[lit-ideas] Re: The American Poor
- From: Carol Kirschenbaum <carolkir@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 16:57:15 -0700
>get a lot of their stuff from places like the Good Will & the Salvation Army.
ck: These two organizations seem troubled, at present. Both used to have good
reputations for retraining disabled workers, and collaborating with community
nonprofit orgs, but increasingly these orgs are being scrutinized by local
nonprofits. They mark up donations to a point where poor people really cannot
afford the stuff--especially furniture and household goods. There's talk about
misappropriation of funds, and misuse of volunteer/trainee skills. My
university program no longer recommends these two orgs as job placements for
our clients--or as places to shop and get a good deal.
>Lots of people are happy to give stuff away.
ck: Absolutely. (Sometimes I'm convinced that "people are really good at
heart.") The Internet could be a terrific way to get around advertising and
distribution problems--and www.craigslist.org is just such an endeavor. Lots of
people in temporary straits (and not so temporary) get used appliances through
folks at craigslist, many of whom just want to get rid of excess junk.
One thing I'd like to know, though, is what happens to all those cars people
are urged to "donate" to nonprofits. The second thing is, how does a family
*get* one of these cars. I swear, I've asked county and state caseworkers,
academics, nonprofit health-based organizations like the MS Foundation,
Arthritis Foundation, etc.--and nobody seems to know! What gives? Any
enlightened souls here to help me solve this mystery? I'd posit a black hole
filled with donated cars, but that seems like something the government would be
involved in.
Carol
----- Original Message -----
From: Lawrence Helm
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 4:39 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The American Poor
The people I've known in that situation get a lot of their stuff from places
like the Good Will & the Salvation Army. Also, one of my sisters is in a sort
of community where people look out for each other share stuff, etc. We've got
a lot of stuff in the U.S. Lots of people are happy to give stuff away. I've
given away old computers, phones, TVs, etc. In fact I've got an old but
perfectly functional 19 inch color TV in the garage as well as two perfectly
functional VHS players. I plan to give them to the Salvation Army.
Families just starting out that were temporarily below the poverty line but
with jobs and the prospect of moving up might get loans.
Lawrence
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 3:46 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The American Poor
In a message dated 5/25/2006 2:38:29 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
bruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
A nagging question: do 'own' and 'have' here mean 'fully paid for' - or
do these things really (fully or partly) belong to the banks, credit
card companies, loan agencies and other corporations that extended the
credit for their purchase?
Hi,
That is a great question.
The 2005 Kids Count database of statistics is now out--it's a great resource
to really see what the world of children is like in the United States.
http://www.kidscount.org (The Annie E Casey Foundation)
http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/sld/databook.jsp
They also have some other publications. Here are some other aspects of living
in the USA as a new or soon-to-be poor person -- and how it happens. Highly
recommend these for those who are part of the Heritage Foundation. Wonder if
they are part of the predatory lender world (see last piece for info on what
is happening to the poor or soon-to-be-poor who 'own' their own homes...for the
moment.) or own the PayDay Loans...(though I have heard that at least in this
area the 'North of the River" bunch which historically was part of the Mafiosi
own them...and it's now legal to gauge people like this...) Big business,
though. Not quite as lucrative as the Corporate Welfare we have going on (talk
about Entitlements! Mikey only touched on *some* of the businesses in that
welfare world--wow.)
I have been reading SOS and then took a break with another title on my list
-- and it kind of matched some of this conversation. I have written several
posts -- need to clean up at least one of them one of these moments!
Maybe later. Probably by the time we've moved onto the next thread, though!
Best,
Marlena in Missouri
http://www.aecf.org/publications/advocasey/winter2005/index.htm
The Poor Pay More: Financial Drains on Low-Income Families
Double-Jeopardy: Why the Poor Pay More
"Chances are, if you live on the wrong side of the tracks or earn a modest
hourly wage, you're paying higher prices than the rest of us, and you're
imperiled by deceptive money traps that can bust your budget and drain your
savings."
Paycheck Poverty
IN SEARCH OF ALTERNATIVES TO PAYDAY LENDING
Payday loans-deceptively expensive short-term cash advance loans-are sweeping
the nation and snaring countless borrowers in a spiral of debt. Two credit
unions have stepped forward to compete with the payday lenders. How well are
they faring?
Deals on Wheels
EXPANDING AUTOMOTIVE OPPORTUNITY IN NEW ENGLAND
Throughout most of America, if you want to keep a job, you need to own a car
and keep it running. Two New England projects are helping low-income workers
meet the challenge-employing radically different approaches.
LEADING THE CHARGE AGAINST PREDATORY MORTGAGE LENDING
Begun with a bake sale in 1980, a North Carolina nonprofit is standing up
against predatory lending-pushing through needed reforms and developing
creative lending strategies to make affordable mortgages more available for
low-income homebuyers.
There are pdfs for all of those...
Other related posts:
