Misperceptions

A month or so after moving to UNH, my Community Leadership Class was beginning to start the Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive and we were instructed to meet one Thursday at the Cornucopia Food Pantry. I was excited to go and see what the pantry looked like, especially since I heard it had just been moved to bigger space and was better and more improved than its previous location in Christensen Hall.
A food pantry. My mind had its own picture of what it would look like. It would be warm and inviting to those who visited. Windows letting in sunlight, carpets on the floor, maybe a table or two. Food was a shoo-in. Of course there would be shelves stocked with food! Everyone donates to the food pantry, so the shelves could never be near bear. The picture in my mind was a close version to my own kitchen pantry at home. Nice and bright from the sun light outside, inviting cabinets stocked with food . . .
The first question that popped into my head after Larry lead us into the room, was where is it? Where is the food pantry? This is someone’s basement! The walls were bare, the ceiling cob-webby. The floor was bare and there were small windows filtering in as much light as they could. There was a door with chain link over it and you could see the studs in the walls. I thought it was a storage space. A spider jumped out at one of the kids in my class.
Entering further through the chain linked door, I finally saw the food pantry. It looked exactly the same as the rest of the basement, except there was food stacked on metal shelves and two refrigerators to hold perishable items. What struck me the most was the food—there was not even close to the amount I had pictured in my head. The items present were separated and stacked upon the shelves according to type. I saw brands of cereal I had never seen or heard of, cans of food I never knew were made. I also saw a surplus of random items like syrup and powdered milk.
“The interesting thing,” Larry explained, “is that food pantries are usually given the cast-off food from people’s homes. People buy the brands that are the cheapest, or that they don’t want to eat. They donate the food they are unwilling to eat, not realizing that those who visit us aren’t going to want to eat them, either. Most of the things on the shelves are unrecognizable to you, and they are unrecognizable to those who come looking for food.”
I suddenly realized how true this is. I didn’t see anywhere on the shelves name-brand items like Campbell’s, Kellogg’s, or Uncle Ben’s.
I also thought of something else: When a person or family decides to donate food to a food pantry, they are giving support to the institution. We are agreeing to try and end hunger. Shouldn’t we donate in such a way as to take pride in the cause we are supporting? I wondered what this pantry would look like, and how many more it could serve, if more in the community were aware of its need. When talking to Durham residents, I learned that most do not even know there is a Cornucopia food pantry, or that there is a problem with hunger in the community.
I left the food pantry that day with a completely different outlook. Gone was my beautiful food pantry picture. Gone was the warm, inviting appearance and fully stocked shelves. The seriousness of the situation had hit me. This was a place in need—who helped those in need. How can change in the community occur if the institutions created to help, cannot? I left with a drive and excitement to begin the food drive and help make a difference in the lives of those who visited the Cornucopia Food Pantry. I know others in my class did as well. I wonder how amazing the difference in the food pantry and in the community would be if more could see what I saw that morning.

If their impressions of a food pantry were set straight.

So I encourage you, go visit it for yourself. Go visit it for others.

Growing Divide at UNH??

Growing Divide at UNH? A brief essay by Kate Hanson

As a long-time faculty member and community activist on campus, I am both impressed and dismayed by this year’s Dialogue on poverty and opportunity. The programs offered and the articles by our UNH colleagues are great--interesting and relevant--and I'm delighted to have these resources to share with my students. However, I think we're ignoring the issue here at home where, I believe, we are experiencing and condoning a growing divide among those of us who work here.
For examples:
A review of salaries at UNH as of December 2007 shows well over 200 administrators and faculty who make more than $100,000 a year in salary AND have access to extensive health and retirement benefits in addition. Almost all of these employees benefit from annual percentage increases--that both help them meet the cost of living and feed into this growing divide (4% of a $100,000 income results in a much greater raise in salary than 4% of a $30,000 salary and this accumulates year after year).
At the other end of the scale are dozens and dozens of "adjunct" faculty or part-time instructional staff who earn as little as $2600 a course in some colleges. These employees receive no regulated cost-of-living increases, no benefits and no job security. In fact, any of them can have a class cancelled the week it is to start.
Outsourcing of our housekeeping and other facilities-related services has saved money for UNH and made money for the providing businesses but it has not been equally beneficial for the workers. At one time, the people who cleaned and cared for our buildings received full UNH benefits. Now, many of them receive limited or no benefits at all.
A look at our current employment listings shows 42 openings, 8 of which are "temporary without benefits." Of these, most are positions in housekeeping, dining services and building services.
Some of the positions advertised pay as little as $8.50 an hour (without benefits) when a living wage in this area is often calculated to be over $15.00 an hour. *
Our parking permits cost $50 per academic year regardless of our incomes.
My students in the TSAS Community Leadership program have worked with Waysmeet, the Office of Community Service and Learning, the Housing Office and dozens of other offices/groups on campus to provide food baskets for those in economic need here at UNH. When we started doing this four years ago, my students organized 30 baskets. Last year, we provided over 125 baskets. While I am proud that we’re able to collaborate to meet this increasing need, I confess to VERY uncomfortable feelings about being part of a system that is structurally unfair and then offers supplemental food.
I often wonder how we reconcile these growing inequities with our often-stated commitment to justice, respect, and equality.
I am not suggesting that I have the answers to this "growing divide" and I know that there are many factors that influence poverty and opportunity here on campus. I would, however, like to see us at least openly acknowledge what's happening and create ways to publicly discuss our reactions to it. After all, this is our community and we do have some power to make decisions about who earns what here.
Kate Hanson, Associate Professor and Program Chairperson, TSAS Community Leadership Program, kate.hanson@unh.edu
*There are many organizations that focus on this issue of living wages. Here are a few:
http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com/node/view/949; http://www.worldhungeryear.org/why_speaks/ws_load.asp?file=06&style=ws_table http://www.universallivingwage.org/fmrtables_2008/ME_FMR2008.htm

