[PEN-L:32657] hunger and plenty

["Ian Murray" <seamus2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.latimes.com
THE NATION
Hunger Hits Hard in Pacific Northwest
Demand for assistance is among the nation's highest, overwhelming food
banks. Residents accustomed to self-reliance accept charity reluctantly.
By Scott Martelle
Times Staff Writer

December 1 2002

THE DALLES, Ore. -- Chris and Lisha Brumfield made their last mortgage
payment but don't know where they'll get the money for the next one.

They have already turned her car over to the finance company and are
struggling to keep his truck. Chris lost his job 20 months ago, and the
family lives on whatever Lisha can earn caring for other people's kids.

Last month, faced with nearly empty cupboards and three hungry children of
their own, the Brumfields did what they once considered unthinkable: They
turned to the local Salvation Army for free rice, instant mashed potatoes
and other staples, an admission that cut to the soul in a place where
self-reliance is a near-religion.

"I don't see the end to this," said Chris Brumfield, 30, who was laid off
from the Golden Northwest Aluminum plant here on the south bank of the
Columbia River. "We're trying to stay in the house.... The fear is coming
that we can't."

Here in the Pacific Northwest, a higher proportion of the population
reported suffering from hunger over a three-year span than in any other
region of the country, according to a recent analysis of federal statistics
by the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brandeis University.

Nearly 6% of Oregon residents, or more than 200,000 people, reported during
1999-2001 that they did not have enough to eat for reasons beyond their
control. Nationwide, the rate was 3.1%; seven of the eight states reporting
the highest levels were in the West.

Overall, nearly 14% of Oregon residents -- fourth-highest in the nation
behind New Mexico, Florida and Utah -- did not have reliable access to food,
part of a national trend that researchers trace to job loss, increased
living costs and a failure of government programs -- such as food stamps --
to reach those who need help.

Oregon's 7% jobless rate is the nation's highest. It has given rise to a
flood of newly poor families that threatens to overwhelm food banks across
the Pacific Northwest.

"It is becoming more and more serious," said Sue Hofer, spokeswoman for
Second Harvest, a Chicago-based nonprofit that oversees a national network
of food banks.

More than one in five of Oregon's 3.4 million residents used food banks
during the year, a 10% rise over the previous year. Soup kitchens and
emergency shelters reported a 17% increase in meals served. The problem was
almost as bad in neighboring Washington after a nearly 14% hike in the
number of people who needed food-bank help.

The problem seems to have landed heavily in the central stretch of the
Columbia Gorge, a sparsely populated region of ranches, orchards, and
beleaguered aluminum and lumber plants that barely saw a ripple from the
booming 1990s.

Over the past two years, high electric rates and low market prices led
aluminum companies to shut factories, further depressing a region already
absorbing the collapse of a lumber industry battered by low-priced imports
and environmental-driven restrictions on logging.

As a result, hundreds of well-paid but low-trained workers have lost jobs on
both sides of the Columbia River. In Oregon's Wasco County, unemployment
runs about 8%, while in Klickitat County on the Washington side,
unemployment stands at 14%.

The biggest effect has been on The Dalles, a low spot in the Columbia Gorge
defined by sharp bluffs and rolling, treeless countryside. At the local
Salvation Army, the number of households receiving food boxes -- enough for
three or four meals -- zoomed from 470 to 2,970 for the year that ended
Sept. 30.

"It was tight, but we managed," said Capt. John Tumey, who moved to The
Dalles four years ago from Merced, Calif. "We had a lot of support from
people in the community."

The demand has peaked, he hopes, and will trail off through the winter as
more laid-off workers complete retraining programs and find fresh work, or
leave town. Last year, the Salvation Army bought one bus ticket to help
someone leave town; this year it has bought 22.

Despite the increase in demand, local food banks are only serving a fraction
of those who need help because most refuse to ask for it.

One man, Tumey said, showed up saying he had enough food, supplied by
friends, but needed a blanket. When Tumey gave him one and refused to accept
money for it, the man returned a few hours later with cans of food to add to
the pantry -- willing to trade but not to receive charity.

"It's pride," Tumey said. "Some men just don't want to ask for help."

A key factor in the financial squeeze is housing costs, which have remained
steady.

"For some families, 60% to 70% of their income goes to housing," said
Barbara McNab, housing coordinator for the Mid-Columbia Community Action
Council in The Dalles, which distributes goods to food banks and runs
housing and utilities programs that have seen similar increases in requests
for help. "When the economy was good here, 30% was a good average."

The loss of middle-class jobs has made the local job market impossibly
tight. One window-making company had more than 200 applicants for three jobs
earlier this year. Les Segui, 32, landed one, which pays $8.50 an hour.
That's not enough to live on, though, and Segui qualifies for rent
assistance and food for himself and his 6-year-old son.

Segui has considered leaving town, but the pull of family keeps him rooted.
He shares custody of his son with the boy's mother. And his father, a
retired logger, and two brothers live in the area.

"Just trying to live around here, you can't save up money to move somewhere
else," Segui said. "I'm kind of stuck in the situation, I guess."

The Brumfields feel similarly bound. Lisha Brumfield has two sons, ages 7
and 5, from a previous marriage, and she and Chris had a daughter two years
ago. They bought a $105,000, four-bedroom house at the western edge of town,
within driving distance of most of their relatives.

"That good plant money was burning a hole in my pocket," Chris Brumfield
said. His wife added: "We could buy pretty much anything we wanted."

Then came the layoffs. While many of Chris Brumfield's co-workers signed up
for job-retraining programs, Brumfield passed, gambling that the aluminum
plant would restart, as he applied unsuccessfully for some of the few jobs
that have come open in town. So far, nothing has materialized, and the
couple have drained their savings and his 401(k) account.

Although Lisha Brumfield receives child support, the couple's only regular
income is $850 a month from a day-care center she runs from their home.
That's about equal to their monthly mortgage.

The financial strains have sent difficult emotions coursing through the
family. Chris Brumfield recently went to see a doctor for debilitating
stomach pains. The diagnosis: stress.

It is fed, Lisha Brumfield believes, by the unaccustomed discomforts that
come with sudden poverty: "We've never asked for help before."