The Inter-Faith Council's March on Poverty

The Holidays are fast approaching....

2011-12-13T13:32:00.002-05:00

There are over 450 families in Orange County signed up to receive holiday meals from IFC! Only $25 helps IFC offer a holiday meal to an entire family – a turkey or ham, stuffing, vegetables, bread, and dessert. Please fill out a holiday meal voucher on our website at http://www.ifcweb.org/holidaymeals.html

Thanksgiving Meals were provided to over 1400 people! Thank you!

2011-12-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

IFC volunteers and staff distributed Thanksgiving meals to 483 Carrboro/Chapel Hill households which included 1425 people. This represents gifts of more than $12,000 provided by IFC friends, businesses and congregations. Thank you everyone! You can still donate to the December Holiday Meal! http://www.ifcweb.org/holidaymeals.html

It's beginning to feel like Thanksgiving!

2011-11-14T11:24:00.000-05:00

Bags of Thanksgiving meals fill the IFC offices! IFC is giving out over 900 holiday meals this year. Still lots of money to raise to pay for holiday meals. It's not too late to donate...http://www.ifcweb.org/holidaymeals.html

Today is the day! What are your dinner plans?

2011-11-08T13:19:00.002-05:00

Today is RSVVP day when restaurants give back 10% of their proceeds to the IFC for Community Kitchen and Food Pantry programs. 20.1% of Orange County's population is in poverty and struggling with inadequate food supplies. As you vote today, please remember those who are struggling with food insecurity by eating out at one of the restaurants listed on IFC's website. By supporting local restaurants, you are supporting those in need.

http://www.ifcweb.org/rsvvp2011.html

Wealth Gap in United States Between Younger and Older Americans is at its Highest.

2011-11-07T14:22:00.000-05:00

An article released today by the Associated Press notes that the largest recorded wealth gap between younger and older Americans currently exists. Figures show that a U.S. household headed by a person 65 or older is likely to have a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35. This means that the wealth gap is more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly 5 times what it was 25 years ago, after adjusting for inflation. 37 percent of households headed by a person 35 or younger, report having a net worth of zero or less.

http://www.wral.com/business/story/10345518/

Don't forget that tomorrow is RSVVP!

2011-11-07T13:35:00.002-05:00

"RSVVP" stands for Restaurants Sharing Ten Percent. Participating restaurants will contribute 10% of their total proceeds on Tuesday, November 8 to benefit the IFC Food Pantry and Community Kitchen.

Remember that this includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between. So please eat "early and often" on Election Day to help reduce hunger in our community!
For more information, please visit http://ifcweb.org/rsvvp2011.html.

Over 450 families signed up for IFC holiday meals program!

2011-10-31T12:07:00.000-04:00

There are over 450 families in Orange County signed up to receive holiday meals from IFC! Only $25 helps IFC offer a holiday meal to an entire family – a turkey or ham, stuffing, vegetables, bread, and dessert. Please fill out a holiday meal voucher on our website at http://www.ifcweb.org/holidaymeals.html

The Stewards Fund Challenge is on!

2011-10-04T14:27:00.002-04:00

The Stewards Fund Challenge is on!

Donations are needed more than ever to help meet the Steward’s Fund Challenge as IFC has been asked to raise a higher amount of donations that ever before! The Steward’s Fund is offering the IFC a $100,000 All-or-Nothing Challenge Grant to help support Food & Shelter Programs. From October 1 to December 31 all new, lapsed, or increased donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Visit www.ifcweb.org or call 919-929-6380 to donate!

IFC's Annual Meeting & Potluck!

2011-10-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

It's October and that means it's time for...

the IFC's Annual Meeting and Potluck! The meeting will be held Thursday, October 20th from 6-8pm at the Friends and Family Hall at St. Thomas More Parish Center – 904 Carmichael St., Chapel Hill. If you plan to attend, please send your name, affiliation (if any) and the kind of dish you are sharing to assistant@ifcmailbox.org or call Elizabeth at 919-929-6380 ext. 15. Come learn more about IFC’s new Community House facility at 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill!

For more information visit: http://www.ifcweb.org/annualmeeting2011.html

Poverty Rate is the Highest in 28 years!

2011-09-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

"The ranks of the nation's poor have swelled to a record 46.2 million — nearly 1 in 6 Americans. --Measured by total numbers, the 46 million now living in poverty are the most on record dating back to when the census began to track in 1959. The 15.1 percent tied the level of 1993 and was the highest since 1983."

See full article at : WRAL's website.

Operation Stand Down

2011-07-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

"One weekend a year, nearly a thousand military veterans assemble in a camp in San Diego. What brings them is what they have in common: they're all homeless. The vets gather for something called "Stand Down," started in 1988 by a soldier turned psychologist named Jon Nachison." ~60 Minutes

On July 10th, 60 minutes aired a special on Operation Stand Down, a program designed to help veterans combat homelessness and it's contributing factors. The program describes the difficulties that military personnell have when returning to civilian life and debunks the myth that homeless veterans are only from the Vietnam era. Operation Stand Down exists in over 50 cities across the U.S. and helps homeless veterans who served active duty from the Vietnam era to the Iraq/Afghanistan era.

Watch the inspiring 60 minutes video at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7372852n
or read the story at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/21/60minutes/main20072997.shtml

Orange County Habitat Focuses on Renovating Local Homes

2011-07-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

By Caitlin Ball

The Daily Tar Heel

For four consecutive Saturdays Deloris Bynum watched from her 25-year-old porch as volunteers cleaned, hammered and painted her home.

“I’ve searched high and low for somebody to do the work, but I knew I couldn’t afford it,” she said.
To help those in situations similar to Bynum’s, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County kicked off its A Brush With Kindness program Saturday to ensure that low-income, elderly and disabled residents can maintain their homes.
Alex Bidot, community organizer for the organization, said the purpose of the program is to help repair the exterior of a home, whether it needs a paint job or more complex work.
“It’s a holistic approach to affordable housing,” Bidot said. “We’re really hoping that this is a consistent program that stays with Habitat because we feel that home preservation is just as important as new home construction.”
The volunteer group from three local churches that worked on Bynum’s house made small fixes on her home including fixing broken door jams, replacing rotting wood and applying a fresh coat of paint.
While it takes about 16 work sessions to complete traditional Habitat projects, A Brush With Kindness projects requires about a fourth of that time. Bidot said the program is also less expensive and has helped involve outside organizations that would otherwise be unable to commit the 50 to 60 volunteers needed to construct an entire home.
Sharron Reid, the organization’s family services director, said the program emerged locally when Habitat expanded its focus from solely families to the communities they live in as well.
“Habitat for Humanity has always had the mission of building affordable homes for families in need,” she said. “But as we built into different communities what we recognized was that there were homes within those communities that also needed some attention.”
Reid and Bidot helped compose the small group of family, friends and volunteers who celebrated Bynum’s home dedication ceremony Saturday.
There were many thanks and even more congratulations on all the hard work that was accomplished in such a short time.
“The whole group came together in love to help you with this project because we knew that it was a need,” Reid said.
As tears came to her eyes, Bynum stood in front of her freshly painted house and thanked those who had helped her.
“Each and every one of the people that came out every Saturday in the heat to work diligently on this house… I just truly thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Support RSVVP Day!

2011-07-06T10:21:00.000-04:00

"RSVVP" stands for "Restaurants Sharing 10 Percent" (the Vs are Roman numerals). Participating restaurants will contribute 10% of their total proceeds on that day to benefit the IFC Food Pantry and Community Kitchen.

Orange County restaurants have contributed over $348,000 on RSVVP Days over the past 22 years. Last year 100 restaurants raised a grand total of $20,044.29 for IFC food programs!

IFC is looking for donors to sponsor the promotional materials: a graphic artist to design posters, brochures and table tents and the associated printing costs. Please support this important community-wide event. Your contribution will be nearly quadrupled in its effect on alleviating local hunger.

Go to the Connect to Charity page to make a donation online, or send a check to John Dorward at 110 W. Main Street - Carrboro, NC 27510.

Dine out on RSVVP Day for local hunger relief!

Meeting focuses on day laborers

2011-06-30T15:59:00.000-04:00

BY MARK SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER (Chapel Hill News)

CARRBORO -
Alberto De Latorre has stood on the corner for 15 years, he said.

