Rural Poverty, Hunger,
and Homelessness
What is your role in the solution?
Presented by
Lael Duncan,
Executive Director - Okanogan County Community Action Council
The Challenge of Rural Poverty
The reality of Rural Poverty did not begin with The Great Society of
Lyndon Johnson. It dates back in Washington to the earliest migrations
of settlement when people lived a subsistence existence in order to stake
a claim to land that might provide security for their future generations.
Unfortunately, for many families subsistence became a way of life rather
than a path to a more secure existence.
When a persons family has lived in poverty for two or more generations,
they are considered to be in Generational Poverty rather than situational
poverty.
Unfortunately, Generational Poverty itself has become an oppressor for
communities striving to increase economic growth.
7.4 million Americans (16.7%) living in rural areas live below the federal
poverty line.[v]
GENERATIONAL POVERTY
VS. CRISIS or Situational Poverty
WHEN I MOVED TO EASTERN WASHINGTON FOR A LIFE IN THE COUNTRY
THAT WAS KIND OF LAID BACK, MY DREAMS WERE SHATTERED BY THE HEART
ATTACK OF MY PARTNER AND LOSS OF INCOME THAT REQUIRED ME TO
APPLY FOR WELFARE.
FOR ME, THIS WAS A CRISIS BUT NOT MY FATE, I HAD A HISTORY OF
SUCCESSFUL, HARD WORKING FAMILY THAT HAD OVERCOME AND
SUCCEEDED IN FACING LIFE’S CHALLENGES
IF POVERTY IS ALL YOU KNOW, IF LIFE IS ONE CRISIS AFTER ANOTHER,
THEN POVERTY AND THE TYRANNY OF THE MOMENT BECOME YOUR FATE
AND
THERE IS LITTLE REASON TO HAVE A BIGGER VISION OF YOUR FUTURE.
FINANCIAL LITERACY - THE HIDDEN RULES
How do some people succeed where others fail?
Building a Personal Safety Net
Financial Planning 101 starts with your budget
Credit Traps
(high interest cards, Pay Day lenders, etc)
Credit repair
Low Income Legal Assistance
Hunger
“I worked hard all my life and never expected to be in the
food bank line” – retired bookkeeper
While many pioneer families lived off the land, succeeding generations
bought into faster and faster food that brought instant gratification, very little
nutrition, and led to a loss of skill in preserving and preparing food. This in turn
ratcheted up the cost of the family food budget and created a dependence on
grocery stores rather than home gardens.
SNAP benefits and Food Banks only provide a stop gap in the cost of
monthly food budgets.
The most compelling reality of the perceived Safety Net is that
ONE in SIX children in Washington does not get enough to eat and often
goes to bed hungry
ONE IN FIVE children in Washington is from a family that relies on SNAP
benefits as well as school breakfast and lunch feeding programs
SUMMER is a time of HUNGER
ONE IN EIGHT individuals is “food insecure”
ONE IN SIX Senior Citizens goes hungry
“I sure hope they open the food bank soon, I haven’t eaten in three days”
- elder Food Bank client
Change the way you see things
and the things you see change.
There are community driven solutions possible:
In 2003 the people in the food bank line would be heard talking
about how hungry they were, how long they had gone without
food.
In 2005 Rotary First Harvest began the Harvest Against Hunger
project engaging farms to contribute gleanable food – fresh
produce to food banks and soon we heard people talking
about recipes for food and how they cooked the fresh food.
By 2007 over 100 volunteers participated in the gleaning of 50
Tons of fresh food for Okanogan County Food banks.
In 2015 the Food Bank began a Grocery Store model giving food
bucks that taught folks to shop for maximum nutrition.
In 2016 WSU & OCCAC began teaching Nutrition on a Budget
cooking classes
What are (SOME OF) the answers for
Ending Child Hunger
 SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMS
 BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM
 WEEKEND AND SUMMER FEEDING PROGRAMS
 KIDS CAN COOK (ESPECIALLY LATCHKEY KIDS)
 FAMILY GARDENS
 EVEN AN APARTMENT CAN GROW THEIR OWN FOOD AND
ENCOURAGE A CONNECTION TO SELF SUFFICIENCY (AND
EXERCISE!)
 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT !
Low Income apartment complex
engaged residents to “grow their own”
at home!
Partners in Hunger Relief
State of Washington - WSDA
Federal Government FEMA
SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)
WIC – WOMEN INFANTS & CHILDREN
Rotary First Harvest – Distributions of large gleans –
Harvest against Hunger
and Farm to Food Bank program
2nd Harvest – regional Distributions/ Feeding America
Northwest Harvest – Statewide Distribution
Ag Associations – from Cattlewomen to Potato Growers
Corporate Philanthropy – WALMART, Century Tel, and many more
HOMELESSNESS CRISIS
Compared to urban communities rural communities struggle with:
 Widely dispersed population (often outside city limits)
 Smaller unit needs – 4-15 UNITS VS 100 UNITS ( in aggregate that need
becomes meaningful & impacts a community ability to recruit high
skill workers and executives as well as teachers and medical
professionals)
 Less shovel ready infrastructure for building(water sewer etc),slows
development and negates less expensive raw land costs
 Greater travel costs that increase building costs for contractor labor,
 Far less ready philanthropy to support projects outside of government
funding.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING SHORTAGE IS
GROWING STATE WIDE (AND IN RURAL)
 Rents in Rural communities have been impacted by:
 Gentrification – conversion of single family homes to summer homes
 Flipping of REO properties and foreclosures caused by the recession
 Loss of USDA Affordable housing units converted to Market Rate
properties
 Natural Disasters in North Central and North East Washington resulted in
the loss of over 600 homes in 2015 and 2016 replacing low income
properties lost but uninsured has driven access to affordable housing to
a negative vacancy rate
 Degradation of existing single family housing stock
Myth: its cheaper to live in the country
Reality:

Employment is more concentrated in low-wage industries;
An expectation of low pay impacts the economic multiplier and
reliance on social services to fill the gaps




Unemployment and underemployment are greater - causing a
high rent burden.
