By Sherri Welch
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100228/SUB01/302289992

United Way for Southeastern Michigan's food navigator program is part of a three-pronged approach to meet the rising need for food in a depressed economy.

United Way is using a report completed last summer by Minneapolis-based McKinsey & Co. as a guide.

The report, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, projects that by 2013 one in four people living in Southeast Michigan won't have enough food. It also identified a current gap of about 120 million meals and projected demand would outpace supply by about 300 million meals by 2013.

Based on the report's recommendations, United Way is focused on three goals:

• Increasing the number of people registered for public benefits.
• Increasing the capacity of the local nonprofit food distribution system.
• Advocating policy changes that will make more people eligible for benefits.

Currently, about half of the emergency food coming into the region is through public programs such as free lunches, food stamps and the Women Infants and Children program. Friends and relatives of those in need contribute another quarter of emergency food assistance.

Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan and Oak Park-based Forgotten Harvest distribute another 6 percent of the total emergency food coming into the region — about 45 million pounds per year at last count.

"Clearly our strategies are around the best ways to eliminate the gap," said United Way President and CEO Michael Brennan.

Bank of America recently made a $400,000 grant to United Way to help fund its efforts to improve access to benefits.

The Michigan Association of United Ways is developing a Web site — supported with a $275,000 grant from the DTE Foundation — to serve as a portal for eligible Michigan residents to apply for benefits and reduce the amount of public benefits currently left on the table, Brennan said.

Aligning with another study recommendation, United Way last year designated $600,000 over three years to develop additional client choice pantries, which look and operate much the same as a grocery store and offer longer hours of operation.

United Way also is overseeing grants targeted to the pantry network for purchasing food and improving access to it, Brennan said.

The agency is also chairing a local board that's overseeing more than $2 million in federal funds from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to support local efforts to feed and house needy people.

Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694, swelch@crain.com

Labels: basic needs, food, InTheNews

By Sherri Welch
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100228/SUB01/302289994

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan plans to launch a pilot program in March to embed "food navigators" in school districts in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to make free and reduced-cost meals more accessible to needy students.

The program also hopes to increase the number of students registering for existing programs.

The state of Michigan requires districts with needy students to offer free and reduced-cost lunch programs and to offer breakfast programs if more than 20 percent of students enrolled qualify for the programs.

But no such mandate exists for making after-school snacks, suppers and summer meals available to students, said Bill Sullivan, director of the 2-1-1 health and human services hot line for United Way.

Offering other free meals "is at the will of the school or district. Schools are relying on their own assessment of need and their capacity to provide those programs," he said.

Parents often are unaware of free meal programs, and for some, illiteracy prevents them from filling out applications to enroll their children in the programs.

Union rules and unwillingness among some administrators and teachers to offer free meal programs at the start of the school day, rather than before it, also presents challenges at some schools, Sullivan said.

"Schools ask where they would get money to staff the (free) meals, keep the lights on, or bus the students home," he said.

The money to develop and run free meal programs at schools is reimbursable from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he said.

"But throwing money at the problem isn't the answer. I think it's about introducing new ways of (schools) doing business," Sullivan said.

Enter the food navigators.

United Way plans to hire four people to serve as food navigators by March and another six by the end of the year, Sullivan said. The navigators will help set up free meal programs at schools that express readiness to put them in place, Sullivan said.

They also will be called on to help willing schools and districts shift their breakfasts to the beginning of the school day, rather than before it, so more children get fed.

"We want to help so that kids who are hungry can be fed. We think the food navigators will help schools achieve this, and by doing so ... permanently (change) the system."About 290,000 children in the tri-county area are eligible and most are receiving free lunch, Sullivan said. But less than a third of them are getting free breakfast.

Research shows that offering breakfast to all students in low-income districts at the beginning of school day decreases tardiness and absenteeism and improves performance, said Madeleine Levin, senior policy analyst at the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit working with United Way.

According to FRAC, 81.5 percent of schools in Michigan provide a breakfast program.

"But the problem is it's harder for kids to participate in breakfast than in lunch because ... the buses would have to get there on time," Levin said.

There are also other barriers to participation, she said.

"Kids that walk to school in Detroit may want to hang out in the school yard with their friends rather than eating breakfast...What we have been promoting with United Way in Southeastern Michigan is for schools to establish that breakfast program at the beginning of class," for all students, Levin said.

The work is fraught with issues, Levin said.

"Any time you make a change in a school building, there's going to be a little resistance; you're going to have to change the way people do their jobs, such as janitors and the cafeteria folks.

"It takes a little bit of getting used to, but in the end everyone thinks the effort is worth it because kids benefit so much," Levin said.

United Way's food navigator approach is laudable, she said.

"The schools really need help in these tight times. This is a wonderful public-private partnership."

FRAC is also working with United Way to encourage more schools in low-income areas offering after-school snacks, supper and summer meal programs.

"There are other organizations like health departments and YMCA and YWCA that can do the programs in the summer with (fewer) hurdles."

Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694, swelch@crain.com

Labels: basic needs, food, InTheNews

Originally published February 2010
ASE's Everything People
http://www.aseonline.org/images/everythingpeopleFebruary10.pdf

By Joe DeSantis and Mary E. Corrado

An Eagle Eye Interview With Mike Brennan of United Way for Southeast Michigan

All HR professionals know why they need to care about social issues in their communities. There is a widely accepted business case for good corporate citizenship, particularly when the social issues are extreme, as they are today in Southeastern Michigan. Persistent and high levels of unemployment in a region, and the fallout from that unemployment-widespread poverty, failed school systems, failed local governance-eventually bounce back on local businesses, especially in the long term. Clearly, social awareness and good corporate citizenship are sound long-term business strategies.

Yet we all sense, down deep, that the business case isn't really enough; there needs to be more to it than that. Thankfully, there is. In the end, the best business people care about social issues not just because it is good business but also because they are human. When they are surrounded by human suffering and they have the wherewithal to do something about it, the simple human impulse to act, or at least support those who act, kicks in.

We are seeing that impulse deployed on a massive scale today in Haiti. But the earthquake in Haiti was a traumatic event that made the travails of that destitute country unimaginably worse all at once. Here in Southeastern Michigan, the troubles have had more of a creeping character, going from sad to grim to desperate incrementally, over the course of a full generation or longer. No earthquake here; instead a corrosive, metastatic disease that over time has claimed the lives, both literally and figuratively, of people and institutions as well.

That is why we have organizations like United Way for Southeastern Michigan. About 3½ years ago the Eagle Eye interviewed Mike Brennan, United Way's CEO. At that point in time, United Way had just made a strategic decision to become more than simply a collector and dispenser of funds, and head cheerleader, to various human service agencies in the area. The social problems were becoming too acute. United Way decided it needed to identify the most acute problems in the area and put its hands more directly on them by more aggressively "aligning resources with needs," as Mike put it. They decided it was time to lead from the front, rather than merely supply financial wherewithal and encouragement from behind.

Last month the Eagle Eye sat down again with Mike and invited him to update us on how things have gone since then, when, as he told us, United Way "bet the farm" on adopting a new leadership role and making it work.

Brennan: Four years ago we bet the farm on the direction of the organization. We took two 100-year-old organizations, dissolved them, had 150 Board members resign, formed a new one and seated a new 30-member Board in a mission that said we are going to define success not by how much money we raise but by how much progress we make on key social issues.

We had always been in a kind of a call-and-response mode, where you simply aggregate financial resources and distribute them to a set group of non-profits. But what was happening was, first, the value proposition of that was not enough in terms of attracting financial resources, and second, we weren't seeing measurable progress on key social issues in our community. We were finding that simply taking financial resources and forwarding them to non-profit organizations that did good work is not a very efficient way to effect social change. You have to take a more holistic approach.

I have long viewed United Way not as a charity and not as a recipient organization, which is how it has been most defined. I view United Way as a leadership organization. And when we put money into something, it should be something that gives us the ability to get things done.

Now, are we interested in growing the private contributions that are given to the community through the United Way? Absolutely. We work every day on that. It is a piece of the puzzle. But what we are betting the farm on is more actively aligning those resources with what we know to be the community's most urgent social needs, and measuring our success by whether or not we see changes in those conditions.

