Recent Incidents Highlight Poverty Problem In Philadelphia
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The reality of homelessness made headlines in Philadelphia recently when mothers set up a "tent city" in Kensington, and a family with small children was found living in LOVE Park.
Stories like these underscore a much bigger problem.
Twenty-six percent of Philadelphians live below the poverty line, which means less than $24,000 a year for a family of four.
"In Philadelphia it takes about $60,000 to make ends meet," says Kate Scully, policy director at the Center for Hunger Free Communities.
She says many of their clients work full-time, but low wages result in insecure housing:
"Couch surfing is something that happens very often, multiple families living in one unit, families with multiple children sharing one studio apartment because that's all they can afford."
And one negative incident - a death or illness- could land a family on the street.
"It's very hard because affordable housing that folks can afford to pay with minimum income is just nonexistent," says Marie Navarkian, who runs Philadelphia's Office of Supportive Housing.
She says the city has 3,000 emergency beds and they're near or at capacity most nights.
"We are seeing more families who are experiencing homelessness or who are close to homelessness," says Navarkian, noting some of the families who seek help in the shelters earn less than $500 a month.
"What rent can you afford earning $500 a month?" she asks.
As for a families with children sleeping on the streets, Navarkian says the city works hard to ensure that never happens.
"We're generally able to accommodate families, but we are making miracles," she says, noting they may shuffle people around or ask families to double up in rooms.
But those are in cases and/or situations city workers know about.
"There are so many families who fall between the cracks," says Scully.
Sister Mary Scullion of Project Home and her outreach workers see those families every day:
"We're seeing more and more stories that reflect the reality that homelessness has on a person's life," she says, "families often have to choose between food and rent....between paying utilities and getting their children to school."
She says many families fall in crisis mode in the summer and fall months:
"In October and November especially, there's just not enough housing and it can be very, very devastating to families."
And temporary, emergency housing is not the best option, particularly for families with children. But with low wages, finding secure, safe, permanent housing can be difficult thanks to credit issues, debt and other challenges that families living in deep poverty can face.
"One of the only ways that people in that position can survive is if they are in public housing," says Judith Levine, associate professor of sociology at Temple University. She notes that families can sometimes wait more than a decade for public housing in Philadelphia. In the meantime, they must live in fragile situations.
She says leadership will be key to find ways to increase wages, improve education and create more housing that is affordable to stabilize families who are food and housing insecure. Navarkian agrees.
"We need the business and corporate sectors at the table, we need politicians and philanthropic entities at the table," says Navarkian, "no one entity in the city has enough resources to solve this problem."
Maybe if everyone works together, Philadelphia can can move the needle on poverty.
