Annual food summit examines poverty
Jan. 29—HIGH POINT — About 160 people shared their perspectives about how poverty affects people in the community on Friday during the Greater High Point Food Alliance's sixth annual Food Security Summit.
In particular, participants in the virtual event exchanged ideas of ways to work together to help lift others' lives to prevent hunger.
Carl Vierling, executive director of the alliance, said food insecurity is just the tip of the iceberg because the real issue is poverty. Addressing poverty is the alliance's most important effort, he said.
"Really, the answers don't lie in Washington or Raleigh. The answers lie in our own community, in our own neighborhoods," Vierling said. "This is a conversation we have been looking forward to for over two years because we think it's so important."
Economic hardship experienced across the state is more pronounced and wrenching than known, according to keynote speaker Gene Nichol, who is considered a leading authority on poverty. The chasm of need statewide far exceeds anything generous folks working against the odds can supply, said Nichols, who has been working in low-income communities in North Carolina for the past 15 years.
"That gap is getting worse year after year, month after month, no matter what might be proclaimed," Nichol said. "That gap between what can be provided and the need that exists gets larger, not smaller."
About one in five North Carolina children live below the federal poverty threshold, which is about $25,000 a year for a family of four, Nichol said. That is the 10th highest state rate in the nation. One in 10 of North Carolina children live in extreme poverty, or $12,500 a year for a family of four, Nichols said. Children of color are impoverished at three times the rate of white children.
Nichol noted mothers and older siblings who skip meals because of not having enough food. He repeated comments he heard in recent months from nonprofit leaders across the state, including the lack of support from many policymakers whose lives don't include the experience of low-income families. Child poverty often gets passed on to the next generation, Nichol said.
Students whose families are struggling often don't tell their stories, but teachers can observe and talk with them about their needs. That was the view of Hector Gomez, a native of Colombia who has been teaching Spanish at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts for 15 years. He shared stories of two anonymous students he had seen since the pandemic started.
The first student was a ninth grader making good grades whose grades and attendance sharply fell when the pandemic started. While Gomez volunteered to deliver food boxes to families, he was stunned when that student opened the door.
"It was a surprise, but at that moment I understood why he was failing, because there was no food in the house," Gomez said.
Another student often sat quietly in the back of the class. When Gomez noticed him limping, the boy said one of his shoes was broken. After the student walked into the classroom and stapled his shoe back together, Gomez noticed it had been stapled more than once.
"I don't know his agony. I just know he's here doing his best," Gomez said. "Maybe his family spends their money on food but don't have enough to spend on shoes. We need to listen to their stories. We need to talk to them. Look for the voice of the people. Stories are strong. Listen to their needs."
Jerry Mingo, president of the Burns Hill Community Association, spoke about how poverty affects seniors in the community.
"We are struggling with rising health care, housing costs and lack of transportation, inadequate nutrition and diminishing savings," Mingo said. "Poverty becomes a physical and psychological condition, not just an economic one."
In addition, seniors with deteriorating health and ability to pay may end up losing their housing.
cingram@hpenews.com — 336-888-3534 — @HPEcinde
