Naso 5773: Putting Our Shoulders to the Wheel: Poverty in Rhode Island

The Economic Progress Institute. www.economicprogressri.org

For the fifth year, I participated in the Annual Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition's conference, "Fighting Poverty With Faith."
For the fifth year, I walked out of the Conference with so much frustration, I did not know what to do with it.  It is appalling to listen to the statistics and translate those numbers into the reality of people's lives:
In 2011 (the year for which we have the most recent statistics), there were 148,800 Rhode Islanders living in poverty.  That means that 148,800 of our neighbors and fellow Rhode Islanders were subsisting on $11,000 a year for a single individual and around $18,000 a year for a family of three.

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Those are the people who are merely "poor."
68,800 people in Rhode Island are living in "extreme poverty" with income less than half of the poverty level:  $9,265 for a family of three.

It is too easy . . . and way too inaccurate . . . to label the poor as those who do not work, whose lives are tainted by addiction, as criminals or parasites on the public. 

The poor could be any of us in a blink of an eye:  lose a job; get a divorce; become chronically or critically ill . . . and any of us can join the ranks of those who struggle to keep a roof over their heads and need to decide any given week between heat or food.

As a congregation, we are proud of our continuing and consistent support of the Edgewood Food Closet in our old Cranston neighborhood and the Chester Kosher Food Pantry run by the Jewish Seniors Agency.  We continued to collect food for both food security projects all during our interim stay in our TY house on Middle Road and we have designed built-in bins in our new TY synagogue lobby (just lift the benches under the windows!) to accommodate our donations of non-perishable food.  We hear over and over again that most of the people who come to the Edgewood Food Closet for help are working . . . at minimum wage jobs . . . and are still making that heart-breaking decision between paying the electric bill or buying food.

The minimum wage in Rhode Island is $7.40 an hour.
In 2012, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island was $1,176.
A cost burden exists when more than 30% of a household's income is spent on housing.
A worker would have to earn $22.62 per hour and work 40 hours a week year-round to afford this rent without a cost burden (meaning without the average rent taking up less than 30% of the worker's income).

We do need to continue or unflagging support for our two beneficiary agencies:  The Edgewood Food Closet and the Chester Kosher Food Pantry.

But I suggest we need to do more.
I think there are projects we can take on as a congregation that could help to assure a more viable future for some of our state's poorest children, young people or even adults.  Can we tutor children to read?  Can we offer basic information in any of the fields of endeavor in which many of us work?  Can we teach someone how to use a computer?  Can we show someone how cook inexpensive, nutritious meals?

We cannot do all of these things.  Perhaps what we can do effectively is not even on my short brainstorming list.  But our neighbor, Newport, is the fifth poorest city in our State and we can sit down with those who are involved in the specific challenges of Newport and devise a project that will help a few people out of the vicious cycle of poverty.
Call me if you would like to explore ways to help:  419-5577.
Write to me if you would like to explore ways to help: rabbi@toratyisrael.org

The Star Thrower (Loren Eiseley)
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after  a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came  closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching  down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the  ocean.
"Young lady," he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the  ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw  them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves, saying, "It made a difference for that one."
The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.