offers the same food to students who pay and those who have subsidized meals.

Many districts have a dual system … one line, in the cafeteria, for government-subsidized meals (also available to students who pay) and another line for mostly snacks and fast-food for students with cash, in another room, down the hall and around the corner. Most of the separation came into being in response to a federal requirement that food of minimal nutritional value not be sold in the same place as subsidized meals—which have to meet certain nutritional standards …

Mary Hill, president of the School Nutrition Association, a national group of school food providers, said students who receive free meals were “very sensitive” about being singled out.

Emilio Estevez will explore the issue of homeless people and public libraries in his next movie, The Public.

The story is based on librarian Chip Ward’s Los Angeles Times op-ed piece that discussed how libraries become de facto shelters for homeless and mentally ill people in times of budget cuts.

According to the article, Libraries balance patrons, homeless, Metro Detroit libraries have tightened security and hygiene policies in order to serve patrons. The libraries serve homeless people by making data available on shelters, mental health services and job-training programs.

Washington, DC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library offers music appreciation and arts classes for homeless patrons

Jacksonville Public Library teaches Internet use to homeless job seekers

San Franciso Public Library staff refer homeless people to housing and mental health service agencies

The Free Library of Philadelphia employs homeless people at their Central Library

The Los Angeles Public Library hosts a summer camp for homeless children

New York Public Library has monthly story time sessions for homeless children

Feeding Intolerance: Prohibitions on Sharing Food with People Experiencing Homelessness , a recent report from The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, reveals how local governments across the nation are prohibiting and restricting groups from sharing and distributing food to hungry and homeless people.

It is believed that common myths about homeless people fuels such food-sharing restrictions, namely:

Myth #1 Ease of access to food stamps
Reality- Over half of the homeless population receive food stamps because of lack of transportation, lack of shelter, lack of knowledge and proper documentation.

Myth #2 Food pantries and soup kitchens provide adequate amounts of food for hungry and homeless people
Reality- Many food pantries lack kitchen facilities and cannot cook food for people to eat. Many food pantries restrict the amount of food they give to people. There are not enough food pantries and soup kitchens to feed everyone who is hungry.

*Myth #3 Food programs enable homelessness
Reality- Food is not an addiction! People remain homeless due to lack of affordable housing, lack of transportation and lack of health care.