Education levels are lower; Secondary education is less accessible
Work-support services, such as flexible and affordable
child care and public transportation, are less available;
Access to communication and transportation networks, is limited.
Why are you homeless?
VETERAN*
SINGLE PARENTS*
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE *
FORMERLY INCARCERATED
AGED OUT OF FOSTER CARE
LOW WAGE EARNERS*
CHRONICALLY HOMELESS*
SENIOR CITIZENS*
DISABLED
ADDICTED
TOO YOUNG TO LEGALLY RENT
CHILD OF HOMELESS FAMILY
AND MORE
* Services available in rural communities
POINT IN TIME COUNT TELLS PART OF
THE STORY FOR RURAL HOMELESSNESS
In 2017 OKANOGAN COUNTY COUNTED UNDER 75 PEOPLE
(INCLUDING THOSE DOUBLED UP) AS PART OF THE
HOMELESS POINT IN TIME COUNT
IN 2017 DSHS IDENTIFIED AN AVERAGE OF 500 FAMILIES
ENROLLED IN SNAP BENEFITS AS HOMELESS (THIS IS FOR A
POPULATION OF 15,000 HOUSEHOLDS)
RURAL AREAS WITH WIDELY DISPERSED POPULATIONS IN
VERY COLD WINTERS HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY IN GETTING
AN ACCURATE COUNT OF WHO IS HOMELESS IN JANUARY
HOMELESS HOUSING ASSISTANCE ACT
TEN YEAR PLAN AND RECORDING FEES
The HHAA required a Planning process required counties to
bring all the players to the table so that we could reduce
homelessness by 50% in 10 years
 It challenged us to think long term.
 It provided funding to pay for the planning, and for the
solutions that would reduce homelessness by 50% over
10 years
 This has been the single most important resource to
reduce homelessness and get to a virtual zero in many
decades.
The cost of Homelessness TO YOU
 HUMAN TOLL ON ALL DEMOGRAPHICS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING
HOMELESSNESS
Economic Impact
 Appearance of communities with large homeless population impacts viability Retail
Businesses already struggling to compete with on line retail
 Homeless Employees are challenged to be consistent in their performance of duties
 Housing receives larger and larger share of budget – no disposable income
 Potential for higher crime from homeless encampments
 Higher cost of medical care via Emergency Rooms subsidized by public
 Revolving door of shelters rather than permanent housing prolongs resolution of other
contributing factors.
DOES YOUR COMMUNITY FEEL THE
IMPACT OF HOMELESSNESS?
IMAGINE
YOUR TOWN
EVERYONE HAS A HOME & ENOUGH FOOD
EVERYONE HAS A SAFE PLACE TO SLEEP
INEQUITY FOR ONE IS INEQUITY FOR ALL
Putting band aids on problems must come to an end. As we come together to
support the work that leads us to sustainable solutions for Hunger and
Homelessness
We all stand to benefit from both Altruistic & Economic perspectives.
SUPPORT FUNDING FOR FEEDING PROGRAMS THAT MEAN NO ONE GOES
HUNGRY IN WASHINGTON STATE
CONTINUE SUPPORT FOR RECORDING FEE LEGISLATION
SUPPORT LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON THESE ISSUES
GET INVOLVED IN YOUR LOCAL HOMELESS COMMITTEE, FOOD BANK, OR
COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY - SEEK SOLUTIONS OUTSIDE THE BOX
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN
THESE IMPORTANT ISSUES
Lael Duncan
Executive Director
OKANOGAN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION COUNCIL
[email protected]
Vice Chair
Partners for Rural Washington
INhttp://www.partnersruralwa.org/
For more information on Hunger –
statistics, assistance, and opportunites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhnIOK4LLo&sns=em FARM TO FOOD BANK
http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-mealgap/2015/MMG_AllCounties_CDs_MMG_2015_2/WA_AllCounties_CDs_MMG_2015.
pdf MAP THE MEAL GAP BY COUNTY
http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-mealgap/2015/MMG_AllCounties_CDs_CFI_2015_2/WA_AllCounties_CDs_CFI_2015.pdf
MAP THE MEAL GAP CHILD HUNGER
http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/ruralhunger/rural-hunger-fact-sheet.html FEEDING AMERICA RURAL POVERTY
http://www.northwestharvest.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/f625cbc05e5b5a26b281
8b1bd7df3a58/pdf/fgr_16_17_web2.pdf NORTHWEST HARVEST - Hunger in WA
http://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/docs/default-source/factsheets/2012/mow-factsheet-washington2016.pdf?sfvrsn=2 SENIOR HUNGER
For more information on Homelessness
 Different accountings of the issue:
 http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hau-hlp-counts-ofhomelessness-2017.pdf
 Homelessness drivers:
 http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/hau-why-homelessnessincrease-2017.pdf
 County reports cards:
 https://public.tableau.com/profile/mary3342#!/vizhome/CountyReportCardWinter2017/20
17ReportCard
 Our updated plan:
 http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/V3-hau-hlp-final-homelessstrategic-plan-2017.pdf
 And a page full of other links:
 http://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/