Cornucopia Food Basket Project 2008

CORNUCOPIA FOOD BASKET PROJECT 2008

Help us help people: donate a food basket to Cornucopia 

to brighten someone's Thanksgiving!

This time of year, even in established communities like UNH/Durham,  sometimes families need a helping hand. You can help by donating a basket, money, or your time to show the community that you are there for them.

"Our mission is to bring the community together to support fellow community members with economic needs by providing food baskets. We will educate the community about why people are hungry and learn how to run organizations like Cornucopia"

CSL 201, Class 2008

Contact Information:

Community Leadership Program: UNH Thompson School

lisa.ciccotelli@unh.edu

website: www.cornucopia.unh.edu

Look for Us on Facebook: Baskets of Hope

Click Here for the donation form 

Here for the food list

Here for the complete packet of information

Here to request a basket

Who needs help in Durham?

The information below was gathered mostly from UNH websites regarding the economics of living and working at UNH.

Forest Park is an apartment complex on campus that is mostly occupied by graduate students with families, although some staff live there as well.
A full-time student, renting a 2-bedroom, ~520 square foot, apartment for their family pays $935/month for the 2008-2009 school year.
Source: UNH Department of Housing (www.unh.edu/housing)

Babcock Hall is the graduate student dormitory. A single room costs $5,950 per academic year. The room dimension is 8’ x 13’.
Source: UNH Department of Housing (www.unh.edu/housing)

I recently spoke with a graduate student from Taiwan who moved out of Babcock this year. The rent had been raised each year and had become unaffordable for her. She was also tired of sharing a kitchenette with 13 other people. Very few graduate students living in Babcock can afford the UNH Dining meal plan. This student is now sharing an apartment in Durham and is much happier.

Graduate Stipends are giving to many graduate students who work either as teaching or research assistants. The taxable, graduate stipend for 2008-2009 ranges from $14,100 to $16,000 for the academic year. Costs not covered by the stipend include: the Health Services and Counseling fee, the Memorial Union fee, the Student Recreation fee, and the Transportation fee, health insurance, and textbooks.
Source: UNH Graduate School (www.gradschool.unh.edu)

Health Insurance is required for all UNH students. The insurance UNH offers, for the 2008-2009 plan year (12 months of coverage), is $1,490 for a student, $4,540/year for a spouse or same-sex domestic partner, and $865 per dependant child/year.
Source: UNH Health Services (www.unh.edu/health-services/shbp)

Employees of UNH are classified by the terms “exempt”, “non-exempt”, and “non-status.” Exempt staff are eligible to receive a full range of benefits (health, dental, life, disability, UNH contributing to retirement account, etc.). Non-exempt staff do not receive the full range of benefits. The only benefits for non-status employees are those that are legally required: workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, liability insurance coverage, and the social security benefits program, unless otherwise specified.

The job titles of: Farm Worker, Grounds Worker, and Mail Clerk (and others) are “non-exempt operating staff” and are classified as pay-grade 3. The FY09 midpoint wage for grade 3 is $13.70 per hour or $28,606 per year.

The use of “non-status” employees is growing (10/06 = 2,275; 10/07=2,409). UNH is currently hiring for the following non-status positions: Food Service Assistant at $12.30/hour and housekeeper at $10/hour (housekeeping shifts are 4 am to noon or 10 pm to 6 am).

In October 2007, non-status and non-exempt employees comprised 35% of the USNH workforce (4,400 non-exempt employees with limited benefits and 2,409 non-status employees with only those benefits required by law).
Source: UNH Human Resources

Compiled by Rachel Feeney, UNH staff member and C0-Lead student

No Such Thing As A Free Lunch by Will Stewart

“No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”

By Will Stewart, Community Organizer and Tenant Services Coordinator for NeighborWorks-Greater Manchester and UNH Community Leadership student

Standing in front of the board on the first day of the semester, my high school economics teacher wrote the following in big blue letters:

TANSTAAFL

This acronym, he said, underlies all economic activity, from household budgets to the global economy. Advertisers, marketing gurus, politicians and even some economists will often try to tell you otherwise, he told us, but don’t let them fool you: “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” — TANSTAAFL.