"You can't really say one day is good, one day is bad," he said. "It's impossible to predict."
But when the immigrant from Mexico City does not find work by 11 a.m., he and the other men must leave the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie roads in Carrboro and try again the next day.
"It feels bad when the police show up and tell you to leave," De Latorre said in Spanish through an interpreter. "You feel like a delinquent."
DeLatorre spoke Saturday at a workshop aimed at finding better options for local day laborers. Two organizers from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network spent the week in Orange County to meet with local workers and talk about establishing an official center, possibly at El Centro Hispano in Carrboro Plaza.
"No decisions have been made," said local organizer Mauricio Castro of the N.C. Latino Coalition. Activists, government leaders and business people have formed a committee but stressed the workers must have a say.
Gathering spots
There are an estimated 700 gathering spots and 65 official day laborer centers in the United States, Chris Newman, an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, told about 35 people at a meeting Saturday at El Centro Hispano.
On any given day about 117,600 people are working as day laborers or looking for day-labor jobs, according to a 2010 national study by researchers at the Center for Study of Urban Poverty, University of Illinois at Chicago and New School University.
Carrboro's corner is smaller than many. A few dozen men - mostly from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador but also black U.S. citizens - gather there each day.
But the situation has been a problem. After neighbors complained about loitering, harassment, drinking and public urination, the Board of Aldermen restricted the hours people could wait for work from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m.
But problems continue.
"It is a location that requires constant police services," Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison said Monday. "We're there every day. I can't really say that about many other locations in town."
Hutchison said the problems are caused not by the men who end up getting work, but by those who don't and by others who congregate for other reasons. The corner is a busy place with a small shopping center and nearby apartments.
"We've always said the guys that come to the corner [for work] are not generally responsible for the criminal activity in the area," she said. "It's when people are not picked up and don't move on that we see problems related to public consumption, trespassing, urination, defecation, littering and ... catcalls, rude comments."
Hutchison plans to join the task force exploring an alternative, permanent site. Besides the complaints about the corner, the chief says it's not safe for the workers.
"Sometimes the guys actually jump into the street," she said. "If people stop in the intersection it can get kind of dicey."
Law challenged
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice has challenged the constitutionality of the town's restrictions, saying they limit people's ability to find work.
"With its disproportionate burden on the community's working Latino community, [the ordinance] is a blemish on Carrboro's progressive reputation," staff attorney Chris Brook wrote to Town Attorney Mike Brough.
Instead of infringing on First Amendment rights, Carrboro police should enforce violations of the law as they occur, Brook wrote.
Efforts to reach Brough were unsuccessful Monday. In an email to the Board of Aldermen, however, he said the aldermen have three choices: repeal the ordinance, amend its hours to make sure it does not affect those seeking work, or let it stand as is.
"Applying the First Amendment usually involves some balancing of conflicting interests," Brough wrote, "and it seems to me that the balance should be struck in this case in favor of the ordinance, given the real problems it seeks to address and the extremely limited degree to which the ordinance interferes with constitutionally protected activity (all of which can occur by moving just outside the area covered by the ordinance)."
But Brough adds the fact that he believes the ordinance is constitutional does not mean the town would win a potentially costly lawsuit. He recommends the town look at how the ordinance has worked before it makes a decision.
'Wage theft'
The national study, "On the Corner: Day labor in the United States," was based on a survey of 2,660 day laborers at 264 hiring sites. It found an estimated three in four day laborers are in the country illegally, mostly from Mexico and Central America. About 28 percent of laborers' children are U.S. citizens.
Day laborers frequently encounter "wage theft," a problem reported in the Carrboro worker community. The local extent of the problem is unknown but the national study found nearly half of workers reported not being paid at least one day in the prior two months.
A day laborer center could fight wage theft by requiring employers to register with the site, Newman said. It could offer English classes and job development skills. By setting a minimum wage - the going rate in Carrboro is $10 per hour, he said - it could eliminate workers competing for cheaper wages just to get a day's work.
The town has looked at alternative sites, including near Willow Creek shopping center, that did not work out, Alderwoman Randee Haven-ODonnell said Saturday. "When El Centro moved to Carrboro Plaza, we saw a great opportunity," she said.
De Latorre said it's possible, if the location works out, that workers would use it. El Centro is less than a mile from Jones Ferry and Davie roads.
But it won't be easy, he said. The men have waited at the corner a long time. It's across the street from Abbey Court and close to other apartments where many of them live.
"The corner is a part of Carrboro," he said.
mark.schultz@nando.com or 932-2003

Anti-loitering law challenged

2011-06-27T11:23:00.001-04:00

GROUPS SAYS DAY LABORERS SITE RESTRICTIONS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
BY MARK SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER (The Chapel Hill News)

CARRBORO - The Durham-based Southern Coalition for Social Justice has asked Carrboro leaders to rescind the town's anti-loitering ordinance because it is unconstitutional.
The ordinance targets the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie roads where dozens of Latino and black men gather daily to wait for work. It makes it a misdemeanor for any person to "stand, sit, recline, linger, or otherwise remain within the area" from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.
"The ordinance has interfered with workers' ability to obtain employment during these times," says a letter from the coalition signed by staff attorney Christopher Brook and others. "Workers who have risked violating the law in an effort to put food on their families' tables that evening have been subjected to humiliating herding off the street by Carrboro police officers in their cruisers."
The letter, sent to Town Attorney Mike Brough and the Board of Aldermen, was also signed by lawyers from the North Carolina NAACP, ACLU of North Carolina, N.C. Justice Center, the N.C. Immigrant Rights Project, UNC Center for Civil Rights, UNC School of Law Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity, and professors in the UNC Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic and UNC Civil Legal Assistance Clinic.
The aldermen have not discussed the letter, which was dated June 16. Several interviewed last week said the issue could possibly be resolved if efforts to establish a day laborer center, the subject of a meeting this weekend at El Centro Hispano in Carrboro Plaza, succeed. (See sidebar, page 5A.)
Longtime Alderwoman Jacquie Gist acknowledged the anti-loitering ordinance was controversial. But she said the board was responding to community concerns on both sides of the issue when it approved the rules four years ago and that Brough wrote the language carefully.
"This arose when people not only felt uncomfortable but threatened walking past that corner," Gist said. "We did not want to prevent anybody from getting work."
Alderman Sammy Slade, who was not on the board when it passed the ordinance in 2007, said it has always surprised him.
"I can see how that letter makes sense," Slade said. "If people do something illegal that's why we have police."
The letter cites a 2009 Court of Appeals case, North Carolina v. Mello, that the coalition letter says struck down a Winston-Salem anti-loitering ordinance. The court said "mere presence in a public place cannot constitute a crime" because it failed to prove intent and because it would curb such permissible activities as hailing a cab, distributing fliers or collecting donations.
"While the ordinance may have been adopted with legitimate ends in mind, this cannot justify encroaching on First Amendment-protected activity," the letter says.
The aldermen meet this Tuesday for the last time before their summer break. Alderwoman Lydia Lavelle, who also was not yet on the board when it passed the ordinance, said the issue needs more time than is available this week.
Lavelle is an attorney and teaches law at N.C. Central University, where she's had her students write about the ordinance. She said the aldermen have three choices: do nothing, modify the ordinance or do away with it.
"I have some concerns about it, I do," she said. "I respect [Brough's] opinion, but there are two sides of it, and I am a little troubled by it."
mark.schultz@nando.com or 932-2003

Families falling into poverty as parents seek work

2011-06-24T10:42:00.000-04:00

By MIKE KERNELS - News & Record of Greensboro

Tags: NC Newly Poor

JULIAN, N.C. -- They don't look poor.
Until they show you.
There's the refrigerator dotted with family pictures. Open it. It's empty.
The pantry: empty. Cupboards: empty.
Under the sink: watered-down dishwasher detergent.
In the bathroom: McDonald's napkins for toilet paper.
The walls are bare, not by design but by choice, in case they need to leave quickly.
Meet the Struble family: father Todd, mother Diane and their five kids, ages 6 to 17.
Pull up a chair. You're welcome to stay for dinner. As long as you like soup.
Poverty has a new face: families.
In May, 13.9 million people were unemployed - more than at any other time on record - according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Textiles. Manufacturing. Call centers. In North Carolina, their continual collapse has led to a state unemployment rate of 9.7 percent as of April - the nation's 10th worst.
That's left 433,969 people without jobs, the state Employment Security Commission estimates.
Pastor/paralegal Todd Struble is among them.
And with unemployment so high for so long, most economists predict it will take years before the country will fully recover.
To say nothing of the American family.
Since the recession hit in December 2007, they've been dropping out of the middle class in droves. And falling deeper into poverty.
The government considers a family of four to be impoverished if it makes less than $22,350.
Of the 2.2 million children who live in the state, 504,937 - roughly 22 percent - live in poverty.
The Strubles' middle son, Ben, wishes he wasn't one of them.
"It's tough trying to deal with all this," the 13-year-old says. "I'm just trying to take all this in. Some days are easier than others.
"I want to change it, but I can't."
A job isn't necessarily protection from poverty.
Consider $7.25 - the state's minimum hourly wage. Studies have shown it's not enough to pay rent for a two-bedroom apartment, much less food.
Then there's $30,000 - the median income for all occupations in the state in 2009, according to an AFL-CIO report in April.
Finally, according to The National Center on Family Homelessness, there is 18,597 - the number of children statewide who are homeless each year, with 1,717 in Guilford County.
School officials were so alarmed by that figure - up from 1,194 in 2006-07 - that they created a job this year to deal with it.
Enter Susan Eubanks, supervisor of homeless and transitional services for the school system.
"As these numbers kept growing," Eubanks says, "we realized this was not going away."
Impoverished students share some traits: Wearing the same clothes day after day. Looking disheveled. Being inattentive in class.
And being hungry.
Identifying them is easy.
Keeping tabs on them is harder. With money scarce, families become nomadic.
"They could be living in a shelter one day and a car the next," says Eubanks, 60, a veteran educator.
Once at school, they are fed, given clothes and supplies, if needed, and sent to class.
For a few hours at least, school provides an escape. But eventually, it ends.
Home, wherever that may be on a given day, awaits. And, most likely, hunger.
"I don't want to think about that. I can drive myself crazy thinking about that," Eubanks says. "We have our limits. ... We can't do enough."
Wednesday. 3:18 p.m. Alamance Church Road.
Diane Struble is making the monthly panic-filled pilgrimage to pay the power bill.
"I used to pay bills by mail, but not anymore - I bounce checks," says the 45-year-old Head Start teacher as her gold Honda goes hard into a curve. "Plus, it's the last day. I need to get this in by 5 or they'll cut off the power."
Again.
Gas. Phones. They've been cut off before, too.
Their two-story home is a rental, and they're months behind on payments.
But one crisis at a time.
She stops at a church to pick up a check.
"I don't want sympathy, pity or charity," Struble says, "but I'm taking it because I have to."
A national disgrace.
That's what the Rev. Mike Aiken calls it.
"We're the wealthiest country in the world, and we have kids who are going to bed hungry through no fault of their own," says Aiken, the longtime executive director of Greensboro Urban Ministry. "It's basic human rights. They shouldn't have to go through that."
For some in this generation of children, their lives are reminiscent of how their great-grandparents described growing up during the Great Depression.
No food. No money. Little hope.
Their future was set in motion when the area's textile companies, furniture manufacturers and call centers began eliminating jobs. It's a list that's as daunting as it is distinguished.
January-December 2007: Cone Denim, 400 jobs.
February-March 2009: RF Micro Devices, 195 jobs.
August 2010: Thomas Built Buses, 219 jobs.
January-May 2011: American Express, 1,764 jobs.
When the plant where she worked closed, Marci Stutts wasn't worried.
But that was then.
Now, she's in a Greensboro homeless shelter.
"I took working for granted," says Stutts, 37, who has a 6-month-old daughter. "I never knew finding a job would be as hard as it's been."
And it has been hard for many people.
One morning, Mike Aiken walked into his emergency shelter and witnessed the fallout.
"What I saw," he says, "was a lobby full of people."
Back in Struble's car, she's having a nuclear-family meltdown.
"Every time we pay a bill this large, I think, 'We need to get this budget under control,' but we don't have a budget.
"It's stressful. Anything can happen. If I had a flat tire, I'd have a heart attack, and not because of the tire.
"I try to say, 'This is only temporary.' But I've been saying that for 16 months, and it's getting scary."
For those who work in the area's shelters and soup kitchens, bad news about the economy's toll on the poor has become routine.
But a March report contained something that shocked even them: Roughly 25 percent of area residents said they were too broke to feed themselves or their families.
That was from a survey conducted by Gallup for the Food Research and Action Center.
Nationally, the Greensboro-High Point metro area ranked fourth and Winston-Salem third in the number of people who said they couldn't afford food.
"I was stunned," says Clyde W. Fitzgerald Jr., executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, which serves 18 counties, including Guilford.
"We knew the problem was severe, but hearing the rankings is numbing, in spite of all we've done. Nobody should be hungry, but certainly not a child."
In 2008, Second Harvest served 130,000 people. So far this year, it's been over 300,000.
The Winston-Salem-based operation even ran out of food once.
"We deal with folks who say today wasn't their turn to eat," says Fitzgerald, a former tobacco executive.
At Mary's House, a Greensboro shelter for women and children, staffers have heard something equally as heartbreaking: former donors asking for assistance.
"You have always had the chronically poor, but this is as bad as I've ever seen," says Craig Thomas, the passionate 62-year-old executive director. "These are people who never had to ask for help in their lives. Never. The adults I feel bad for ..."
Thomas has to stop for a second.
"The children haunt me. They're innocent victims in all this."
Struble pays the power bill with minutes to spare. Crisis averted. Today's, at least.
She no sooner leaves for home when she has to pull over.
"I need to do some deep breathing," says Struble, her forehead coming to rest on the steering wheel. "There's a lot going through my mind right now.
"You really wanna know? How drained I'm going to be when I get home. I've got five kids who need this or that. And I'm tired. If I could go to bed, I would. My kids deserve to have someone who will be there for them."
As if in agreement, her cellphone rings. But she doesn't answer.
"Sometimes, I don't want to be accessible."