Where has this new approach taken you?

Brennan: Once we decided on that strategy, we went about the task of finding out what was most important in the community. We did a large survey of residents in the tri-country area, basically asking, of all the things that we could put energy into, what would be most important to you? Where do you think we could make the greatest progress? And out of that, along with looking at best practices across the country and interviewing other stakeholders, we formed our Agenda for Change. That agenda centered around three issues: education, financial stability (i.e., building financial assets in families), and third, basically a safety net.

On the education front, we really landed on two areas. One is early childhood development, meaning having kids ready for school by age five. Do you know that 80% of your mind was developed by age three? There is no more powerful place where you can put your dollars than early childhood development. For every dollar you put there, you see $17.00 on the other end of the line in reduced incarceration rates, better health metrics, etc. But we found that early childhood development is the least organized area of the community and of the state. We felt we could go about that in a better way, and today we have five Early Learning Centers established around the area, designed to give caregivers in the home access to early childhood training materials, early childhood tools, ageappropriate reading materials, and so on. The idea is to better prepare childcare-givers to change the quality of childcare that is taking place in the home.

The other area is high school graduation rates. Do you know that in just the tri-county area, there are 30 high schools that have dropout rates of 40% or more? Now, map that in your mind... Where did you map it? The fact is that one-third of those schools-ten of them-are outside the city of Detroit. There is a 20/10 split going on there. We've got a really important initiative that we've put in place to help address that issue.

Regarding family financial stability, as you have families going from the old economy to the new economy with the huge workforce displacement that we have had, there are fundamental capabilities that are simply missing in households and individuals and in communities. We can bring those to bear for families if we organize and work better together. For us, financial stability is families going from negative net worth to positive net worth. Our work in this area is about finding the best ways to help individuals and families navigate their financial framework in a better, more meaningful way and a more productive way.

Let me just give you an example-in the state of Michigan we have $900,000,000 that gets left on the table every year. This is public benefit money that is available to individuals who qualify for it but fail, for various reasons, to access it.

And then there is the safety net. The last time we talked, we had relatively recently put in the 211 help line. I think the most important development with the 211 of late is that it has documented a very clear shift in the need priorities of our callers. In an earlier study we had identified that there were about 600,000 people in the tri-county area who are "food insecure," meaning they know where one meal is coming from, but they don't know where the second or third meals are going to come from. We projected that number to grow to 900,000 by the time we get to 2011 and 2012. For 3½ years running, the number one reason people were calling into the 211 was for utility assistance. But then, two quarters ago, 211 data confirmed for us that a shift had happened. The number one reason people are now calling in is for food.

If someone asked me eight months ago to describe the local food system, the carrying system of food that comes into a community, I-and I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the topic-I would describe probably first and foremost the Gleaners, Forgotten Harvest, pantry systems, Focus Hope, Salvation Army, etc. One of our critical learnings was that of all the food that gets distributed to those who need it in the region, the food distribution system that I just described represents about 7% of the total; 50% of it comes through public benefit, federal benefit mostly, things like Food Stamps, women and their children (WIC), free and reduced lunch, breakfast programs. Another 20% is just the informal network of friends and family and neighbors that just help one another. So 7%, 50%, 20%, and then you had this gap. We estimate about a 120,000,000 pound gap of food on an annual basis.

You can improve the 7% part. We are working with great partners like Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest and others. We learned from the 211 data that instead of bricks and mortar, we needed to run a more mobile strategy. So we partnered with Ford Motor Company, which has given us five transit vehicles that can run 24 hours a day and move an extra 2,000,000 pounds throughout the region. But if you are going to make a really significant impact, you have to improve this uptake of the state and federal benefit, this 50%. And so as I said, you have $900,000,000 of untapped resources every year in that public benefit; the same thing was true on food access. We had pretty good penetration of individuals using things like food stamps but, for example, breakfast programs that are available to children at schools, in some cases only have an 8-10% take up rate. So you can impact a lot of families, a lot of kids, by just improving that.

When the new economy hits its stride, Michigan employers will need to draw their workers from Michigan's own citizenry. You can only import so much talent, and you cannot survive in the long run without a well-supplied pipeline of top-notch local talent. It means that Michigan's educational system has to prepare Michigan's students for employment in the new economy. It is not news that, on the whole, the state's K-12 schools are not meeting that challenge right now. United Way has targeted a particularly devastating aspect of the problem, drop-out rates, and begun a concentrated, cooperative initiative to do something about those rates, starting with three of the most troubled high schools in Southeast Michigan.

Brennan: Over two years ago we invited the 30 high schools that had that low performance to a Turnaround Summit. These were basically 30 drop-out factories. We brought in the very best turnaround agents in the country. These are intermediaries that specialize in working with large high schools to improve their performance from graduation rates of 20%, 30%, 40% to 60%, 70% and 80% and above. The Gates Foundation has put a lot of money into a whole range of intermediaries. We invited in the highest performing group, a group called the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA). ISA is a consulting group that works specifically with large high schools, typically in urban areas where there is high density of poverty, to change the performance rate.

These are people with a proven track record and a proven methodology. We introduced them to these 30 non-performing high schools. We also went out and raised $5,000,000 and created a Detroit Venture Fund, which is private money raised to be invested in the intermediaries to work with the high schools.

We invited the 30 schools to apply for a grant out of the Venture Fund that could be used to purchase the services of the intermediary. In essence, we would take Venture Fund money and give it to the intermediary, not to the school, to work and partner with the school. About a dozen schools applied and out of that, five got selected and three are on the clock right now. So, we have Cody and Osborn in the city of Detroit and Melvindale High in Melvindale. These are schools that spent a year getting ready-you can't just flick a switch at a school like Cody, with 2,000 kids, and all of a sudden be in a ready state.

In each of these schools we moved from one school to four academies, each one targeted to specific interest areas like technology, health, etc., and instead of one principal over 2,000 kids, you now have four principals, each over a class of 100. So, the incoming (current) class is just 9th grade, next year it will be 9th and 10th grade, the third year it would be 9th, 10th and 11th grade, the fourth year it would be 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. At that point Cody as a single entity of 2,000 students will be gone and there will be four academies standing there, all inside the physical plant that was Cody High School.

Currently there is still a principal over the upper school, but over time that is just going to phase out.

Each academy principal had the right to choose the teachers for his or her school, working with the union.

That is part of the deal. They had to have the buy-in from the union, to allow the principals to select their teachers, in order to sign on with the intermediaries. Yes, there was a lot of turnover among teachers, but that was part of the arrangement. Today, all the teachers at Cody and Osborn are all members of DFT (Detroit Federation of Teachers, the teachers' union in the district).

One really important aspect of this is that Robert Bobb is a close partner in this project. When Mr. Bobb spoke to United Way Board 60 days ago, he said that what he saw going on at Cody and Osborn is what he wants going on in every high school in the city of Detroit. So, he is very supportive of the work. From the get-go we have had the administration, we have had the principals, we have had the union involved with it, and we have had parent networks involved, because that is the only way you get to a changed result.

That is the proof of concept here-that Robert Bobb wants to accelerate this concept into the other Detroit schools.

Now, these are not charter schools, this is not a charter strategy, it is not just a turnaround strategy of the DPS, it is the collective. It is not just having a Robert Bobb, who is probably a once-in-a-generation leader to arrive in that role, but you have to also have community organizations like United Way, and champions like Skillman Foundation (which has been on our Board for 20 years) and the Detroit Parent Network. Changing the education of our children requires a full community response. And that is complicated work. But it does us no good for us to say "Boy, this is really complicated, it is really hard." So what. That is our job.

We wanted to know if the national United Way organization has adopted the same approach that the Southeast Michigan organization has.

Brennan: Yes, we have adopted this strategy at the national level as well. Remember that I spent several years with the national-that is where I came from. We have been very intentional nationally on a transformation effort, aligning resources against set targets. You could go to a lot of United Ways and you would see the same kind of realignment taking place. I think, though, most United Ways would agree that our work here in Southeast Michigan has been bolder, and there is a rigor in how deep we are going. It is not just like a rewrap of the old organization; I mean we dissolved the old organization, so it has been a robust change here.

