Copyright (c) Asheville Citizen-Times. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
| May 10, 2008
Section: Mountains Edition: MAIN Page: 1B Leslie Boyd STAFF STORY |
| The report, "Making Ends meet on Low Wages," looks at seven expenses: housing, food, childcare, health care, transportation, other necessities and taxes. It does not include entertainment, meals eaten outside the home, debt payments or savings. Still, a family of four in the Asheville area needs $45,959 a year, or $22.10 an hour to live in the Asheville area, according to the report. The amount is more than double the Federal Poverty Level. West Asheville-based Just Economics, which recruits businesses to pay a living wage, puts its baseline at $11.35. "Ours really is just a baseline, a bare minimum," said Sarah Osmer, director of Just Economics. "But we believe it's a start." More than one-third of North Carolina families fell below the "Living Income Standard" as calculated by the N.C. Justice Center. Of those families, more than 60 percent have a working head of household. Rising food and fuel costs have only made it more difficult for middle-income families in North Carolina, and for the nonprofit agencies that serve them. "People are scratching their heads and wondering why the lines are growing at food banks and charities," Osmer said. "We need to address the root causes of this, and a primary cause is low wages." At MANNA FoodBank, donations of nonperishable food items have become even more important, said spokesman Joshua Stack. "Our financial donations haven't gone down, but the money just doesn't have the purchasing power it did a year ago, and demand is up significantly." Today's mail carriers' food drive is the biggest of the year, Stack said. "We really need the food n0w more than ever, and we're going to be doing more food drives," Stack said. U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, was at MANNA on Friday morning to offer support for the effort. "When fuel prices go up and food prices go up ... places like MANNA are essential for families who need the assistance," Shuler said. Shuler was on the conference committee that ironed out differences between House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill, which also funds food stamps, food banks and other nutritional programs. That committee signed off on the bill Thursday. "The president had threatened to veto the bill, but now he will allow it to become law," Shuler said. "People need this help." |
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Copyright (c) Asheville Citizen-Times. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc. |