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/06/20/1286000/families-falling-into-poverty.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1QCiSDYxw

Unemployment applications jump by most in a month

2011-06-23T17:00:00.000-04:00

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON — The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose by the most in a month, signaling growing weakness in the job market.
Applications rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the second increase in three weeks and the 11th straight week that applications have been above 400,000.
The four-week average for unemployment benefit applications, a less volatile measure, was unchanged at 426,250 last week.
Applications dipped below 400,000 in February and stayed under that threshold for seven of the following nine weeks. Applications fell as low as 375,000, a level that signals sustainable job growth. But applications surged in April to an eight-month high of 478,000 and have shown only modest improvement since that time.
Stocks appeared to be headed for another losing day. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 175 points in early-morning trading.
Analysts said the June trend in unemployment applications was consistent with modest payroll growth of around 130,000 per month.
The economy needs to generate at least 125,000 jobs per month just to keep up with population growth. And at least twice that many jobs are needed to bring down the unemployment rate, which rose to 9.1 percent in May.
"We need initial claims to fall back below 400,000 to signal stronger economic growth than the area we seem to be mired in," said analysts John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros at RDQ.
Companies pulled back on hiring in the spring in the face of higher gas and food prices. That has cut into consumer spending on other discretionary items, such as furniture and appliances, which help boost economic growth.
Employers added only 54,000 net new jobs in May, much slower than the average gain of 220,000 per month in the previous three months.
The Federal Reserve acknowledged on Wednesday that the economy has slowed in recent months. Fed officials also said in a statement summing up their two-day meeting that "recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated."
As a result, the Fed reduced its forecast for employment and growth this year. It projects that unemployment at the end of 2011 will be around 8.6 percent to 8.9 percent. That's more pessimistic than its forecast from two months ago, which had put the unemployment rate at 8.4 percent to 8.7 percent by year's end.
That pessimism is also seen in projections by private economists. According to an Associated Press Economy survey last week, the nation will add only about 1.9 million jobs this year and the unemployment rate will fall to only 8.7 percent at the end of the year.
The Labor Department reported that computer processing problems forced the agency to make estimates for five states and one territory last week. The states affected were Ohio, Mississippi, Oregon, New Hampshire, Washington state and the Virgin Islands. That means the national figure could be revised slightly when the actual data from those states is processed.
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits dropped by 1,000 to 3.7 million. But that doesn't include the millions of additional unemployed Americans receiving benefits under emergency benefit programs put in place during the recession.
All told, 7.5 million received benefits during the week ending June 4, that's up by 137,000 from the previous week.
More hiring is critical to boosting the economic growth. It leads to greater consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity. Consumer spending slowed to a 2.2 percent growth rate in the first three months of this year. The weakness reflected the rise in gas prices.
The Fed on Wednesday left a key interest rate unchanged at near zero percent and repeated a pledge to keep rates exceptionally low for "an extended period."
Fed officials said in a statement that they think the main causes of the economy's slowdown, such as high gas prices and supply disruptions from Japan's disasters, are temporary. Once those problems subside, Fed officials said the economy should rebound.
But at a news conference after the statement was released, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that some of the problems slowing the economy could persist into next year. He cited continued weakness in the financial sector and persistent problems in the housing market.

OWASA's Taste of Hope program expands donation options

2011-05-27T12:09:00.000-04:00

Donors in the Taste of Hope Customer Assistance program now have the option to choose any whole dollar donation per month ($2.00, $5.00, $10.00, etc). The current option of rounding up bills to the next whole dollar amount remains available.

OWASA and the Inter-Faith Council (IFC), a community service agency which provides crisis intervention, food, shelter and other services to families in need, founded the Taste of Hope Customer Assistance Program in 1997 to help families unable to pay an OWASA bill. To date, participating donors’ monthly bills have been rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the added amount goes to the IFC to help families pay their OWASA bills.

OWASA cannot use its customer revenues to support or promote the Taste of Hope program; it is funded entirely with voluntary donations. OWASA can use its water and sewer revenues only for public water and sewer purposes, which do not include private financial assistance.

“We encourage customers who want to contribute a greater amount to the Taste of Hope program to make use of this new option,” said Stephen Winters, OWASA’s Director of Finance and Customer Service. In recent years, Taste of Hope donations have totaled about $7,000 per year, and the IFC has been able to help a family with an OWASA bill only once a year. About 1,200 or 6% of OWASA’s 20,000 customers are now monthly donors in the Taste of Hope program.

“Whether you have your bills simply rounded up to the next dollar or choose a larger monthly donation, we ask everyone who can afford to do so to become a monthly Taste of Hope donor,” Winters said.

Customers who wish to become Taste of Hope donors, and existing Taste of Hope donors who wish to increase their monthly donations to a whole dollar amount, are invited to click here to sign up and to choose the amount of monthly donations. If you receive this information in paper form, please go to the OWASA website, www.owasa.org, and click on the Taste of Hope graphic on the left side of the homepage. The Taste of Hope webpage includes the link to sign up as a donor.

People who do not wish to donate monthly or who do not receive an OWASA bill are invited to donate to the Taste of Hope program by sending a check directly to the IFC at 110 East Main Street, Carrboro, NC 27510.

For more information:

Stephen Winters, OWASA’s Director of Finance and Customer Service, 537-4230 or swinters@owasa.org

Chris Moran, Executive Director, Inter-Faith Council, 929-6380 or executive@ifcmailbox.org

New Community House video on YouTube

2011-04-22T14:01:00.000-04:00

Please log in to YouTube at New Community House @ 1315 MLK and give our new video a "thumbs up" to show your support for a new and better transitional shelter for Orange County's homeless men.

The Food Effect

2011-04-19T15:04:00.000-04:00

The Food Effect is an online campaign being launched by the North Carolina Pork Council and the North Carolina Association of Feeding America Food Banks to spread awareness about childhood hunger in North Carolina. The campaign allows North Carolinians to donate their voice, time and funding to combat this growing problem.

For more information, check out what Alan Briggs, Executive Director of the NC Association of Feeding America Food Banks has to say about the campaign in this YouTube video, or watch this video from News 14 Carolina.

CROP Walk 2011 video

2011-04-04T11:38:00.000-04:00

The 25th Annual Chapel Hill/Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk was held on March 27, 2011. Approximately 400 walkers braved the cold and wind to walk in support of people locally and around the world who need food assistance.

We still have some 2011 CROP Hunger Walk T-shirts.While they last, we’ll give a free T-shirt to anyone who stops by the IFC at 110 W. Main Street in Carrboro and makes a donation of $10 or more.

"New site offers potential" by Herb Paul

2011-03-16T10:08:00.000-04:00

The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service has been providing food and emergency housing to the homeless for almost 50 years. In 2008, UNC offered to lease a tract of land to the town for purposes of building the new Community House at 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. In June 2010 we submitted our Special Use Permit application, and we are delighted to report that four town advisory boards have unanimously recommended approval.

The Community Kitchen will not move to the new location. The new facility will operate as a step-up program designed to transition 52 men from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Men enrolled in the program will be required to maintain sobriety and commitment to our philosophy. They will have individual treatment plans based on their specific needs and goals, and will receive job coaching, medical care, mental health services, social services, etc. Our aim is to promote independence and self reliance through a model that empowers residents, develops skills, renews lives, and reduces homelessness.

Also, until the community is able to provide other emergency housing for homeless men, the IFC will provide up to 17 cots on bad weather nights when it is unsafe for homeless persons to sleep outside. Homeless men seeking emergency shelter will be screened off-site and transported to and from the new Community House. Strict no-visitors/no drop-in policies and an 8 p.m. curfew for all residents will be in effect.

The road to 1315 MLK has been difficult. The public search for a suitable and permanent location focused on dozens of properties and took more than 10 years.

The IFC has welcomed all comments and sought dialogue with concerned individuals, neighborhoods and citizens. Last spring we conducted three Community Discussions for this purpose. We listened to community concerns and recommendations and incorporated a number of changes and improvements in the building's design and in the program.

At the suggestion of community residents, we have added on-site recreational facilities, including an exercise room and garden. The men will learn gardening skills and cooking skills as they manage their own kitchen.

In response to residents' concerns about safety, the Chapel Hill Police Department suggested landscape changes that would provide improved sight lines and better monitoring of activity at Community House and surrounding grounds. The police have also made a commitment to increase patrols and will enforce trespassing violations in Homestead Park after sundown or before dawn.

The IFC has communicated the clear distinction between transitional housing and emergency shelter. We continue to collaborate with local congregations to assess whether other facilities can be made available for emergency shelter.

Finally, the IFC is preparing a Good Neighbor Plan and will submit it to the Town Manager for approval prior to building the new Community House.

The Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, donors and recipients of IFC services look forward to the public hearing on March 21. We are so grateful to our supporters and confident that we will provide even better services for those in need throughout our community if we gain approval for Community House to relocate to 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Herb Paul is president of the IFC Board of Directors.

NC ranks sixth in food insecurity in 2010

2011-03-14T17:20:00.000-04:00

In a March 2011 report of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), North Carolina ranked sixth in the nation for food hardship in 2010, with a 23.5 percent rate of food hardship. The national average was 18 percent. This means that more than one in five respondents in our state answered "yes" when asked by Gallup if they did not have enough money to buy food at some point in the last 12 months. See the complete report here.

US Government recognizes reducing homeless as human rights obligation

2011-03-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty's press release saying that the US Government has recognized that reducing homelessness is an obligation, in response to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Read more here.

Record-setting food drive

2011-03-07T14:19:00.000-05:00

The N.C. School of Science and Mathematics raised 540,508 pounds of canned food donations for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, unofficially breaking the Guinness World Record for the most nonperishable food collected in one day at one location. As a food bank affiliate, the IFC will receive a portion of the proceeds.

Position Available

2011-02-25T16:07:00.000-05:00

Part-time Manager (female) needed immediately for IFC’s HomeStart transitional housing campus for women and children. Seeking responsible, friendly, organized applicants with good interpersonal skills. Must be interested in providing quality services to the homeless and able to function well in a fast-paced environment. A sense of humor will serve you well. Responsibilities include: enforcing policies and procedures for the residential community, maintaining a safe and clean environment, supervising volunteers. Must be available to work evenings and weekends. Weekday availability a plus! We believe in promoting from within on these positions and full-time employment includes a very generous benefits package. Starting rate is $12.00 per hour. Applications are available online at www.ifcweb.org or may be picked up at our offices at 110 West Main Street, Carrboro, NC 27510. Please send your completed application, along with a cover letter stating why you think this job would be a good fit with your skills, to John Dorward at the address above. You may also fax the items to 919-929-3353 or email them to finance@ifcmailbox.org. No phone calls. EOE

Chapel Hill/Carrboro Crop Walk

2011-02-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

During the past quarter century over $1 million has been raised by the Chapel Hill/Carrboro CROP Hunger. This walk supports hunger relief efforts both locally and internationally. Locally, the event helps the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service offer three meals each day at the Community Kitchen and provide much-needed groceries to at-risk families in the community. It also helps fund the excellent work that Church World Service does around the world

The walk is a four mile stroll along the streets of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and through the UNC campus. A shorter route also is available. Entertainment and snacks will be provided.

The 25th Annual Chapel Hill/Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk will be March 27, 2011, beginning and ending at the Carrboro Town Commons. Registration is at 1:30 and the walk begins at 2:30.

Help end hunger one step at a time. Sign up to walk, or support the "IFC Striders" or other groups or individuals as they walk at: www.cropwalkonline.org/chapelhillnc

Also, if you or someone you know like to help recruit walkers from your congregation or organization CROP Walk "Step 1" sessions will be held Feb 10 (7pm) and Feb 12 (10am) at the Carrboro IFC building. Attend either one to get information, strategies, tips, and materials that will make you a successful recruiter. For more info, contact Rex at 919-929-6380 x20 or cropwalk@ifcmailbox.org.

We need your help!

You can check out either of the following webpages for more info: http://www.cropwalkonline.org/chapelhillnc or http://ifcweb.org/cropwalk.html or check out Chapel Hill/Carrboro Crop Hunger Walk on facebook!

Poverty and Recovery

2011-01-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

Today's NY Times editorial about growing poverty across the USA is worth reading. Orange County leads all NC counties and our state with disturbing numbers of 1 in 5 of us now at 100% of poverty. The nation's numbers are 1 in 7. We exceed the state's number by 1.7%. Poverty only leads to more hunger and homelessness. "The portents going forward are not good."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/opinion/19wed1.html

Vigils Across the Country Remember Homeless Men and Women

2010-12-22T14:57:00.002-05:00

http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2010/12/21/the-longest-night-to-include-memorial-for-homeless

On December 21st, communities across the country mourned the deaths of their homeless residents this past year. Vigils celebrated the longest night of the year in memory of these precious lives lost in cities and states such as Greensboro, Asheville, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Baltimore, Tulsa, Denver, Vermont, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Richmond, Tallahassee, and Boise. These vigils remind us that homelessness in these difficult economic times is a powerful reality for many.

As the days and nights grow colder this winter, please keep in mind those who are living on the street or in inadequate housing. Your contributions of BLANKETS and FOOD provide vital sustenance to our friends in this community suffering from the crippling effects of poverty. In addition, your support of the Community House initiative will help prevent the loss of lives in our own community. If you are interested in making an additional contribution this holiday season or would like to find out how you can become involved in tackling the problems associated with homelessness, please contact us at:

Inter-Faith Council for Social Service

110 W. Main Street
Carrboro, NC 27510
or visit our website at http://ifcweb.org/contribute.html

California Heroes

2010-12-22T14:06:00.000-05:00

While the Staff, Volunteers, and Partners of Inter-Faith Council hear the contributions made by our friends in the community that lack appropriate shelter, this couple received media attention across the state of California after rescuing a family of four from a sinking car. Undoubtedly the family must have felt as if they were being saved by a guardian angel. During this Holiday season, please keep in mind the unseen angels that contribute to our community in ways we may never fully understand.
http://www.modbee.com/2010/12/20/1480604/homeless-pair-comes-to-rescue.html
.

IFC Needs to Raise $21,000 to provide over 800 holiday meals to families in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro area!

2010-12-02T10:34:00.000-05:00

Only $25 helps IFC offer a holiday meal to an entire family--a turkey or ham, stuffing, vegetables, bread and dessert. Holiday meal requests have gone up! IFC needs to collect $21,000 this year to provide approximately 840 meals! Donate now! Find out how by visiting IFC's website!www.ifcweb.org

IFC Needs Support for its Holiday Coupon Campaign!!

2010-11-17T10:29:00.001-05:00

Only $25 helps us offer a holiday meal to an entire family--a turkey or ham, stuffing, vegetables, bread and dessert. In the Fall of 2009, community donors gave $19,036.31 which helped us provide 823 holiday meals for 2,422 persons. The need for holiday meals has increased! This year IFC has had approximately 840 families sign up for holiday meals and needs to raise approximately $21,000 to provide them with meals! As we approach the holiday season, please consider sharing a holiday meal with someone who might not otherwise get one by participating in our Holiday Coupon campaign.
For a holiday coupon, to learn how to donate, or for more information see IFC's website.

See the related Daily Tarheel article by clicking here.

Got lunch or dinner plans? RSVVP is today! Support local Chapel Hill and Carrboro restaurants and in turn support IFC!

2010-11-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

Don't forget today, November 9th is RSVVP Day!!! IFC's RSVVP (Restaurants Sharing Ten Percent) campaign is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a great dinner out and support IFC plus it's easy! Plan to eat out at one of the many area restaurants listed on IFC's website as participating in the event. Participating restaurants will donated 10% of their sales that night to IFC which enables IFC to purchase food when food pantry and soup kitchen supplies run low.

You can find a list of participating restaurants and more information about IFC's RSVVP event at IFC's website or at : http://www.ifcweb.org/rsvvp2010.html

Help the IFC get a great review! Write a review on www.greatnonprofits.org!

2010-11-04T10:24:00.000-04:00

Help IFC get a great review! Write a review on the website listed below! Great Nonprofits is launching the 2010 Food & Shelter Campaign. This campaign will recognize the top-rated nonprofits working on issues related to homelessness and hunger....If a nonprofit has at least 10 positive reviews (4 or 5 stars) by November 30th, 2010,then they will be placed on the Great NonprofitsTop-Rated Food & Shelter Nonprofits List. If you support the work being done by IFC, take just five minutes and write a great review!

Reviews can be written at the following link!

Chapel Hill Town Council Meeting Tonight at 7pm

2010-11-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

Chapel Hill Town Council meeting tonight at 7pm
Town Hall - Council Chamber
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

This meeting was originally scheduled for 10/19. The Planning Board at that time will receive a report from the Shelter Guidelines Committee for discussion. Please contact Tom Whisnant at project@IFCMailbox.org or telephone 929-6380 ext 27 if you can come.

IFC's RSVVP campaign is one week away! Eat out in Chapel Hill/Carrboro on November 9th!

2010-11-02T14:37:00.000-04:00

IFC's RSVVP (Restaurants Sharing Ten Percent) campaign is only one week away on November 9th! This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a great dinner out and support IFC plus it's easy! Just mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 9th and plan to eat out at one of the many area restaurants listed on IFC's website as participating in the event. Participating restaurants will donated 10% of their sales that night to IFC which enables IFC to purchase food when food pantry and soup kitchen supplies run low.

You can find a list of participating restaurants and more information about IFC's RSVVP event at IFC's website.

OdysseyStage Theatre presents "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" on Sunday November 7 at 3pm at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Admission is one can food donated to IFC!

2010-10-27T11:28:00.000-04:00

OdysseyStage Theatre presents “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

OdysseyStage’s Senior Readers Theatre and The ArtsCenter present a special matinee performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” on Sunday, November 7 at 3:00 pm at The ArtsCenter, 300-G East Main St. in Carrboro. The admission price is one can of food, which will help stock the food pantry of The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service.

This haunting tale of a man who is born old and grows younger is widely known through the recent film starring Brad Pitt, but the original story from 1922 has its own unique poignancy and humor received accolades in September as part of Readers Theatre at Lunch series, a program for seniors to participate in drama as actors and audience members. The 45-minute presentation was adapted by John Paul Middlesworth, for Senior Readers Theatre

The program is also made possible by a grant from the BJH Foundation for Senior Services.

Further information is available by calling OdysseyStage Theatre at 929-6611 or visiting www.odysseystage.org.

RSVVP event is only 2 weeks away on November 9th! Mark your calendar!