In all of this, what has happened to the annual campaign that we are all so familiar with?

Brennan: Of course we continue to run our annual campaign. And we are eager to widen it and expand it. We have about 100 non-profits that are funded partners for us. But the difference today is that those partners are aligned against the change result. So, one of the shifts that happened four years ago is that instead of asking what the agencies need, the question that now comes down into the center of the table for our Board is "What does the community need?... Let's get clear about that, and let's get clear about the strategies that we think can accomplish it, and then let's find the very best partners that can help us accomplish it." So the partners, the 100 non-profits that we work with today, help us get to this change condition. In the old days we used to refer to the process as "suck and blow'" where you "suck" in the resources as through a straw and then aim the straw at someone else and "blow" those resources to them. No more of that; today the agencies we work with are aligned in terms of impact on the issues that are most critical to the area.

You know, when someone is entrusting us with a discretionary dollar, my job is to make sure that it is the most impactful gift they can ever give. If we can't say that, then they should give the dollar somewhere else. But I say it now, and you have heard me say it publicly, I really don't think there is a more powerful gift someone can give right now than to the United Way, and if you do know of where there is, then I would say give the money there and the only thing I ask is tell me where that is, because then I want to go learn from that. But if I were to walk you through a 211 center, if I were to walk you through the work that is being done to put more food on the streets for individuals, if I were to walk you through a Center for Working Families, or a turnaround at a high school, or one of our Early Learning Centers, you would be able to see that your investment helped drive that. I don't believe there is another place where you could give your discretionary dollar that could come close to that.

Labels: basic needs, Educational_Preparedness, Financial Stability, InTheNews, Michael_Brennan

First Posted: 02-15-10 06:00 PM | Updated: 02-15-10 06:20 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/15/yes-he-can-one-can-a-week_n_462827.html

Peter Norback took Barack Obama's campaign talk of hope and change to heart. He said it inspired him to launch a campaign to get his neighbors in Tucson, Ariz. to contribute just "one can a week" to feed the hungry.

"When President Obama got elected there was an attitude change," Norback told HuffPost. "When a sensitive guy came along and said we should be responsible human beings, that really hit a note in everybody and all my neighbors said, 'Yeah, we should do something.'"

While hope has turned to cynicism for many, Norback has kept the faith. Every Sunday since early 2009, he's spent four hours collecting cans and other goods from his neighbors. He delivers the payload to the Community Food Bank in Tucson. In 2009, he delivered more than 9,000 pounds of food.

"Some weeks people forgot, but he never forgot," said Community Food Bank development officer Pauline Hechler. "He has shown them he is going to be there week after week, so they do their part. They don't want to let him down."

Hechler said demand for food in Tucson had increased 40 percent over the past year. "It's unbelievable," she said. The food bank distributes enough food for 48,000 meals a day.

Norback documents his work in a weekly email and blog post. Last week brought the first rainy Sunday in the program's 57 weeks, and Norback wondered if everyone would still participate. They did.

"It just really, really surprised me," said Norback, a 67-year-old computer teacher. "It showed me that I'm going to keep on pressing on. It is affecting people, it's getting to them...Nobody called anybody. That means that I have to really be responsible. If you're really responsible, the citizens will follow you."

People are not only following Norback, they're imitating him in other cities.

"Peter's One Can A Week program was our inspiration when my son began a
weekly food collection for the veterans in our community," wrote Carol Reed of Wake Forest, N.C. in an email to HuffPost. "We stumbled across his blog on the Internet, and being former Tucsonans, it caught our eye. I wrote to Peter who sent all his materials which we adapted for what we are doing. Basically, every Sunday my son collects non-perishables from our neighborhood of about 65 homes. He started in late August, and has collected over 800 pounds of food so far. He delivers it to the American Legion Post where the veterans who are in need of assistance can come to receive it."

For anyone interested in starting a One Can A Week program, Norback's got a starter kit on his site. The United Way of Southeastern Michigan adapted the guide and is promoting the concept as well.

"Imagine if every household in your neighborhood donated one can of food, every week, to your local food pantry," says a message on the United Way's site. "Would anything change? Would there be less hunger in metro Detroit? If you look at the One Can-a-Week program created by one neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona, the answer is yes."

HuffPost readers: Is there a One Can A Week program in your neighborhood? Are you starting one? Tell us about it -- email arthur@huffingtonpost.com.

Labels: basic needs, food, Volunteering

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100202/NEWS05/2020333/1318/More-people-struggling-to-stay-warm-taxing-agencies&template=fullarticle

Labels: 2-1-1, basic needs, InTheNews

BY KRISTEN JORDAN SHAMUS
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100131/COL26/1310348/1025/FEATURES/Cold-reality-intrudes-on-warm-family-scene&template=fullarticle

Darkness swept over the house and in an instant, our kids were screaming.

The power had gone out, and the peace went away along with it.

Without electricity, we had no working nightlights or CD players or white noise machines to soothe our girls as they drifted off to slumberland.

I cursed the timing. Ten more minutes, and they would have been sleeping soundly, without ever knowing we lost power.

I tried to comfort the girls while my husband hunted for flashlights.

A shrieking Sarah had to be lifted from her crib.

"Momma's here," I said to her older sister, Julia, crying in her bed one room over. Then, I began to sing so both girls could hear me.

That began a marathon of repeating the words to the most comforting hymn I could conjure in 10 seconds or less.

Julia sang, and Sarah did, too.

As the minutes stretched into an hour, I worried about what we'd do if the darkness lasted much longer.

With temperatures outside in the 20s, surely our home would grow cold quickly. We couldn't keep the kids overnight in a house without heat.

Even as I held a 28-pound bundle of warmth in her fleece footy pajamas, I started to notice a chill in the room.

I could hear my husband tromping around downstairs. A Police Department dispatcher told him it was an emergency outage, and that we should have electricity within the hour.

Soon after, both of our little angels finally nodded off. Then, as quickly as it disappeared, electricity was restored. I could hear the warm air from the furnace whooshing through the ducts as the lights flashed on.

But as I grew cozy again, I could not help thinking about other parents who bundle up their children every night, trying to protect them from the cold inside their own homes. The people who can't pay skyrocketing utility bills and have to put their kids to bed without the comforts of night lights, music and warm air flowing from the vents.

That's an unsettling reality for an increasing number of metro Detroiters in this bad economy. The thought of it makes me shiver.

If you or someone you know is in this situation, you can call DTE Energy at 800-477-4747 to get help.

"We can't emphasize enough that people should give us a call as soon as they realize they can't make a payment or get into financial difficulty," DTE Energy's spokesman Scott Simons told me.

Several options are available, from payments plans to the assistance of nonprofit organizations such as The Heat and Warmth Fund and the United Way to state aid for low-income people for heating bills.

If you're in a position to help, you can donate to THAW online at www.thawfund.org or by calling 800-866-8429 or mailing a check to The Heat And Warmth Fund, 607 Shelby St., Suite 400, Detroit 48226. The United Way may be reached at uwsem.org or by calling 313-226-9200. Checks also may be mailed to: United Way for Southeastern Michigan, 660 Woodward Ave., Suite 300, Detroit 48226.

Contact features editor KRISTEN JORDAN SHAMUS: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com

Labels: basic needs, InTheNews

At this moment, 1 in 6 Southeast Michigan residents aren't sure where their next meal will come from. Not because they're trying to decide what restaurant to go to for lunch, or what to cook for dinner, but because they don't have the resources for more than one meal a day.

It's known as food insecurity, and it's affecting more and more people every day. In fact, it's anticipated that the number of food insecure residents in Southeast Michigan could grow to 1 in 3 by 2013.

In 2009, unemployment doubled in Southeastern Michigan, as the state and nation were hit with an increasingly bad economy. Calls to our 2-1-1 call center have quadrupled since its launch in 2005, and for the past few months, the top request has been for food assistance.

In response to these alarming statistics, United Way has formed an unprecedented public-private partnership with Bank of America and the Ford Motor Company Fund. Together, we are leading a regional effort to improve access to food through three strategies:


Get involved

• Give
  Join United Way in addressing metro Detroit's growing hunger crisis through immediate and long-term strategies that improve access to food in our region. Give today!
• Advocate
  School-based nutrition programs provide nutritious meals to kids in need, yet many still can’t access these meals. Advocate for policies that help kids take advantage of this important source of food. Advocate now.
• Volunteer
  Start a One Can A Week food collection program in your neighborhood and help your local food pantry feed metro Detroit's hungry. Learn more and get started.

