By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
It’s no secret that the past year has been disastrous for many families across the country. People both in and out of the Jewish community have suffered through job loss, economic hardship, and in some extreme cases, homelessness. A study released this week by the Washington State Budget & Policy Center shows that, based on census data, one in 10 Washingtonians lives in poverty, with the percentage for children even higher than the adult population.
“The 2008 figures are grim and it is likely 2009 will be worse because the recession deepened and unemployment rose,” said Remy Trupin, the center’s executive director, in a statement.
At this time last year, just as the bottom was falling out on the economy, several local rabbis joined with the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle in an attempt to use the harvest festival of Sukkot to bring the reality of poverty home to those in the Jewish community who may not have seen its effects.
“Doing this during the holiday of Sukkot really makes a difference,” said Kim Greenhall, director of community services at the Federation. “It’s a really good time to focus on issues of poverty and housing and hunger.”
The program, called “Focus & Fight: A Call to End Poverty,” last year encompassed several organizations such as Jewish Family Service, which held its annual food sort during Sukkot, and Temple Beth Am, which also had its Homeless2Renter program fundraiser during the holiday.
This year, the program, which runs Oct. 2–9, has been expanded to include formerly or currently homeless speakers, a curriculum created by the New York-based Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty to teach about the effects of poverty, and an agency-to-agency program that provides goods to those who need them.
A report from the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless shows that more than 100,000 Washingtonians could face homelessness in 2009. As unemployment rose earlier this year, the Human Services Policy Center at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington forecast 37,000 of the state’s children were expected to experience living in poverty. And Jon Gould, deputy director of the Children’s Alliance, said in a statement that cuts made during this year’s legislative session “cut deeply into programs that help mitigate the terrible effects of poverty on children and families.”
Passage of Initiative 1033, which would use this year, one of the worst in the state’s budgetary history, as a maximum for future budgets, would lock in cuts made this year across the board, Gould said, and make responding to future, growing needs impossible.
To help give the Jewish community a more concrete and personal understanding of these issues, the Focus & Fight program partnered with Real Change, the Seattle-area newspaper that covers poverty and homelessness and helps people living on the streets or in poverty get back on their feet. Real Change has a speakers’ bureau that can address any group from young children to adults, and several of those speakers will visit local synagogues, schools and Hillel at the UW.
“To hear their stories,” Greenhall said, “it really hones in that this isn’t just somebody else — this is us that this is happening to.”
In addition, Amy Hilzman-Paquette, principal of the Community High School for Jewish Studies, has written a 10-week curriculum based on the MCJP’s that can be adjusted for students of any age to teach about the causes and effects of poverty, and how to work to end it.
Greenhall said that advocacy, another major push of Focus & Fight, means encouraging people to contact legislators, particularly at the state level, to let them know their constituents want them to pass legislation that helps the homeless or people facing extreme economic hardship.
“An example is GA–U last year,” said Greenhall, referring to the General Assistance–Unemployable fund that gives people unable to work a small monthly stipend. It had been eliminated entirely from the governor’s preliminary budget. “It got passed because there was a lot of pressure from the community at large to make sure these people are protected.”
The crown jewel of this year’s effort, however, is what is being called the Mitzvah Match, in which five local Jewish organizations are working with other nonprofits that help homeless or poverty-stricken people to collect food, clothing and other goods for distribution. In a twist on this theme, the Federation and Jewish Family Service are working together to connect professionals, in particular doctors and lawyers, who will volunteer their expertise to help clients in need of medical or legal services. This part of the program, while it will launch during Focus & Fight, is intended to continue year-round with the hopes that further organizations will join by next Sukkot.
Three upcoming events do not specifically fall under the umbrella of Focus & Fight, but are offered in the same spirit:
• The Jewish Family Service food drive runs through Sun., Oct. 18, when volunteers will sort the food at Acme Food Sales Warehouse from 10:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Registration required. RSVP by contacting 206-861-3155 or [email protected].
• Temple Beth Am’s Homeless2
Renter program, which aims to bring people from the streets into apartments or other low-income housing, holds its annual fundraiser on Sun., Sept. 4. Contact 206-525-0915 or rsvp@
templebetham.org.
• Seattle CROP Hunger Walk, which begins and ends at Kol HaNeshamah/Alki UCC in West Seattle at 1 p.m.
on Sun., Sept. 4, raises awareness for international hunger relief as well as local hunger fighting efforts. Visit www.seattlecrophungerwalk.org for details.
For further details on the entire program or to download resources, visit www.jewishinseattle.org/programs-initiatives/focus-fight.