2010-10-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

IFC's RSVVP (Restaurants Sharing Ten Percent) campaign is only two weeks away on November 9th! This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a great dinner out and support IFC plus it's easy! Just mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 9th and plan to eat out at one of the many area restaurants listed on IFC's website as participating in the event. Participating restaurants will donated 10% of their sales that night to IFC which enables IFC to purchase food when food pantry and soup kitchen supplies run low.
You can find a list of participating restaurants and more information about IFC's RSVVP event at IFC's website.

IFC Annual Meeting is Tomorrow!

2010-10-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

IFC's annual meeting is tomorrow! Are you coming? You should! Lots of good company, good food, and good things to learn regarding the work that IFC is doing.

IFC Annual Meeting

Thursday, October 21, 2010

6:00 - 8:30pm

Come learn about IFC's programs and plans for new facilities! Meet the architects and our new Project Manager! Find out how you can help! Please bring a dish to share.

United Church of Chapel Hill

1321 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Fellowship Room

Please let us know if you are planning to attend. Send your name and your affiliation (if any) by email to rsvp@ifcmailbox.org or call Elizabeth at (919) 929-6380 ext.15. Hope to see you there!

Project Homeless Connect

2010-10-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

IFC will be participating in this event again this year. Please pass this information along to anyone who you feel could benefit from this event.

The 4th annual

Project Homeless Connect

Orange County

will be held on

Thursday, November 4, 2010

from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm

at the Hargraves Community Center

in Chapel Hill.

Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop event to link people who are homeless or at risk with needed services.

This year we anticipate serving over 275 guests with over 50 service providers and 300 volunteers participating. Since 2007 the event has served nearly 600 guests with job-readiness resources, health and dental care, mental health assistance, social services, legal services, housing, and more. Project Homeless Connect is a key initiative of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness

For more information:
<http://www.co.orange.nc.us/housing/endinghomelessness.asp> .

IFC's Annual meeting is only a week away, October 21, 2010! Are you planning to come?

2010-10-14T09:16:00.000-04:00

IFC's annual meeting is only one week away. Are you coming? You should! Lots of good company, good food, and good things to learn regarding the work that IFC is doing.

IFC Annual Meeting

Thursday, October 21, 2010

6:00 - 8:30pm

Come learn about IFC's programs and plans for new facilities! Meet the architects and our new Project Manager! Find out how you can help! Please bring a dish to share.

United Church of Chapel Hill

1321 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Fellowship Room

Please let us know if you are planning to attend. Send your name and your affiliation (if any) by email to rsvp@ifcmailbox.org or call Elizabeth at (919) 929-6380 ext.15. Hope to see you there!

IFC's Food Pantry has served 3,000 families already this year.

2010-10-13T11:24:00.000-04:00

As of September, the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service had served 3,000 families at it's food pantry in 2010. This shows a 24 % increase already since last year and is a new record for IFC! That means that IFC needs all the help that we can get in securing more food items for the pantry!

Click here for The Daily Tar Heel article detailing IFC's reaching the 3,000 mark for families served by the food pantry.

Click here for more information about how you can donate to IFC's food pantry!

IFC's Annual Meeting is only 2 weeks away, October 21, 2010! Register Now!

2010-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

IFC's annual meeting is only two weeks away, RSVP now...
IFC Annual Meeting

Thursday, October 21, 2010

6:00 - 8:30pm

Come learn about IFC's programs and plans for new facilities! Meet the architects and our new Project Manager! Find out how you can help! Please bring a dish to share.

United Church of Chapel Hill
1321 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Fellowship Room

Please let us know if you are planning to attend. Send your name and your affiliation (if any) by email to rsvp@ifcmailbox.org or call Elizabeth at (919) 929-6380 ext.15.

IFC Kicks off RSVVP Campaign taking place on November 9th! Mark your calenders now!

2010-10-06T10:26:00.000-04:00

This past Monday, The Interfaith Council for Social Service (IFC) kicked of its RSVVP (Restaurants Sharing Ten Percent) campaign by honoring restaurants with 10, 15, and 20 years of service to the program at IFC's Community House shelter. 2010 marks the 22nd year of the RSVVP campaign. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a great dinner out and support IFC plus it's easy! Just mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 9th and plan to eat out at one of the many area restaurants listed on IFC's website as participating in the event. Participating restaurants will donated 10% of their sales that night to IFC which enables IFC to purchase food when food pantry and soup kitchen supplies run low.

For more information about IFC's RSVVP kick off, check out the article in the Daily Tarheel.

You can find a list of participating restaurants and more information about IFC's RSVVP event at IFC's website.

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM IFC ABOUT THE STEWARDS FUND CHALLENGE

2010-10-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service (IFC) is in the running for a challenge grant from The Stewards Fund. The challenge grant is an all-or-nothing challenge that requires that the IFC raise money in the form of new and increased gifts. You can help out by:

1) Becoming a first-time donor to IFC.

2) Giving a gift if you are a lapsed donor (lapsed donors are those who have not given in the last fiscal year)

3) Increasing the amount of your gift to IFC if you are a regular donor (only the incremental portion of the increased gifts from existing donors will count toward the challenge amount).

In order to receive a matching funds grant from The Stewards Fund, IFC must come up with at least $50,000 in supporting funds by December 31, 2010. So, IFC needs you to donate NOW in order to raise the funds necessary to receive the grant!

To donate, please send a check to:
John Dorward
Inter-Faith Council for Social Service

110 W. Main St.

Carrboro, NC 27510

We'll also be glad to help you pay by credit card! Call (919) 929-6380, ext. 14 for John or ext. 12 for Frances.

Thank you to The Stewards Fund and to IFC supporters for making this opportunity possible!

August Figures Show that Unemployment Rate in Triangle Stays at 8%

2010-09-29T11:46:00.000-04:00

The unemployment rate in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area remains at 8 percent in August, according to records released by the NC Employment Security Commission on Friday.

The state's overall unemployment rate is 9.8%. The good news is that the number of jobless has declined in 82 of NC's 100 counties.

For more information, check out the following link on WRAL's website:
http://www.wral.com/business/story/8343577/

This means that there are still many people who are without a job. One of the ways that you can help out is by supporting IFC's food pantry. Food contributions appear to be down and we need help collecting essential food items that households now depend on. The list of usual items that are needed can be found at
http://www.ifcweb.org/foodneeds.html

Dine out and help end childhood hunger!

2010-09-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out is going on this week. Dine out at participating restaurants, and help end childhood hunger in America. Use the link below to find a participating restaurant near you:

http://strength.org/apps/dineout/index.php/Google/DisplayMap

Come out to Farmers' Markets in the Triangle Area this Saturday and Help Fight Hunger!

2010-09-22T10:12:00.001-04:00

The Triangle Foodshare Challenge will be held Saturday from 8am to noon at the Carrboro, South Estes (Chapel Hill), Durham, and Western Wake (Cary) farmers' markets.

Each market hopes to collect 1,000 pounds of donated fresh food to help local feeding charities, including the Interfaith Council for Social Service. Those who would like to participate can either donate cash for food to be bought from farmer's or they can purchase food directly from farmer's to donate to the cause. Those who cannot stop by a participating farmer's market on Saturday can donate online at The Abundance Foundation's web site, theabundancefoundation.org/farmer-foodshare. Donated funds will be used to purchase food products from the farmer's markets.

For more information, please see the Chapel Hill News Article.

For directions and more information about the participating farmers' markets:

Carrboro Farmers' Market
The Carrboro Farmers' Market, now in its 32nd season, is located at the Carrboro Town Commons at 301 W. Main St., the market is open Saturday mornings year round and Wednesday afternoons from April 14 through late November.

South Estes Farmers' Market
The South Estes Farmers' Market is held in the Southern Season parking lot at University Mall, 201 S. Estes Dr. It is open Saturday mornings year-round and Tuesday afternoons from May to November.

Durham Farmers' Market
The Durham Farmers' Market is held every Saturday morning and Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30 pm in the Pavilion in Durham Central Park in downtown Durham, 501 Foster Street (on the corner of Foster Street and Hunt Avenue).

Western Wake Farmers' Market
The Western Wake Farmers' Market is held Saturday mornings from April to November. It is located in Cary on Morrisville Carpenter Rd. between Davis Dr. and Hwy. 55 in Carpenter Village.

IFC's Annual Meeting is One Month Away...October 21, 2010

2010-09-21T16:27:00.000-04:00

IFC's annual meeting is only one month away, RSVP now...

IFC Annual Meeting

Thursday, October 21, 2010

6:00 - 8:30pm

Come learn about IFC's programs and plans for new facilities! Meet the architects and our new Project Manager! Find out how you can help! Please bring a dish to share.

United Church of Chapel Hill

1321 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Fellowship Room

Please let us know if you are planning to attend. Send your name and your affiliation (if any) by email to rsvp@ifcmailbox.org or call Elizabeth at (919) 929-6380 ext.15.

The Number of Americans Living in Povery Increases

2010-09-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans living in poverty is at highest in the recorded history of the Census, which has figures dating back for 51 years. The number of Americans living in poverty was estimated at 43.6 million in 2009.

The official poverty rate computes out to about 1 in 7 Americans who are living in poverty. Also, concerning is the increase in the number of children who are living in poverty from 19% in 2008 to 20.7% in 2009. This means that on average one in five children live in poverty.

The one bit of good news in this report is that the poverty rate among all ages did not rise above 14.3%. As disheartening as that number is, some had predicted the rate might rise as high as 15%.

The government is expected to publish new, supplemental poverty figures beginning next year which are expected to show an even higher number of people in poverty. This leaves no better time than the present to get involved with groups, like IFC, that help fight poverty.

The statistics contained in this posting were published by MSNBC and you can read the full article on their website at : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39211644/ns/us_news-life/

Unseen Tours: Employing London's Homeless as Tour Guides

2010-09-15T11:57:00.002-04:00

Volunteers from the organization Sock Mob, which offers socks and food supplies to London's homeless, have recently launched "Unseen Tours." Unseen Tours employs homeless guides to take tourists on a tour of the city of London. The guides get to keep most of the tour fees to help pay for food and, hopefully, housing.