Labels: basic needs, food, monthly enewsletter

The Homeless Outreach Associate will own responsibilities encompassing ground-level work in assisting clients, analyzing data and monitoring program outcomes, and community-based job development. Click here to learn more.

Labels: 2-1-1, 211onthego, basic needs, job_postings

I could sense that she was hurting, and she told me she didn't have anyone to talk to. She's been an alcoholic her whole life, inherited from her mother who was also an alcoholic. At times she had been addicted to both drugs and alcohol, and experienced the darkness that comes along with those habits. She entered detox at Salvation Army after her addiction to alcohol led her into homelessness. She was such a sweet lady, and considered her time at Salvation Army to be a time when God wanted to use her despite the discomfort of the shelter environment. She told me about how she had become the peacemaker at the shelter, quieting arguments and being a source of comfort and support for one particular woman there.

Click here to continue reading.

Labels: 211onthego, basic needs, John_Azoni

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Event Photos

Media Contact:
Laura L. Rodwan
313-226-9484 or 313-477-2750

More than 700,000 people in the metro Detroit area are currently in need of food

DETROIT, Jan. 20, 2010 - United Way for Southeastern Michigan today announced the formation of an unprecedented public-private partnership between Bank of America and the Ford Motor Company Fund to address the growing food crisis in our region. Food insecurity affects more than 700,000 people in southeast Michigan. As the unemployment rate rises, the need for food increases dramatically. United Way estimates that currently one in six people face hunger problems.

United Way is leading the effort to improve food aid in three areas:

• Utilization (significantly increase the use of existing federal food assistance programs and raise awareness of how to access them);
• Distribution (double the amount of food provided through formal food distribution channels by aggressively addressing issues of supply, capacity and access); and
• Expansion (adding programs and services to address growing community need).

Bank of America and the Ford Motor Company Fund have made substantial financial and in-kind contributions to support these efforts. Bank of America is making a $400,000 contribution and the Ford Motor Company Fund is making an in-kind donation of five specially-designed transport vehicles along with a financial contribution for a combined total value of $211,000.

Responding to the rising demand for food, United Way is taking a two-pronged approach by focusing its efforts on food assistance and early childhood programs. United Way projects that the need will exist for many years to come. The organization's goal is to link agencies, identify gaps in capacity and develop innovative ways to effectively address the issue. The funds from Bank of America will be applied to school programs in critical need of food support. The donated vehicles and funds from Ford Motor Company Fund will provide a model for revamping the food delivery transport system that could be replicated on a national scale.

"Bank of America remains focused and proactive on providing relevant, meaningful support to help individuals and families navigate difficult times," said Kieth Cockrell, Michigan Market President for Bank of America. "In these times of a shifting economy, the need to address our food distribution and access systems is critical to the health and vitality of our community. We are proud to support United Way, both financially and through the dedication and efforts of our associates. We hope this contribution will inspire other companies to join us, in partnership and address this basic need so that our youth, mothers, fathers, workers and families have access to fresh, nutritious and affordable food options."

"As part of our realignment into a community-impact organization through the Agenda for Change, United Way will continue to take the lead in unprecedented, innovative work throughout the region to address the food crisis," said Mike Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. "Through the generosity of Bank of America and the Ford Motor Company Fund, we are laying the groundwork for long-term success by working to redesign a system that is currently under tremendous stress."

"There isn't an issue that is more critical at this time in this region than hunger," said Jim Vella, President, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. "At Ford, we want to be part of the solution to the hunger problem by ensuring that every single person in need gets at least one meal a day. Our five Mobile Transit Connect Pantries—which are on the road right now - will help us structurally change the way food is delivered and also how food is recovered."

In 2009, The Kresge Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation joined forces to fund ($500,000 and $250,000 respectively) a study performed by McKinsey & Co. to evaluate the food assistance service gaps that United Way is now focused on bridging.

A meeting was held today to update community partners on United Way's food work. Representatives from Kresge, Bank of America, the Ford Motor Company Fund and other corporate and community partners were in attendance.
During his remarks to this group of key stakeholders, Brennan communicated the need for continued reform. "Now, more than ever, the success of the region in the 21st century will require us to address our communities' most pressing need for food assistance by taking rapid action and unprecedented approaches to systemic change."

About United Way for Southeast Michigan
United Way for Southeastern Michigan mobilizes the caring power of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to improve lives in measurable and lasting ways throughout the region. The organization is led by a diverse group of volunteers from business, labor, government, human services, education and the community. United Way provides opportunities to invest in the metropolitan Detroit community through its annual Campaign and is a leader in convening partners to impact local residents each year by increasing economic self-sufficiency, protecting children and youth at risk, strengthening families, empowering neighborhoods and communities, and promoting health and wellness. Additional information is available at www.uwsem.org.

About Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy
Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, last year Bank of America embarked on a new, ten-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2008, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash contributions. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy called "neighborhood excellence" under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Bank associate volunteers contributed more than 900,000 hours in 2008 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services
Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services is a community relations and philanthropic nonprofit funded by Ford Motor Company. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009, Ford Fund supports initiatives and institutions that foster and promote innovation in education, greater automotive safety and American heritage and diversity. National programs include Ford Partnership for Advance Studies (Ford PAS), which provides a 21st century skills-based curriculum to more than 40,000 high school students; and Ford Driving Skills for Life, which has taught safe driving skills to more than 337,000 young drivers. In addition, the Ford Volunteer Corps, established in 2005, enlists the help of thousands of Ford employees and retirees who volunteer their time to continue Ford's legacy of community service worldwide. For more information about programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, please visit www.community.ford.com.

Labels: basic needs, food, Press_Releases

http://www.freep.com/article/20100110/NEWS02/1100526/1001/News/Wayne-County-news-briefs-Federal-food-program-sending-2-million-to-service-agencies

COMPILED FROM REPORTS BY CHRISTINA HALL AND GANNETT NEWSPAPERS

Public and private social service organizations are to receive more than $2 million in federal funds from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to supplement and expand ongoing efforts to house and feed needy people.

Organizations in Oakland County are to receive nearly $1.1 million, and those in Macomb County are to receive $940,777, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Sander Levin.

A local board, chaired by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, will divide the allocation among the groups. They can use the money for mass shelter, mass feeding, food distribution through food pantries and food banks, one-month utility payments to prevent cutoffs and one-month rent or mortgage help to prevent eviction.

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan is accepting grant applications on behalf of the Macomb and Oakland Emergency Food and Shelter Program Local Boards.

A group must be a nonprofit or government agency, have the capacity to provide emergency food and/or shelter services, have at least one full-time, paid staff member and use the money to supplement and extend existing resources, not substitute or reimburse ongoing programs and services. Applications are due Wednesday.

Labels: basic needs, food

Mark Hicks / The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091228/METRO/912280317/1409/METRO/Mom-of-4-struggles-to-take-kids-to-doctor-without-a-car

Detroit -- Lucretia Hatchett has dealt with many obstacles in the last two years, but among the largest is lack of transportation.

The 33-year-old is unemployed, searching for work and struggling to support her four children -- some of whom are asthmatic and require frequent hospital visits.

Together, the family relies on city buses to travel, but the cold weather is worsening her children's health.

"I have trouble getting around," Hatchett said. "I don't want to be out catching a bus, but that's what we have to do. I have no other way. ..."

In hopes of finding assistance and expanding her options, she recently called United Way for Southeastern Michigan's 211 helpline.

United Way is one of several The Detroit News works with in Helping Hands, which links low-income residents with aid during the holiday season.

Each week, The News is spotlighting some of the area residents in need.

Hatchett has worked at a variety of jobs in the area, most recently as a hotel janitor. But she was laid off in 2007 and had to take unemployment benefits.

When those ran out, she was forced to drain her savings to care for her family.

She now receives assistance from the state Department of Human Services but is able to cover just the basics. Meanwhile, bills pile up.