In short, TANSTAAFL means that it is impossible to get something for nothing. There is always a cost, monetary or otherwise.

For instance, I received a credit card offer in the mail the other day. The company in question offered me a Red Sox-themed card. As a bonus, I would also receive a “free” Red Sox umbrella for signing up. But of course it wouldn’t be free, as I would end up paying for that umbrella via interest and fees. And even if I paid my balance off every month, the umbrella’s cost would be paid by some other card holder. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

As a community organizer and tenant services coordinator for NeighborWorks® Greater Manchester, a nonprofit affordable housing developer in Manchester, I am reminded of TANSTAAFL on daily basis. You see, the tenants who live in my nonprofit’s affordable apartments are nearly all low-wage workers.

In researching the employment status of our adult tenants last fall, I found that custodians make up the largest group of tenants employed in any one field. The average hourly wage of this group is a whopping $8.97. This equals, before any taxes are taken out, $358.80 a week, $1,435.20 a month and $18,657.60 a year!

For the most part, the dirty work performed by these custodians — including the ones who clean the malls we shop in, the airports we travel in and out of, the offices we work in and, yes, even our own University of New Hampshire — is outsourced. That is to say, the custodians are not actually employed by the company or institution they clean. Instead, they are employed by third-party cleaning companies that are awarded cleaning contracts by submitting the lowest bids, on which they are able to make a profit by such means as hiring only part-time workers so that they do not have to pay for such “benefits” as health insurance.

Under increasing pressure from shareholders and taxpayers respectively, business and government see such outsourcing as a way to reduce to costs. Otherwise they would have to hire custodians directly, paying not just wages, but also health insurance costs and Social Security, disability unemployment insurance taxes for each employee. If your main (or only) concern is the bottom line, outsourcing a no-brainer. Or is it?

On the surface, outsourcing might seem like a good deal for shareholders and taxpayers, even if one somehow manages to totally ignores the clear exploitation of fellow human beings, who, especially in the custodial field, are more often than not immigrants and refugees who came to this country with the dream of improving life for themselves and their families.

But despite their low incomes, these outsourced workers are still expected — and here’s the rub — to pay full price for the goods and services they and their families need to survive. Indeed, I’m not aware of stores that sell low-income shoes or low-income groceries. But even these needs – which are getting more expensive by the year – pale in comparison to rent.

Here in Manchester, the average two-bedroom apartment goes for $1,026 a month, according New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority’s 2008 Residential Rent Cost Survey. In the Portsmouth-Rochester area, which includes Durham, the cost is $1,072 per month. In both locations, your average custodian must spend more than two-thirds of his or her $1,435.20 monthly income just to cover rent. What little remains must go to buy those market-rate groceries, clothes, transportation and other necessities. How someone is able to survive (forget about getting ahead) in this manner is a miracle.

Or is it? Remember, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. The money has to come from somewhere. And indeed it does. But if not from the profits of the employers of these individuals, where?

From groups like mine, for starters. By offering below-market-rate rents, my nonprofit and those like us are basically subsidizing these employers' already impressive, multimillion and multibillion dollar bottom lines by allowing them to pay their workers a criminal wage. Indeed, why should they have to pay the workers more? They have organizations like ours to pick up their collective slack when it comes to providing essentials like heating assistance, food, warm clothes, furniture, health insurance and transportation. The list goes on and on. And the buck is literally being passed on each and every one of them.

In the end, it’s you and me who foot the bill. We pay for it through our tax dollars, which go to support many nonprofits. We pay for it when we buy the goods and services from companies that use a very small portion of their profits to make “generous” donations to the nonprofits who work to meet the unmet needs of outsourced and other low-wage workers.

And because such donations are tax-deductible, that also means the rest of us must pay more in taxes to make up for the resulting decrease in tax revenue. And if tax revenues are lower, that means there’s less money to go toward things like higher education, which in turn means higher tuition for students.

It’s a shell game, to be sure, but the money always has to come from somewhere. Remember: there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!

Copyright: Will Stewart, 2008. Please request permission before copying.

Mission statement and what

Our mission is to bring the community together to support fellow community members with economic needs by providing food baskets.  We will educate the community about why people are hungry and learn how to run organizations like Cornucopia.

This is the mission statement we as a Community leadership class stand behind. We invite anyone who has experience working on the project along with Colead in the past and currently to post or comment about there experiences.

Our over all goal for this blog is to give a place to those have information to share about hunger, the food basket project, and Colead to post the knowledge. more importantly provide a spot for others to learn more about these topics.

eventually we hope it is built into a journal like location to inform those who don't know a lot about hunger in Durham as well as the food basket project