For more information, see the recent Huffington Post article on Unseen Tours:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/25/unseen-tours-london-homeless_n_694203.html

You can also learn more about Sock Mob and Unseen Tours at their website:
http://www.sockmobevents.org.uk/unseen-tours

The Debate Over Shelters

2010-07-29T10:39:00.001-04:00

There is an interesting debate unfolding in the pages of The Washington Post. In a July 11th article, Dennis Culhane presented five myths about homelessness:

1) Homelessness is a long-term condition.
2) Most of the homeless population suffer from severe mental illness.
3) Homeless people do not work.
4) Shelters are the most humane solution to homelessness.
5) Poverty is an irreparable problem.

Using original research and statistics from HUD, Culhane confronted these myths, attempted to dispel them, and suggested possible solutions. Of particular interest to our work at the IFC, Culhane suggests that residential programs and low-income housing are more efficient remedies for homelessness than emergency shelters. The article makes no explicit mention of transitional programs (like the one proposed for the new Community House), but it does offer harsh criticisms of emergency shelters, calling them "notoriously overcrowded and often unruly places where people experience the ritualized indignities of destitution: long lines for bedding or a squeeze of toothpaste; public showers; thieves; conflict."

Culhane's article can be viewed on The Washington Post's website at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070902357.html.

In response to Culhane, Robert Hauptman (a volunteer at the Shepherd's Table home in Silver Spring, MD) wrote a letter published in the July 18th Post countering Culhane's assessment of emergency shelters and noting that the majority of clients served at Shepherd's Table are homeless on a long-term basis. Hauptman's letter can be viewed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/17/AR2010071702218.html?referrer=emailarticle. Culhane has not yet responded to Hauptman's letter.

The debate is an interesting one to observe, particularly with the discussions in our own community over the effectiveness of emergency shelters, transitional residential programs, and low-income housing.

PORCH

2010-07-09T09:04:00.000-04:00

Just read an interesting article on PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill Carrboro Homes), a local food collection/distribution program that has really taken off this past year. The article also highlights the increase in families needing assistance (a reminder of our difficult economic times) and points to the ever-present need for programs like PORCH and services like those offered by the IFC.

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/07/04/58015/from-porch-to-table.html

Sharon Coulter-James voices continued support of IFC efforts

2010-06-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

Wednesday's Carrboro Citizen features an op-ed piece by Sharon Coulter-James --chair of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness-- in support of the IFC Community House relocation. The Partnership's endorsement of the Community House relocation is much appreciated and serves as a wonderful reminder that the work of the IFC truly makes a difference in this community. See the article here.

United Church passes resolution in favor of Community House

2010-06-09T13:51:00.000-04:00

The United Church of Chapel Hill has passed a resolution welcoming Community House as a neighbor. The resolution was passed unanimously at the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 6th. See it here.

Ten Year Plan supports IFC

2010-06-09T13:40:00.001-04:00

The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness has sent a letter to the Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and the Town Council expressing its organization's support of the IFC's proposed men's transitional facility on Martin Luther King Blvd. See the full letter here.

Living Creatively on Food Stamps

2010-06-04T13:46:00.000-04:00

This article just made its way to my inbox, and Mr. Murrieta’s musings on food stamps and eating on a budget are well worth the read.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2011906512_pacificpfoodhunt30.html

As I read this article, I couldn’t help but think about how hard times can fall on anyone (even those in jobs we would normally think of as luxurious or white collar). With this economy, no job is completely secure, so we need to have that many more safeguards in place for people who experience unexpected job loss and pay reductions.

I was impressed with Mr. Murrieta’s willingness to make the best of his situation and find inventive ways to use the food he was given. One excerpt in particular caused me to snort loudly in the middle of the office when I read it: “Even that mysterious can from the food bank generically stamped ‘Pork with Juices’ promised culinary communion.” I must have bagged half a dozen of those same mysteriously promising cans just yesterday! The “Pork with Juices” (along with several other products) is something which we at the IFC are able to give out to many of our clients through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides a portion of our inventory in the food pantry. TEFAP is a useful resource, but donations from churches and other organizations still provide the bulk of the food distributed by the IFC.

It’s wonderful to read a story about someone who has found ways to survive on food stamps alone (especially someone who now volunteers at a food bank to give back as Mr. Murrieta does!), but there are many more people out there in difficult circumstances who need the assistance of programs like ours. Keep that food coming. Your community needs every can.

Thanks, Peace, and Blessings,
Tom Lewis
IFC Summer Liaison Coordinator

Lifestyles of the Homeless and Soon to be Famous

2010-05-07T14:54:00.000-04:00

It could happen to anyone...

Once-Homeless Famous People:
Actors Michael J. Fox, Danny Bonaduce, Drew Carey, Traci Lords, Jean-Claude Van Damme, comedienne Joan Rivers, folk singer-song writer Woody Guthrie, radio-show host Don Imus, Steven Pressfield, Suze Orman, George Eads, Kelsey Grammer,
Cary Grant, magician Harry Houdini, David Letterman, Sally Jesse Raphael, Debbie Reynolds, Mr. Kentucky Fried Chicken-Harland ‘Colonel’ Sanders, Hillary Swank

Read more here and at http://beckyblanton.com/funny/famous-homeless-people

Steven Pressfield

“It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior’s life.” - Pressfield
Pressfield, a Marine, author and once homeless – living in his Chevy van with his cat, struggled to the top of his field, but is firmly ensconced there after writing “The Gates of War, The War of Art, and The Legend of Bagger Vance, among others. His website, his philosophy and his books are well worth the read, as any military man will tell you. The Gates of War is considered the bible of war for any one entering the military.

Suze Orman.
Suze has been called “a force in the world of personal finance” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse” by USA Today.
USA Today called Suze Orman “a force in the world of personal finance” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse.” She’s also a two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, New York Times mega bestselling author, magazine and online columnist, writer/producer, and one of the top motivational speakers in the world today. With her own shows on television, radio and the internet, plus regular appearances on Oprah, Orman is undeniably America’s most recognized expert on personal finance.
However, she dropped out of college shortly before graduating. According to her most recent book, “Women & Money,” she borrowed $1,500 from her brother, bought a used Ford Econoline Van, and with the help of a friend converted it for sleeping. Then she and two friends took off to “see America.” Shortly after that they got jobs clearing trees from a field. Suze said she lived in the van for two months before getting her next job – as a waitress at the Buttercup Cafe. Although Orman never uses the word “homeless” to describe her stint in the van, the US Census Department would.

George Eads

Actor; star of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation lived out of his car, in Los Angeles while a struggling actor.

Kelsey Grammer

Emmy Award-winning actor; star of the television series Frasier camped out the back of a theater behind his motorcycle (source: Entertainment Tonight, December 12, 2001, celebrity ‘Rags to Riches’ story segment.)

Cary Grant

Oscar-winning actor slept rough on the streets of Southampton, England during a summer in his youth at the time of World War I. (source: book, Cary Grant: A Biography, by Marc Eliot, 2004, page 31: “Archie then volunteered for summer work as a messenger and gofer on the military docks, often sleeping in alleys at night if he didn’t make enough money to rent a cot in a flophouse.”).

Harry Houdini

Magician, escapologist and actor; Hungarian-born American author slept rough and in temporary shelters; left home at age 12 in search of work and traveled for two years on his own, making his way from Wisconsin to Missouri and settling finally in New York City.

David Letterman

Emmy Award-winning television writer, comedian, author and talk-show host of the television talk-show Late Show with David Letterman spent time living out of his Chevy pickup truck while struggling to establish his career.

George Orwell

His real name was Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), but he’s better known by his pen name George Orwell. Blair/Orwell was an English author. His work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense, revolutionary opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language and a belief in democratic socialism.
Considered “perhaps the 20th century’s best chronicler of English culture,” he wrote works in many different genres including novels, essays, polemic journalism, semi-sociological literary criticism, and poetry. His most famous works are Homage to Catalonia (1938); his personal account of his experiences and observations in the Spanish Civil War, the satirical novel Animal Farm (1945), the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), and his numerous essays. Orwell’s influence on popular and political culture remains apparent, with numerous of his literary concepts, and the term “Orwellian” entering the popular vernacular. The origin of his pseudonymic surname “Orwell” can possibly be derived from the river Orwell which, due to being a massive port and having the largest town near his fathers home in Southwold, was a favoured place of his. He stayed in homeless shelters either to research material for his work or more likely, out of necessity.

Sally Jesse Raphael

It is written in her biography, ‘An Unconventional Success’ that she lived in her car for a time. For a while, her financial situation was so dire that she was on food stamps.

Debbie Reynolds
Wrote about having to literally live in her Cadillac for a while after divorcing Harry Karl.

Harland ‘Colonel’ Sanders

Businessman; founder-spokesperson of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurant chain. Became homeless at age 10 when his mother remarried and he left home due to altercations with his stepfather. As an adult he slept on the back seat of his car because he could not afford lodging as he traveled around the United States and Canada, sometimes with his wife Claudia, trying to sign up restaurants to use his special fried chicken recipe for a franchise licensing fee.

Martin Sheen

Emmy Award-winning actor,director and producer; slept in New York City subway while a young struggling actor. Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, (born August 3, 1940) better known by his stage name Martin Sheen,[1] is an actor best known for his performances as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now and President Josiah Bartlet on the television series The West Wing. As well as the critical acclaim he has received as an actor, he has become known as an activist. Born and raised in Ohio, United States, with Irish and Spanish parents, Sheen is also an Irish citizen.
He is the father of actors Carlos Irwin Estévez (Charlie Sheen), Emilio Estévez, Ramón Estévez and Renée Estévez, and is brother of the actor Joe Estevez.

Hillary Swank

In 1989, when she was 15, Swank and her mom packed up their Oldsmobile Delta 88 and, with just $75, headed to Los Angeles. They lived in the car until a friend [evetually] gave them a place to stay. Swank’s mom used a pay phone to book her daughter for auditions. (Readers Digest)

New Crime Reports by Christa Polczynski Olson, PhD.

2010-04-21T13:05:00.000-04:00

At the conclusion of the third "Community Discussion" IFC's Executive Director, Chris Moran reported some new findings about crime numbers based on reports prepared by Christa Polczynski Olson, PhD., Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bridgewater College. Dr. Olson voluntarily prepared these reports based on her interest in homeless crime statistics and projects like IFC Community House. She has compiled the two crime reports for the area around Community House's current location and for the proposed location on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The information derived from these findings provides some new data for the community's interest. These reports are available under the Community Discussions section as "Crime Report for Current Location" and "Crime Report for Proposed Location."