"Nothing has been shut off. It could happen, though," she said. "I'm behind and I owe a lot."

Since August, Hatchett has been participating in a Michigan Works! Agency Work First program, receiving training and searching for jobs several times a week. But, she said, "I still haven't been able to get another job."

Others facing tough financial situations are also turning to 211 for help and links to resources.

United Way's 211 call center, which was launched in 2005 and maintains a database of some 23,000 regional services and programs, has seen a surge in calls this season. Director Bill Sullivan estimates more than 40,000 referral calls have come in the last two months.

The top request remains food, but "we've seen a steady rise of all types of calls," Sullivan said.

Fallout from a shaky economy has driven the spike.

"The unemployment rate is the one common factor for the increase for all service requests," Sullivan said. "We expect that they will continue to rise. ...There's a whole other group whose benefits have expired, and they have nowhere to turn."

Callers with multiple issues can be linked with service agencies specializing in certain areas, including furniture.

"If they have a resource that can help someone, they're in our database," Sullivan said.

"When you look at the maze of services that are out there, and how you have to get to them, it's crazy. (With 211), they don't have to go through that. In one phone call, you can learn it all to get directly to the services you need."

Sullivan also warns those seeking help to be "honest about what their needs are."

"We're in an era when the needs you have are likely to be greater than they were a year ago," he said.

"We understand that. We anticipate that, and therefore we commit ourselves to help these people."

Hatchett is brushing up on her interviewing skills.

"It's hard for her, but she's doing the best she can," said her sister, Felicia Hatchett. "She's doing a lot to get her resume intact so she can get a job and take care of the kids. It would help for them to have a ride to get to the places she needs to."

Labels: 2-1-1, basic needs, InTheNews

BY JEFF SEIDEL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
[http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091220/FEATURES01/912200458/1025/Features/Food-desperation-on-the-rise&template=fullarticle]

A child sits on a school bus, his stomach gurgling. He didn't eat breakfast. The bus pulls up to an elementary school in Oakland County. Only a few people at school know that this child gets a free breakfast and lunch paid by the government. They might be his only good meals of the week.

In Taylor, a man stares into his refrigerator and sees a little milk at the bottom of the plastic gallon. He decides to save it for his grandkids and go to a food pantry for the first time in his life.

In Roseville, a single mom with three kids goes shopping, searching for deals, using coupons, buying in bulk, trying to stretch every dollar.

These are the faces of hunger. Some suffer in silence. Others know how to get help.

Hunger is a symptom, like a fever that comes with the flu. The causes are countless. Unemployment. Underemployment. Drug abuse. Mental illness. Credit card problems. Health problems. Just bad luck.

Hunger is so complex and so vast that nobody can put an exact number on how many people in Michigan are struggling, although no one disputes the problem is growing. Food insecurity affects 700,000 in southeast Michigan, according to United Way.

The problem is deeper than the people in line at soup kitchens. The people in need could be your neighbors.

More turn to soup kitchens, federal programs, friends

Melissa Cristodero, a single mom of three, refuses to let her children go hungry.

So, she makes choices and doesn't pay some of her bills so she can feed her kids.

Cristodero has a part-time job, but she is slipping closer and closer to the streets. She is several months behind on her rent, her washing machine is leaking again, and her car tires are bald. She's afraid to drive in the snow, she has two cavities that need filling, and she has no idea how she will pay this month's electric bill or phone bill or water bill.

Cristodero, 30, of Roseville works a few days a week as a waitress at a coney island. She wants to work more, but nobody is eating out, she said.

In early December, a friend loaned her $500, which kept her afloat for a few weeks.

This is one of the under-the-radar solutions to the hunger problem facing many metro Detroiters. United Way for Southeastern Michigan estimates that 25% of people in need of food get help from friends and family. By comparison, formal food distribution networks, such as shelters and food pantries, handle 6% of the people in need.

But help from friends and family could begin to diminish if more people in Michigan get into economic trouble.

"I only have a couple of friends," Cristodero said. "Three close friends, and they are broke, too."

As the unemployment rate in metro Detroit has climbed, the need for food has increased dramatically, experts say. One in eight people in southeast Michigan face hunger problems, according to United Way.

Cristodero, who has a GED and is on Medicaid, gets $450 a month in government food assistance. She is not alone. Her family gets some of the 1 million meals a day the government provides to people in need in southeast Michigan, according to Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.

Cristodero stretches every penny she gets, spending an entire day planning for the month, buying bread from outlet stores and putting it in the freezer.

"You have to look for all the sales and get as much as you can," she said. "That doesn't last a whole month. I'll go to a grocery store, like Kroger and Meijer, and look for the best deals and stock up for the whole month; trying to make things last is the hard thing."

Food is scarce by the end of the month.

Her twin 9-year-old boys qualify for free lunches through the National School Lunch Program, and Cristodero said that gives her a big savings.

"I don't even buy lunch meat," Cristodero said. "That would be all the food right there."

Eleven days before Christmas, she still had no idea what she was going to get her kids for presents.

"I already bought them their coats, so I told them that's part of their Christmas," Cristodero said as she started to cry. "One or two presents. I told them, when I get my tax money, I'll buy them whatever they want."

She stopped talking and tried to compose herself. Alex, her 2-year-old son, climbed onto her lap and gave her a hug.

"It's OK, Mommy," he said. "Don't cry."

Children comprise about one-third of those in poverty in the region.

Cristodero said she feels hopeless.

"I just hope for the best. I'm really stressed. ... I'm just depressed because it's hard right now. I'm not a depressed person. You just have to find a way, and that's what I usually do."

A full-time job would solve her troubles. That's true for many people in the state. About 21.5% of part-time workers say they want to be working full-time, according to a Gleaners report.

Cristodero has applied for a factory job. "It's not what I want, but it would be a regular income," she said. "It's like a plastics factory, I guess. Waitressing is not a good job to work at right now. People don't tip well. They are broke."

She is thinking about moving out of state, perhaps to Maryland or Florida.

"If I had a magic wand, I'd get a house that is paid for," Cristodero said. "I'd have no house payment. I'd put money in the bank" for her children, "so they don't have to live like this. And go to school and get a good job. If I had a wand, I'd help everybody who had this problem."

'I want my mom to have food'

A kindergarten teacher at Eisenhower Elementary School in Southfield talked to her class about the difference between wants and needs.

"Is there something you want for Christmas?" the teacher asked a 5-year-old student.

"I want my mom to have food," the child responded.

Of the 341 students at Eisenhower, 236 get free or reduced lunch through the National School Lunch Program.

"Our hot lunch program is absolutely important," Eisenhower principal Gretchen Pitts-Sykes said. For some of the kids at the school, "this may be the only meal they receive."

The program provided meals to 30.5 million American children in 2008, taking an important role in the fight against hunger. In southeast Michigan, children receive 250,000 free or reduced-price school lunches every day.

"We know kids come to school hungry," said Ken Siver, deputy superintendent at Southfield Public Schools.

The number of children in the district who qualify for free or reduced lunch has skyrocketed. In 1999, 28% of the students qualified. Now, that has grown to 53.5% of its 8,500 students.

And the numbers keep rising.

Last month, 30 new families applied to join the program. "We are now at an all-time high," Siver said.

Serving those in need

When you see homeless people on the street, should you give them money?

"People hold up signs: 'I will work for food.' But that's nothing but scams," said Robert Brewer, who lived on the streets of Detroit for years. "They can get food anywhere. That's one thing about Michigan. They got places where you can eat, and homeless people know that."

Brewer and his wife, Kimberly, were homeless for five years, smoking crack, selling drugs and eating at soup kitchens.

"You can live on the streets forever and not go hungry," Robert Brewer said. "You can't go hungry in Detroit, from downtown to the east side to the west side. They got plenty of people who come down and help you."

One of the most popular places to eat is the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, which serves 2,000 meals each day at two locations in Detroit. Jerry Smith, the soup kitchen's executive director, agreed with the Brewers. Food is available to those who need it in Detroit. The trick is getting to it.

"Detroit is a big place, and transportation is a big problem," Smith said. "For the majority of people we serve, nothing is new. We have been here 80 years in good times and bad times. It's not like there is this big surge now when the economy has tightened up."

The Brewers are now drug-free -- they are tested twice a week -- and have cleaned up their lives. They are living at Grace Centers of Hope, a shelter in Pontiac. Each year, it serves more than 127,000 meals.

Robert, 42, is a mentor at Grace, while Kimberly, 31, does the laundry and works in the day care. They credit the center for saving their lives.

The Brewers said that when a homeless person is given money, it is usually spent on alcohol or drugs.

The better option, they said, is to give money to organizations.

Giving to others

After she retired and her seven children grew up and moved out of the house, Lillian Newsome wanted to find something to do -- something to help people.

"Lord," she prayed, "lead me somewhere."

About five years ago, she saw an advertisement in a church bulletin to work in the food pantry at Gilead Baptist Church in Taylor, where she is a member.

"As soon as I saw it," Newsome said, "I signed up."

The pantry helps 40 to 50 families every week.

"You just feel so good helping," said Newsome, 80, who retired in 1989 after working for 25 years in the cafeteria at Ford Motor Co. "Sometimes, I get choked up because the stories they tell you. The other day, a woman came in and she has seizures. She couldn't drive and had to have somebody else bring her in. She was just so sweet. You really hear some touching stories."

Most of the people who come into the pantry say they can't put food on the table and pay their bills.

"So many are laid off," Newsome said. "The other day, somebody came in and said, 'I'm still working, but I got my hours cut back and can't make it.' "

The only requirement to receive food at this pantry is to show identification.

Each person who visits Gilead gets three bags of food. Cans of tuna fish. Peanut butter and jelly. Pasta and soup. Some of it was donated by members of the congregation and the rest came from Gleaners. The food bank collects and distributes food to more than 400 places in the region.

Gleaners served 43,750 families in November, an increase of 3,251 families since the month before.

"There is no question, more people are using pantries," said Gerry Brisson, the senior vice president of advancement at Gleaners. "A lot of times, people think that hunger is a problem that never goes away. But it's not the same people. When you help somebody by giving them food, over 70% of them, a year later, they won't need emergency food."

A few years ago, most of the people using this pantry were elderly. But now, volunteers see more working families and unemployed people.

Newsome said she feels a strong connection to these families.

"I was in that place one time," Newsome said. "My husband was laid off and we had seven children. I was really hurting. I know what it was like. We used to get cornmeal and butter, stuff like that. We got that for a couple of months. It was right around the holidays, and I know what they are going through."

Newsome's job at the pantry is to greet people and make them comfortable. She calls them "customers."

Early this month, a 54-year-old man walked into the pantry feeling sad, ashamed and embarrassed to visit a food pantry for the first time.

"I'm not going to let them go hungry," he said, pointing at his daughter and grandchildren.

He said his wife works at a store, but they still struggle to put food in their refrigerator.

"There is nothing there," he said. "I got a couple eggs, a little bit of milk, and I save that for the kids and their cereal."

The man picked up three bags of food, thankful but still ashamed.

"I feel like I'm not worthy to be here," he said. "I feel bad about myself, so to speak. But it's here to help you, and I'm grateful for that. I really am. I'm very thankful, very grateful. Believe me, it helps."

Newsome smiled long and hard, waiting for the next person to come through the door.

Contact JEFF SEIDEL: 313-223-4558 or jseidel@freepress.com

Labels: basic needs, food, InTheNews

Food aid requests have more than doubled in a year
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
[http://www.detnews.com/article/20091211/METRO/912110392/Hunger-in-Metro-Detroit-grows--but-so-does-help]

Every month, more than 7,000 requests for food come into the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. And increasingly, they're coming from the suburbs.

Requests for food to its 211 telephone help line have more than doubled from 3,000 a month last year, putting a new face on hunger and further straining an already frayed network of relief agencies.

In a state that leads the nation in unemployment, job losses have many turning to charity to save money for mortgages or utilities, said Paula Thornton Greear, spokeswoman for Feeding America, an umbrella organization composed of nonprofit agencies.

They're folks like Linda Mills, 63, of Westland, who was among the hundreds in line Thursday at Open Door Ministry in Canton Township waiting for a week's worth of groceries distributed by a small army of walkie-talkie toting volunteers.

"This helps make ends meet," said Mills. "My husband is only working part time. I am having difficulty finding work. If not for this, it would be horrible."

Linda Woermer, 63, was among the first in a long queue of cars waiting for food. The retiree who uses a walker has mastered the network of food pantries in Metro Detroit, knowing by heart which ones are open and when.

"It makes all the difference," said Woermer of Westland. "Without it, my life would be pretty difficult."

The situation is expected to get worse once buyouts or other compensation run dry for laid-off workers, advocates predict.

Greear estimated that 4 million of Michigan's 10 million residents dealt with hunger last year. Nationwide, 49 million Americans, including 17 million children, don't know where their next meal will come from, according to federal estimates.

JP Morgan Chase Foundation officials are donating 34 trucks to 20 food banks across the nation, including Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit and Forgotten Harvest in Oak Park.

Officials made the announcement Thursday at Forgotten Harvest to underscore the region's need. Unemployment in Metro Detroit is 16.7 percent, above the national average of 10.2 percent. In Detroit, it's closer to 30 percent.

Unemployment in Metro Detroit is 16.7 percent, above the national average of 10.2 percent. In Detroit, it's closer to 30 percent.

"That is a critical, critical tool," said Kimberly Banks, president of the foundation. "We want to be where the people are. Without trucks, it would be difficult to do that."

At Forgotten Harvest, volunteers this year expect to distribute 18 million meals, up from 12.5 million last year. Gleaners expects to give 36 million meals, up from 22 million.

Every Thursday at Open Door Ministry in Canton Township, the parking lot fills with dozens of cars before distribution begins at 4:30 p.m. Hundreds make the trip during the three-hour distribution to receive 30 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables, boxed and canned goods and meat.

Even registering for relief is a process that can take weeks, participants said. The nonprofit vets applicants based on need and family size.

"We joke that we are like McDonald's," said Steve Daar, 61, of Ypsilanti Township, who organizes the efforts with his wife. "There are a lot of needy families out there. We want to help them. We are blessed with a lot of really nice food."

He spoke outside a giant walk-in freezer inside a warehouse packed with boxes of food. Like a lieutenant commanding troops, Daar coordinated distribution Thursday as 50 volunteers guided drivers into three lines, where they were brought brown bags of food.

A few years ago, the needy would simply walk up and take what they were given. But the economy changed, prompting Daar to develop a mini-bureaucracy to feeding the equivalent of a small village in a few hours. This year, the nonprofit has distributed 1 million pounds of food, helping about 350-500 households a week.

"So many people need help, but we have been blessed to be able to offer them food," said Daar, a retired Ford engineer.

Open Door Ministry isn't the only charity rethinking distribution as demand soars.

Forgotten Harvest has spent the past nine years updating methods of collecting and distributing food. It now relies almost exclusively on grocers and growers for the food it gives away, spokesman John Owens said.

That means that trucks are sent at midnight to collect perishable food from restaurants that would otherwise be thrown away. On a recent visit to the Oak Park facility, Owens showed large boxes of potatoes and carrots bought for less than a dime because Forgotten Harvest would pick up the items.

"There is nothing wrong with the food. There was just too much produced," Owens said while showing plump tomatoes from Canada and large potatoes from Idaho. "We have to keep expanding to keep up with demand. The hunger situation has grown because of the economy."

sesparza@detnews.com (313) 222-2127

Labels: basic needs, food, InTheNews

From the blog of Annemarie Harris:

I just emailed Senators Stabenow and Levin asking them to improve the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides young children with access to nutritious meals. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation that would improve young children's access to nutritious meals in child care centers, family child care homes, and Head Start and Early Head Start programs. With your help, we can gain support for the Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act of 2009 (S. 2749). Please take action yourself and spread the word! For more information, check out National Women's Law Center.

Labels: advocate, Annemarie_Harris, basic needs, food

Visit CrainsDetroit.com to read the complete article [subscription required] or click here to download a PDF copy of the story.

This year's Crain's Best- Managed Nonprofit Contest looked for nonprofits that have taken specific steps to improve operations and delivery of services in a slow economy.

As the best-managed nonprofit of 2008, Detroit Public TV/WTVS-Channel 56 will be honored at Crain's Newsmaker of the Year lunch next year and will receive a cash prize of $1,500: $1,000 from Crain's and $500 from Gary Dembs, president of the Non-Profit Personnel Network in Southfield. Dembs also served as a judge.
Runner-up

• Adult Well-Being Services: Implemented a program to decrease the number of mentally ill people cycling in and out of two Detroit Medical Center emergency rooms.

The finalists

• ArtServe Michigan: Created a more unified voice for arts groups.
• GreenPath Debt Solutions: Reacted quickly to rising consumer demand.
• United Way for Southeastern Michigan: Expanded services of 2-1-1 hot line.
• Michigan Humane Society: Offered pet care cost assistance to owners facing hardship.

Labels: 2-1-1, 211onthego, basic needs, InTheNews

United Way for Southeastern Michigan has been selected as one of the 2009 Best-Managed Nonprofits by Crain's Detroit Business. This is a huge honor for us. In a year marked by an exceedingly tough economy, our organization has been faced with meeting increased community need with shrinking financial resources.

Crain's Detroit Business evaluated our business model for 2-1-1 and 2-1-1 On the Go! programming. The selection of Finalists was based on a variety of criteria. Among them: finding ways to do more with less, collaborative efforts and cost-sharing strategies, and modifications in programming that has resulted in the organization being better-able to meet the needs of its service recipients. We excelled in all categories - and the competition was extremely competitive.

To learn more about the 2009 Best-Managed Nonprofits, please read Crain's Best-Managed Nonprofits: Rewarding winning ways. Below is an excerpt from Crain's Detroit Business about our 2-1-1 and 2-1-1 On the Go! programming.

+++

FOCUS: Best-Managed Nonprofits
Visit CrainsDetroit.com to read the complete article [subscription required] or click here to download a PDF copy of the story.

After launching the 2-1-1 health and human services hot line to provide residents with referrals to local programs and services, United Way for Southeastern Michigan took the initiative further than any of its other national affiliates with its launch of 2-1-1 On The Go.

The local 2-1-1 call center is available around the clock, seven days a week, and is a multilingual, anonymous referral service linking callers to other organizations that can assist them or that could use volunteers.

Four years after the launch of the 2-1-1 call center for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, United Way is able to provide referrals to more than 30,000 local programs and services.

Through the center, United Way this year assisted 371,000 callers looking for social services assistance or even volunteer opportunities, up from 69,147 its first year.

Labels: 2-1-1, 211onthego, basic needs, InTheNews

Labels: basic needs, food, Ursula_Adams

About two years ago I read a book called Irresistible Revolution. It's a Christian book, but this book was different. The author didn't seem to be trying to win an argument or prove something right. Instead, he was simply telling the story of the journey that he and some of his friends had been on. He seemed to be real. He wasn't putting on the fake pretend everything's good because you say you love Jesus face. In the first paragraph of the book it even says something about Jesus pooping and it smelled. I thought that was kind of funny at the time and sadly... I thought it was a novel idea.

There were a bunch of us friends that had all read the book about the same time. Nothing organized or anything, it just happened that way. About the time we finished reading it, my friend John sent out a Facebook invite to this thing he called "BBQ in the D." Basically, we were all feeling inspired to do something about this new light that had been shed on the Jesus we claimed to follow. We were needing an outlet and here was an idea. We knew where there was this empty lot in Detroit and there always seemed to be a few homeless guys there hanging out under the pine trees. We were going to get together some food and borrow a grill and have a BBQ. We were just going to invite them to hang out with us for the afternoon and tell them to invite their friends too. No strings attached; no agenda; no ulterior motives; just a time amongst friends.

None of us really knew what to expect. I think if I'm going to be honest, I'd have to say I thought it was more likely for us to get beat up or arrested than for it to actually go well. But it did go well. In fact, it's a little embarrassing now to even admit what I thought before that first BBQ. But around 40 people came to the "BBQ in the D" and we all had a great time.

Now during this time I was leading this ministry called Elevate. Elevate brings together different churches and organizations to help college students and young adults make a difference in their church and community. It was spring time and we had just decided to do backyard BBQs once a month through the summer as sort of mixers with the different partnering groups and churches. These backyard BBQs had nothing to do with homelessness or Detroit or anything like that.

Now, Elevate is a very organic group and doesn't have any sort of budget. So five of us got together and did a can and bottle drive to get some money together and buy food for our first backyard BBQ. That backyard BBQ was a smashing success. We had about 90 people come and were excited for the next one. We also had a bunch of extra food. I have a large freezer in my basement that I don't use so I took the food home and packed it in my freezer to use at the next backyard BBQ. I was trying to be wise with what little resources Elevate had.

It was two weeks later after this first backyard BBQ when the "BBQ in the D" happened. I wasn't making much money at the time and so I just came without bringing anything for food. I figured I couldn't afford to do much, but I could give my time so that's all I'd do. I'd spent some time volunteering at homeless things before so I thought I knew about what to expect. In the past it was always with a mission or a goal - to serve a meal, to tell them about God, to build a house - always with a goal. But this was different. This time the reason wasn't to do something. It was to be something. It was just to get to know people. To learn names and hear stories. The goal, if you can call it that, was to share love and hope.

Like I said before, the "BBQ in the D" went great. It was a gorgeous day in June, the sun was shining and there could not have been better weather. While the weather was everything we had hoped for and dared to expect, nothing else about that day was like I had expected.

I found myself standing line waiting for food having a conversation with a homeless guy. All day I had heard people say things like, "I'm so glad you guys are here, I haven't had anything to eat today." Or "If you guys hadn't come today I wouldn't have gotten anything to eat."

And so I've sort of got my back to the food and I'm talking to this guy who's homeless. There's another guy standing just behind him in line sort of listening in. The guy in back waits for a lull in the conversation and then tells me that he's glad we're here because he hasn't had anything to eat today. Right then, in that same moment as I'm sort of hearing him out of my left ear, out of my right ear just behind me I hear someone else say, "I'm sorry, but we're out of food." When I heard that I was still looking at the same homeless guy, I'll never forget his face. But in my mind's eye all I could see was my freezer at home. It was packed with hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, potato salad... all the same food others had brought that day. Right then I knew that the reason that guy wasn't going to get any food that day wasn't because of any mistakes or bad luck he'd had. It wasn't because some rich guy wouldn't give more to charity. And it wasn't because of any government program or lack thereof. The reason that guy didn't get anything to eat that day was because I hadn't brought the food I had to share. I wasn't trying to be selfish. I was trying to be smart with the resources God had given us. And instead I ended up hoarding them. It wasn't that I didn't care for the poor. I did. That's why I was there that day. But the reality is that the poor and homeless were so far off my radar that it hadn't even occurred to me to bring the food I had to share. I once heard something that I believe to be true. It said that there actually is enough food in the world for everyone. The problem is one of mere distribution.

In that moment I made a decision. I decided that Elevate would never again buy food for people who could buy it for themselves. I decided Elevate would continue to have BBQs through that summer like we'd planned. But instead of being in a backyard, we were going to move them south about 15 miles. We were still going to invite our friends, but we'd also invite a bunch of homeless people we didn't already know... and now 2 years and 77 BBQS later, we get the privilege of inviting homeless people we do know. I first came to the BBQ in the D to share love and hope. And that's what I did. But what I have found is that the homeless people I've met along the way share love and hope with me as well.

That day sparked a movement. And I don't mean because of me at all. That day I simply realized that a broke college student could use the friends he had and the resources he'd been given to change the world. And that day that's what I started trying to do.

The whole world hasn't changed yet... But for the crack dealer named Thaddeus, my friend who no longer deals crack, the world has changed. For the hopeless suicidal felon that learned there is hope and has decided to be a father, it's changed. For his daughter who still has a father, it's changed. For the guy who was down on his luck and questioning whether there was any good left in the world, it's changed. And for literally a couple hundred college students who have learned their little bit really can lead to a difference and change someone's life now, rather than having to wait till they're older and have a "real" job, the world is a very different place.

I will always remember that beautiful afternoon and that moment. It is a moment that sparked a movement. A movement that is trying to change the world for one person at a time... through a message of hope and love in the poorest city in the country over a shared meal.

Mike Schmitt runs the homeless BBQs for Elevate Ministries. You can learn more about Mike and his program on Elevate's Facebook group. Contact Mike at mike@elevatedetroit.com.

Labels: basic needs, food

I was watching that show Intervention last night, which shows real drug addicts whose families have reached the end of their rope. They call on an intervention specialist to help them with the tough task of convincing the addict to check into a treatment facility. I usually don’t watch those real heavy shows, but this time I got sucked in.

Charlie - a rather young guy probably in his 20’s - was homeless and heavily addicted to heroin. Like many homeless addicts, he would spend every day begging enough money to feed his addiction. What was interesting was that the viewer got to see the back-story of this common act. His family was pretty normal and cared deeply about him. They lived in a nice suburban home where one would expect that everything under that roof was all clean and together. As much as they loved Charlie and hoped he would seek help, they had handed him over to the consequences of his own addiction, which meant allowing him to be homeless and reap what he was sowing for himself.

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Labels: 2-1-1, 211onthego, basic needs, John_Azoni

I skipped breakfast yesterday morning and by 10am I could no longer pay attention during my third meeting of the day. I began to think about how this must feel for a 7 year old child that is asked to pay attention during the school day, but can not seem to focus on anything else except how hungry s/he is.

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Labels: Ann_Leen, basic needs, Employee Voices, food

This story was sent to me in an email and I had to laugh when I read it. Gene Weingarten, writer for the Washington Post set out to cover a social experiment with world famous violin prodigy, Joshua Bell. What would happen if you dress down a Grammy-award-winning classical musician and have him perform in a lowly Washington DC plaza instead of a sold out opera house? Would anyone receive the gift?

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Labels: 211onthego, basic needs, Employee Voices, John_Azoni

From CNNMoney.com

Food has long been an issue in this city without a major supermarket. Now demand for assistance is rising, affecting a whole new set of people.

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Labels: basic needs

Now what?

It’s an agonizing question facing a record 10,000 jobless people in metro Detroit who will exhaust their unemployment benefits over the next month and a half. A whopping 43,000 residents are expected to confront the same fate by year’s end, according to the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency.

United Way for Southeastern Michigan: Provides help with rent, utilities, food, legal assistance, shelter, support groups and more. Call 211 anytime.

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Labels: basic needs, Financial Stability

A coalition of companies and nonprofits plans to announce Thursday a three-month initiative to help feed the growing number of hungry people in the Detroit area.

The coalition includes: Ford Motor Co. Fund and Community Services, Oak Park-based food rescue Forgotten Harvest, Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, The Suburban Collection and United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

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Labels: basic needs

• Leading the food distribution drive are Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, The Suburban Collection, Gleaners Community Food Bank, Forgotten Harvest and United Way for Southeastern Michigan
• Effort includes reaching thousands of children this summer who face hunger because of lack of access to school-sponsored free lunch programs
• An estimated 600,000 people in southeastern Michigan are believed to be at risk of suffering from hunger

DEARBORN, Mich., July 2 – Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services announced today it is teaming up with local dealers and food agencies to deliver 575,000 meals this summer to the hungry in southeastern Michigan, where a tough economy is contributing to a rise in families struggling to meet basic food needs.

Teaming up with Ford to deliver meals to the hungry this summer are two Ford franchises of The Suburban Collection (Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights and Suburban Ford of Waterford), Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, Forgotten Harvest and United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

Through the team effort, Ford will bolster Gleaners' and Forgotten Harvest's food distribution with additional vehicles from The Suburban Collection. Additionally, United Way's "211" help line will direct people in need to meal distribution locations operated by Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest.

Also, Ford Fund and Ford Motor Company are donating $50,000 to Gleaners for food purchases and $100,000 to Forgotten Harvest for short-term leases of refrigerated trucks and fresh food acquisition.

"Because hunger is a community-wide issue, Ford is focused on forging relationships and collaborations with community partners that are going to result in people being fed," said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. "Helping families escape hunger is our goal, and to succeed, we are inviting more organizations and community leaders to get involved in this cause."

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan lent his support to the meal delivery effort at a kick-off event this morning at Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights.

"These are tough times for Michigan families," said Rep. Levin. "The work of this coalition on a very basic issue – food and nutrition – will make a tremendous difference for hundreds of thousands of people this summer."

An estimated 600,000 people in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties are believed to face the prospect of suffering from hunger – a population that may grow to as high as 1.1 million people by 2013, depending on employment trends. An estimated 800 million to 1.2 billion pounds of food will be needed to serve this population by 2013. Though at least half of that food supply is expected to come from government-subsidized sources, there is concern that a food supply shortfall for the hungry could emerge that could number in the hundreds of millions of pounds.

"We're pleased to see community leaders and non-profits working together to come to the aid of families who face real hunger because of their economic hardships," said DeWayne Wells, president, Gleaners Community Food Bank. "This is help that will make a difference this summer in people's lives."

Added Jason Vines, senior advancement director, Forgotten Harvest: "Hunger is a real by-product of the economic turmoil we've experienced in southeastern Michigan, and it's affecting thousands of households in our region. This team effort brings resources together in a creative way to save needy families from the harmful affects of hunger."

When the meal delivery drive begins later this month, about 575,000 meals will be delivered via distribution routes established by Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest. Many of the meals will be targeted at the thousands of children who could face hunger this summer, simply because they do not have access to school free-lunch programs.

"We're proud that our presence in the community, our resources and our relationship with Ford Motor Company are being leveraged to help expand our community's capacity to feed the hungry," said David T. Fischer, chairman and CEO, The Suburban Collection. "We hope this initiative inspires others to join us in supporting the social service agencies in southeastern Michigan that are working so hard to save families from hunger."

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services
Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services is a community relations and philanthropic non-profit funded by Ford Motor Company. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009, Ford Fund supports initiatives and institutions that foster and promote innovation in education, greater automotive safety and American heritage and diversity. National programs include Ford Partnership for Advance Studies (Ford PAS), which provides 21st century skills-based curriculum to more 40,000 high school students; and Ford Driving Skills for Life, which has taught safe driving skills to more than 337,000 young drivers. In addition, the Ford Volunteer Corps, established in 2005, enlists the help of thousands of Ford employees and retirees who volunteer their time to continue Ford's legacy of community service worldwide. For more information about programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, please visit www.community.ford.com, www.volunteer.ford.com or www.abrighterfuture.ford.com.

About Gleaners Community Food Bank
Gleaners Community Food Bank, in collaboration with its member agencies and with broad community backing and support, provides surplus donated and low-cost food and personal care products to people in need in southeastern Michigan. In so doing, Gleaners is committed to adopting best practices and cost-effective systems and procedures to achieve the highest possible return on its human and financial resources. Gleaners fulfills its role with a sense of compassion and urgency, recognizing that in many instances, it is the only source of emergency food for persons in need.

About Forgotten Harvest
Forgotten Harvest was formed in 1990 to fight two problems: hunger and waste. Forgotten Harvest will rescue more than 12 million pounds of food this year by collecting surplus prepared and perishable food from a variety of sources, including grocery stores, fruit and vegetable markets, restaurants, caterers, dairies, farmers, wholesale food distributors, and other Health Department-approved sources. This donated food, which would otherwise go to waste, is delivered absolutely free of charge to 150-plus emergency food providers in the metro Detroit area. The individuals and families served are as diverse as the community's residents – young and old, from all races and faiths. The common bond uniting them with each other and with Forgotten Harvest is hunger. Visit www.forgottenharvest.org.

About United Way for Southeastern Michigan
United Way for Southeastern Michigan mobilizes the caring power of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to improve lives in measurable and lasting ways throughout the region. The organization is led by a diverse group of volunteers from business, labor, government, human services, education and the community. United Way provides opportunities to invest in the metropolitan Detroit community through its annual campaign and is a leader in convening partners to impact local residents each year by increasing economic self-sufficiency, protecting children and youth at risk, strengthening families, empowering neighborhoods and communities, and promoting health and wellness. Additional information is available at www.LiveUnitedSEM.org.

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 205,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.

Labels: basic needs