Report from Community Discussions: White Flag Nights

2010-04-20T16:23:00.001-04:00

We would like to thank everyone who came out to the community discussions about the relocation of Community House. It was helpful to hear the input and concerns of those in our community. As we have stated before, “we are community house,” and we all need to learn and work together to alleviate homelessness in Chapel Hill.

There have been many questions at community discussions about white flag nights (when weather conditions, safety, and health concerns for residents require floor space). At the third discussion Chris Moran reported some actual numbers based on IFC findings. These numbers are below.

The following is information gathered from the Bed Lists at Community House from January 2009 through December 2009:
Number of men slept on overflow for the 12 months:   1,688
Number of days we slept men on overflow during the 12 months:    197
Highest number of men slept on any given day:       25
Lowest number of men slept on any given day:         1
Average number of men slept (1,688/365):          5

From July 1 through December 31 we looked at the names of the men who slept on overflow:
Men slept: 563
Men who were not duplicated (slept on multiple nights): 177
Highest number of nights spent by any one man: 37

Lowest number of nights spent by any one man: 1

Hunger in America 2010

2010-04-08T17:53:00.002-04:00

Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org) is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Below is an informative video clip created by this organization. The data throughout the video comes from the 2009 USDA report "Household Food Insecurity in the US, 2008" and the "Hunger in America 2010" report by Feeding America.

"I Support Chapel Hill's New Community House" Facebook Fan Page!

2010-04-05T10:46:00.001-04:00

Thank you for your continued support of the Inter-Faith Council! Now is the time for the IFC to have a permanent place to offer better housing, services and opportunities for Chapel Hill's homeless men.

Join us tonight (April 5th) for our Second Community Discussion. The discussion will be held at the Southern Human Services Center (2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill) at 7pm.

Also, please join us on Facebook in supporting the proposed Community House relocation effort. Click here:

www.facebook.com/isupportcommunityhouse

The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service

24th Annual CROP Walk - Carrboro and Chapel Hill

2010-03-29T12:46:00.000-04:00

The CROP Walk links families and communities together to raise money in order to provide food and other resources for people locally and around the world.

The 24th Annual Chapel Hill CROP Hunger Walk was a success!

Many thanks to those who participated, including about 500 walkers, and all who sponsored them.

And....thanks to Darryl & Mary Freedman who made the video clip below.

An invitation to join our community discussions from Chris Moran

2010-03-24T09:37:00.013-04:00

Dear Friends,

The Inter-Faith Council is preparing for a number of “community discussions” about the new Community House beginning on March 31 at the Southern Human Service Center facilitated by Phil Boyle and F. Scottie Seawell of Leading and Governing Associates. We cordially invite you, our congregations, our donors, our volunteers and our friends to turn out and share in this learning experience about IFC’s new transitional housing program for homeless men.

Not everyone is supporting our move from the Old Municipal Building to the proposed site at 1315 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The IFC has sent invitations to about 1,500 neighbors near the MLK location so we can share the facts about our plans, learn more about opposing views and hear suggestions. The invitation is attached for your review with our hope that you will be able to attend one of the three dates that have been scheduled. We need everyone at the table to share and learn together about a community challenge that affects us all.

In other words, “WE are Community House”.

We need your attendance, your voice and your experiences told in your own words about your connection to IFC programs, our residents and our neighbors in need.

We would also like for you and your congregation or group to support and join IFC’s Facebook, I Support Chapel Hill's New Community House, found on our website at http://www.ifcweb.org. Note that both individuals and groups (congregations, businesses, agencies etc.) can become fans of the new Community House. After the “community discussions”, the IFC will implement a special use permit process (SUP) with the Town of Chapel Hill which will involve the submission of a formal SUP Community House application on June 8. The IFC has been very deliberate about wanting to share information, answer questions and discuss some of the various aspects of our new transitional housing model before submitting our SUP application. You can find more information about Community House, homelessness and other community challenges here on this site, our 'March on Poverty' blog at http://marchonpoverty.blogspot.com.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you should have any questions and need additional information out our plans for the future. We hope to see you at the “community discussions”.

Thank you,

Chris Moran
The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service

Click on this link for the dates of upcoming community discussions

Click on this link for 10 reasons to support Community House

A different kind of extreme makeover: The poverty line

2010-03-11T12:48:00.004-05:00

Below is an article by Megan Greenwell at Change.org. The article discusses some modifications that directly impact those in need and the organizations (like the IFC) that serve them.

The definition of poverty has not been changed since 1965. Although inflation has been a part of the equation, the rising costs of food, rent and utilities have NOT. In other words, while so much has changed in America since 1965, the working definition of poverty has not changed.......in over 40 years.

Read more about how, in 2011, American poverty will increase "from 13.2 to 15.8 percent".
***********************
Government definitions don't mean a whole lot to most people. If you're poor, you're poor, no matter where you sit in relation to someone's arbitrary classification.
So should any of us care about this week's seemingly dry announcement that the Commerce Department is releasing a "supplemental" poverty measure? Absolutely.

Obviously the government standard isn't going to be the first thing on the mind of someone who is struggling to get enough to eat. But if you care about government funding of anti-poverty programs or nonprofits fighting poverty on the front lines, that seemingly dry government announcement becomes a whole lot more relevant.
Ever since it was first spelled out in 1965, the federal definition of poverty has been based exclusively on the cost of an emergency food diet. Oh, and that's the 1955 cost, adjusted for inflation but not the rising cost of food. Do high rent, medical bills, transportation costs or any of those other basics of living contribute to how poor or rich a family is? Not in the minds of the federal government. Until next fall, that is.

Starting in September 2011, the government will incorporate all of those other non-food bills as well as factoring in the cost of living in a given city and including food stamps and other benefits as "income." That is expected to raise the percentage of Americans living in poverty from 13.2 to 15.8 percent (an additional eight million all-of-a-sudden poor Americans), which should mean more funding for social services both from the government and nonprofits. It will also give a much more realistic (though probably still not perfect) estimate of who is poor, which in turn will inform future conversations about poverty in America.

Now the catch. The reason the new and improved guideline is called supplemental is because it will not replace the outdated one when determining who qualifies for government assistance. The new number will be printed alongside the old one, just reminding us that the previous standard is woefully out-of-date. But it’s an important start.

Sunday offering: Surgery for the needy (CNN)

2010-03-05T12:48:00.000-05:00

Below is a video clip from CNN.com. This clip highlights Dr. Andy Moore, creator of Surgery on Sunday. Since 2005, Dr. Moore has treated over 3,000 patients who do not have health care. He believes that "It's our duty to help people that fall between the cracks in the health care system".......

Take a look!

$694,000,000

2010-03-01T11:21:00.003-05:00

According to the N.C. Health Access Coalition, North Carolina hospitals provided $694 million dollars in free health care in 2008. The link to the full report is HERE.

Current estimates for the cost of universal health care are at about 1 Trillion dollars.

While the debates rage on, let us remember that there is ultimately a greater cost for doing nothing.

Our Horn of Plenty

2010-02-08T15:07:00.011-05:00

Feeding America, formerly America's Second Harvest, conducted their fifth study of hunger in America. Results from this study confirm that more and more Americans are seeking emergency food assistance.

Some of the disturbing statistics they compiled:

There is a 64 percent increase in the number of households with seniors facing very low food security—or hunger.
More than one-third of client households reported having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.

We are STILL one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is up to US to feed the U. S. because "The curse of poverty has no justification in our age" (MLK, 1967).

Here is a link to the key findings of the Hunger 2010 report: Hunger 2010 Report: Key Findings

[The caption is from the Bill "Whitey" Sanders cartoon exhibit called 'Hunger in America' - courtesy of Western Kentucky University Library.]

Poverty USA, America's Forgotten State

2010-01-29T12:24:00.000-05:00

Today in America, millions of people are struggling to hang on. Hang onto their jobs, their homes. Trying to keep their families fed. Below is a video clip that shows what it is like to live below the poverty line--where nearly 37 million Americans live every day.

(Courtesy of The Catholic Campaign for Human Development & United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Homeless Facts on PBS

2010-01-26T18:37:00.002-05:00

Check out these facts about homelessness at pbs.org.

Homeless Veterans: Serving those who serve America the Beautiful

2010-01-25T09:51:00.001-05:00

The National Coalition for the Homeless published a fact sheet in September 2009 that shows a steady increase in homeless war veterans. Many veterans face financial and/or psychological burdens as a result of active service duty.

Here is a link to the entire fact sheet:
Homeless Veterans Fact Sheet (National Coalition for the Homeless)
Two startling statistics:

67% served three or more years
76% experience alcohol, drug or mental health problems

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans provides additional background and stats:
Background & Facts: National Coalition for Homeless Vets

Yes, there are some programs and policies in place to serve them, however, they have also observed that "armed conflict distracts our nation from the dire domestic problems."

We MUST serve and protect our veterans the same way that our veterans serve and protect us.

Chapel Hill Town Council Approves New Process for Shelters

2010-01-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Jan 11th, the Chapel Hill Town Council agreed to modify it's land-use management ordinance (LUMO). Please click on the link below for an article from the Carrboro Citizen.

Town Council modifies LUMO

People who REFUSE shelter

2010-01-11T00:40:00.001-05:00

The debate about caring for those in need rages on! However, in the midst of those debates, it is STILL cold outside; in some places, it is FREEZING outside. There are some who choose to avoid shelters. Some prefer avoiding crowds; some refuse out of pride; others refuse out of fear. However, I imagine that all of them know that with the warmth of an overnight cot and possibly breakfast in the morning, there is also a chance of being made to feel subhuman at the worst; made to feel ashamed of themselves at the very least. I imagine they are sensitive to the people who ridicule, stare, whisper, insult them or even assault them.

However, below is a CNN video clip of people who actually choose the freezing temperatures over the possibility of being further frozen out of society.

Who are YOU freezing out????

Indy Week Announces Farmer FoodShare Holiday Fresh Food Drive

2009-12-14T11:09:00.003-05:00

The Carrboro Farmer's Market is accepting donations for a holiday food drive. Part of these donations will go to the Inter-Faith council. This initiative is announced in an Indy Week article, "The Season of Feasting and Giving." Margaret Gifford, who runs the program, is quoted in the article, saying, "This program is small in the scheme of things, but it is demonstrating by example that if we are to have a healthy and sustainable local food economy in the Triangle, we must include everyone, even the low-income."

What would it take to become homeless? [Dec. 09 Op-Ed/Chapel Hill News]

2009-12-09T12:39:00.004-05:00

For 10 years, discussions between the Inter-Faith Council, the Town of Chapel Hill, and UNC have been under way to relocate the men's shelter and community kitchen. Many factors were considered, and with great generosity a site along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was donated by the university and a press conference was held on the site. But with the selection of an ideal site a new obstacle emerged: FEAR.
Recent public hearings intended for a review of the shelter's concept plan mutated into a forum on the homeless and unwarranted fears of homeless men. Much of the fear expressed was based on poor statistics and weak inductive reasoning. More information needs to be shared and conversation held to alleviate any fears concerning the homeless and the shelter. To quote J.P. Lovecraft, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

I got to thinking, "What would it take for me to become homeless?" First, I'd have to lose my ability to be employed, maybe due to some health issue that prevented me from working. I'd have to be without any savings or retirement. I would not have close friends who could take me in. I also would have to be separated from or absent any family to rely on. In short, I'd have to be seriously disenfranchised and alienated from society, friends and family. I would essentially be alone in the world, with no where else to turn other than the kindness of strangers.

Having been alienated once in my life, I can easily imagine the questions that might run through my mind. How did I get here and how do I return to my life? Who is there to help me? Should I be warehoused away from the rest of society? Where do I eat? Will you feed me at your table? Where to I sleep? Will you give me your bed? Who will I talk to? Will you invite me for coffee and some conversation? Where can I live? Will you be my neighbor?

As in the story of the prodigal son, it is easy for "outsiders" to question how an errant son should be treated when returning from his wasteland. But the lesson intended for us is that we should celebrate the son's return, not shun or keep him at arm's distance. Chapel Hill has a big enough heart to open its arms to those who are lost and alienated and help return them to life. I encourage us all to support the location of the new men's shelter as proposed so that we can help to return our neighbor into our lives

Henry Lister lives in Chapel Hill.

(Published 12/09/2009 - Chapel Hill News)

A Sign of the Times???

2009-12-08T09:54:00.008-05:00

On the front page of the IFC website is a picture (like the one below) showing a very visible increase in community needs. More proof is found in this recent USA Today article --- Record Demand at Food Banks and Reuters article -- Hunger, Family Homelessness on the Rise

A myth about the homeless : Homeless people don't work and get most of their money from public assistance programs.

2009-12-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

Meet Diane Eubanks. Diane lives in Orlando and is homeless. To pay for her bed at the Women's Salvation Army, she is a Bell Ringer for the Salvation Army. Below is a clip about her story (courtesy of CNN.com).

CLICK THIS LINK TO READ OTHER FACTS & MYTHS ABOUT THE HOMELESS!

Time to see the homeless as people!!!

2009-12-06T14:58:00.001-05:00

Below is a link to a beautiful commentary from today's San Diego Union-Tribune:

TIME TO SEE THE HOMELESS AS PEOPLE

Mark Horvath: Putting a face on the homeless (via CNN)

2009-12-02T10:11:00.009-05:00

Please meet Mark Horvath, a former executive who became homeless. Clearly, Mark knows what it is like to become one of the invisible people. The link to his CNN-featured story is to the right of this caption (courtesy of invisiblepeople.tv).

FROM EXECUTIVE TO HOMELESS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE "INVISIBLE PEOPLE"

The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities

2009-11-30T13:59:00.000-05:00

"Homes not Handcuffs" is an article originally published in July 2009 by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

With foreclosures and unemployment rapidly increasing, the IFC continues to meet the needs of Orange County.

Link to article: "Homes not Handcuffs"

Homelessness is EVERYONE'S problem.

The realities of hunger in America; One (of many) solutions

2009-11-29T11:55:00.006-05:00

Below is a link to an article from the New York Times about hunger in the United States.

New York Times - Hunger in the USA;

Also, please meet CNN HERO: Mr. Jorge Munoz -- one of many who provide solutions to the rising problems of homelessness and hunger. Click on link below....

Bus Driver Delivers Free Home-Cooked Meals

A Poem: 'The Will'

2009-11-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

News From Our Shoes is a Raleigh-based magazine with the purpose of advancing an understanding about homelessness. What makes it unique is that the articles are written and edited by people who are experiencing homelessness, or who have at some point. Visit their website: http://www.newsfromourshoes.net/. The following is one of the poems from their website...

The Will by Rafiq S. Rashad
Please don't say that I gave up Just say I gave in Don't say that I lost the battle For it is God's war To win Please don't say how good or how bad I was for I did my best I tried to do what was right To give the most I could have dont less Please don't give me halos Cause that's for God to do I want no more than I deserve No extras, just my due. Don't give me flowers Or talk in hustled tones For a homeless man Knows what to do I've made my new home. Don't talk about what Could have been It's over and it's done Just to see my family Get their needs The battle has been won. When you draw a Picture of me Don't draw me as a Homeless drunk I've done some good And I've done some bad Don't just use the light And bright tones Use some gray and dark In fact, don't put me In your mouth After I'm gone Paint me In your heart Don't just remember The good times But remember the bad ones Too For life is full of Many things Some happy and some blue But if you have something For a homeless man Then I have one last request... Forgive me for all the wrong I have done and with the love that's left Thank God that a homeless man Has been blessed Thank God For all who loved me Praise God For he loved me best. Rafiq S. Rashad

The Will
by Rafiq S. Rashad

Please don't say that I gave up Just say I gave in Don't say that I lost the battle For it is God's war To win
Please don't say how good or how bad I was for I did my best I tried to do what was right To give the most I could have dont less
Please don't give me halos Cause that's for God to do I want no more than I deserve No extras, just my due.
Don't give me flowers Or talk in hustled tones For a homeless man Knows what to do I've made my new home.
Don't talk about what Could have been It's over and it's done Just to see my family Get their needs The battle has been won.
When you draw a Picture of me Don't draw me as a Homeless drunk I've done some good And I've done some bad
Don't just use the light And bright tones Use some gray and dark In fact, don't put me In your mouth After I'm gone Paint me In your heart
Don't just remember The good times But remember the bad ones Too For life is full of Many things Some happy and some blue
But if you have something For a homeless man Then I have one last request... Forgive me for all the wrong I have done and with the love that's left
Thank God that a homeless man Has been blessed Thank God For all who loved me Praise God For he loved me best.
Rafiq S. Rashad

Blanket Orange County

2009-11-24T16:35:00.009-05:00

The 6th annual drive to Blanket Orange County begins December 1 and runs through December 21! This year, they are in search of 300 blankets for the homeless in Orange County. You can help by donating a blanket or giving a cash donation. For more information, visit: http://www.businessclassinc.com/blanketorangecounty/

The IFC Needs Your Help For The Holidays

2009-11-24T13:52:00.001-05:00

Below is a link to an interview with the IFC's Executive Director, Chris Moran. As the IFC works to meet the increased food and service demands, everyone's help is needed.

Interview: The IFC Needs Your Help for the Holidays

Homeless on the Capitol's Doorstep

2009-11-23T11:46:00.006-05:00

Here is a link to an incredible article that chronicles the realities of homelessness...two blocks from the White House: Homelessness on the Capitol Doorsteps

Here is a link to a story of a woman who is trying to give voices to 'America's Hidden Homeless'....in our backyards....America's Hidden Homeless

Homelessness is EVERYONE'S problem.

Food Insecurity

2009-11-17T17:30:00.003-05:00

Here are some more links about the current state of food insecurity in the United States:

From the New York Times:

Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High

By JASON DePARLE
Published: November 16, 2009

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million, the highest since the government began tracking what it calls “food insecurity” 14 years ago, the Department of Agriculture reported Monday...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17hunger.html?scp=2&sq=food%20insecurity&st=cse

IFC Executive Director Chris Moran connects nationwide food insecurity to local needs: http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12421

The Food and Research Action Center, a non-profit devoted to to eradicating hunger and under-nutrition in the United States: http://www.frac.org/index.html

Information for tonight's public hearing (Chapel Hill Town Hall) - 7pm

2009-11-16T12:19:00.000-05:00

Please click on the link below to review and/or print this important historical information for tonight's public hearing.

Please join us!

November 9 Memorandum regarding Community House Occupancy

From Today's News & Observer

2009-11-13T10:45:00.004-05:00

Below is a very important article from the November 13th News & Observer. It is further confirmation of the increased food insecurity experienced statewide. The reality is that hunger and homelessness are equal oppotunity struggles. These strained economic times will continue to prove the importance of benevolence and community....OUR community.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/189326.html

Why We Are Here.....

2009-11-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of Rex Babin
The Sacremento Bee
Original Publish Date: Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009

RSVVP Event to Support IFC Food Programs

2009-11-05T12:13:00.016-05:00

Our 21st Annual RSVVP event is next Tuesday, November 10 and we hope you will eat out at one of the 95 restaurants that are participating this year. Look for participating restaurants at http://ifcweb.org/rsvvp2009.html. All proceeds from RSVVP benefit IFC Food Programs that are now reaching thousands of Carrboro and Chapel Hill residents.

As of September 30, 2,498 community households were active food pantry members, and we project that 90,000+ meals will be served again this year at the Community Kitchen.

Community House Mission and Vision Statement

2009-11-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

Mission: Promote independence and self-reliance through a formative housing choice that informs, connects and empowers residents in their efforts to renew their lives, develop new skills, receive community resources and obtain employment and permanent housing.

Vision: Provide a home within a community setting, a place to live that will empower the entire person, encourage self-sufficiency and end homelessness.

FoodFirst Mission and Vision Statements

2009-11-03T11:41:00.001-05:00

Mission: A local response to hunger working with the community to bring food security, adequate food supplies and support to individuals and families in need.

Vision:Maximize public/private partnerships to reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition for those who work and live in Carrboro and Chapel Hill; and mobilize community resources to stamp out hunger for local households, low paid workers, the afflicted and unsheltered persons.

Introducing...the NEW Community House!

2009-10-28T11:16:00.012-04:00

(Picture courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill)