Arizona ranks among the worst states in the nation – and Tucson and the Phoenix metropolitan area are among the worst cities in the nation – for families trying to put food on the table for their children, according to a new report by the Food Action and Research Center (FRAC).

Poor in ‘food deserts’ face additional challenges in getting services

Posted: Thursday, July 7, 2011 1:30 am | Updated: 10:43 pm, Wed Jul 6, 2011. Poor in ‘food deserts’ face additional challenges in getting services By ANTHONY DEWITT Cronkite News Service East Valley Tribune | 0 comments

Source: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_7e7e9fd2-a85b-11e0-b671-001cc4c03286.html

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Study: Almost 14 percent of Arizonans lived in ‘food deserts’

East Valley Tribune by Anthony Dewitt, Cronkite News

While rural areas have typically been associated with food deserts, the report tells another story: About 75 percent of food-desert tracts are urban and 25 percent are rural. People who live more than a mile from a grocery in a city may be in a food desert; the distance increases to 10 miles in the country.

A lack of grocery stores and inadequate public transportation — in rural and urban areas — leaves many food-desert communities dependent for basic needs on convenience stores, which tend to be more expensive than full-service groceries.

Turley said he is more focused on buying food each day than buying a healthy meal, depending on fast food, restaurants and his job to eat.

“Unfortunately, my diet has suffered quite a bit because the closest thing for me is Circle K,” Turley said. “I am lucky I do get a meal on shift. Yesterday I had a burrito at Taco Bell and my shift meal.”

The difficulties can be even more pronounced in rural areas.

“The two miles in the city can sometimes grow to 10 miles in rural areas,” said Brian Simpson, a spokesman for the Arizona Association of Food Banks.

“People don’t get that if you are a struggling or low-income, all of the sudden two miles, especially in the heat of summer, is a big deal,” he said.

And even in poor, rural communities with access to a grocery, the foods being offered are not always healthy, critics say.

Debra Emmanuelle, who helped found the Verde Food Council near Sedona in 2009, describes grocery stores there greeting customers with tubs of lard, and produce sections barren of anything green.

“At least 85 percent of the food in the grocery store is not nutritious, it is filler food and people have forgotten that,” Emmanuelle said.

She said that lack of nutritious food is part of the reason for an “epidemic” of obesity and diabetes in the Northern Arizona area she serves. Residents there know it is a problem, but they have not changed their diets, she said, “because they do not know how, it (the food offered at the grocery) is just what’s available.”

Convenience stores are trying to improve their offerings, said an industry official, but they are simply not set up to match the offerings of a full-service grocery.

“I noticed this year everyone is selling fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience and Fuel Retailing. “We have come a long way with food and we still have a long way to go.”

For Turley, the Circle K at Fillmore Street and First Avenue in Phoenix lives up to its name: It’s convenient.

He could go to the Phoenix Public Market, a community non-profit dedicated to increasing access to healthy food. It’s just a block farther than Circle K, but he said its organic goods and locally farmed foods are often out of his budget.

“They do have everything you need, but do I want to spend?” Turley asked.

But going to the grocery is like planning a safari. Getting off at 7 a.m. from an all-night shift and facing the desert sun, he has to plan everything from what he will eat to how much he can fit in his reusable shopping bags.

So he often defaults to Circle K. It is quick and easy — and at least now they have a few more healthy options.

“They sell minimal fruit and you can buy bananas really cheap . . . it’s mostly processed,” said Turley. “There is not a healthy choices section or anything.”

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A/C Assistance on the Chopping Block?

Cuts to LIHEAP could prove disastrous

Updated: Wednesday, 29 Jun 2011, 6:46 PM MST
Published : Wednesday, 29 Jun 2011, 6:46 PM MST

PROPOSED CUT IN FEDERAL “SNAP” FUNDING PUTS MORE PRESSURE – AND FEWER MEALS ON MORE TABLES – FOR THOSE WHO CAN LEAST AFFORD IT

Similar to LIHEAP, Block Grant Distribution Formula Could Leave Arizona on the Short End

PHOENIX, Ariz. (May 5, 2011):  Under House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, the bottom line for the 1 in 3 Arizonans considered working poor and the 1 in 6 individuals across the state considered “food insecure” is even fewer meals than they’re able to afford today.

Ryan’s plan would cut SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funding, formerly known as food stamps, by nearly 20%, or $127 billion, over the next 20 years.

“This flies in the face of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture report that shows that SNAP funding kept very large numbers of families from going hungry,” said Cynthia Zwick, executive director of the Arizona Community Action Association.  “Low-income families spent more on nutritious food and reduced food insecurity for thousands of American families.  What sense does it make to cut a program that works?”

Although Congressman Ryan has proposed several options to the proposal, including converting the program to a block grant in 2015, he has not provided details in terms of timing or how the cuts would be determined.

“Historically, Arizona individuals end up on the losing end of distribution formulas for block-grant type funding proposals,” Zwick said.  “If you use LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) as an example, the state’s allocation is among the lowest in the nation.  We don’t expect it to be much different for SNAP.  And for those families already struggling to feed their families, that is the worst possible news they could hear.”

Currently, more than 1 million Arizona families in 454,468 households rely on SNAP, which helps low-income families make healthy food choices by putting more nutritious food on the table.  SNAP also assists families become financially stable.  Nearly 30% of participating SNAP households have earnings, and if they’re healthier because they’re eating smarter, they may need fewer sick days for themselves and their families, Zwick said.

The USDA reports that half of all new SNAP participants leave the program within nine months.

“SNAP funding also generates economic activity in every community in the state,” Zwick said.   “Every $5 in SNAP benefits generates $9 in community spending.”

The Association of Arizona Food Banks (AAFB) recently reported that as many as 17% of meals are missing from the diets of Arizonans struggling with hunger, poverty and food insecurity.  Maricopa County’s working poor miss nearly 20% of their meals, according to the AAFB.

“We recognize that these economic times require cutbacks and we know that everyone is making sacrifices,” Zwick said.  “But Arizona gets a double-whammy by having the funding cut at the top and then getting an even smaller percentage of the available dollars that trickle down to the states.   We need to do all we can to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of available funds, which is simply not the case.”

Zwick said that, in addition to reaching out to elected officials to encourage them to take a renewed look at the funding distribution process, donations of food and money can be made to food banks across the state.

Donations also can be made to www.ChooseToHelp.org.  Funds will be distributed to qualifying agencies throughout Arizona.

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Arizona’s Changing Middle Class

Updated: Sunday, 17 Apr 2011, 10:47 PM MDT
Published : Sunday, 17 Apr 2011, 10:47 PM MDT

Casey Stegall / Fox News Correspondent

I’m resentful of food-stamp abuse

Mar. 10, 2011 12:00 AM

I am becoming resentful more each time I grocery-shop. I hate what I feel. However, it is increasing.

Every time I go to the store – I mean every time – the person in front of me and the person behind me is using the food-stamp card. I am the only one in line paying cash. These people are eating much better than me. When you pay cash, you are more careful about what you buy. It is so crazy how they always have a cart overflowing with food, and they don’t even bat an eye. They don’t care that the price of food is going up. I have lost respect for the lawmakers who do not care that they blow my tax money on people who are using the system. If these lazy people would just say thanks to me in line for buying their groceries, it would feel better.

- Don Burchfield, Phoenix

Response from Association of Arizona Food Banks:

Posted: 02/16/2011 06:21:38 PM PST

Updated: 02/16/2011 06:24:23 PM PST

The pay is modest but she likes the work, and after a year she’s earned a promotion. But under President Obama’s proposed budget, a group that acts as a recruiter for poor and jobless workers – the group that connected Castro with her employer – may be in jeopardy.

“If the program wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t have a job,” Castro said.

The Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County is warning that Obama’s proposal to slash funding for such programs, from $700 million to $350 million nationwide, would have dire consequences for people like Castro. And it strikes the group as ironic since Obama vowed to protect the needy from cuts, and comes after the 2009 stimulus package added funding.

“It’s one step forward three steps back for the most vulnerable,” said Margery Regalado Rodriguez, Community Action Board chair.

Located across the country, community action programs are a vestige of the Civil Rights-era War on Poverty, helping low-income residents pay rent, house the homeless, put food on the table and find clothes and health care. Relatively speaking, they are a small part of the federal budget.

“It’s pretty alarming that the things the country is identifying as priorities are not human care,” Regalado Rodriguez said.

Faced with a massive federal deficit and a chorus of critics of government spending, the White House has taken a get-tough approach to community action programs, calling for increased performance standards and setting the stage for the programs to compete for scarce funds.

Obama – a former community organizer who toiled in Chicago’s low-income public housing projects – has said slashing funding for community action programs in half was a tough choice, but one that was necessary.

“But if we’re going to walk the walk when it comes to fiscal discipline, these kinds of cuts will be necessary,” Obama said in announcing his budget this week.

But Regalado Rodriguez said the group is responding to local needs, serving more than 7,000 people last year, a 13 percent increase over 2009. She said the group’s work is often known by other names, such as the Gemma Day Program, which helps women transition from jail back into the community.

And while not all the group’s funding comes from the federal government, it does provide seed money that Regalado Rodriguez said helps money from other sources.

Congress is set to debate the president’s budget. With Republicans controlling the House and playing the role of fiscal hawks in Washington, D.C., Regalado Rodriguez is hoping the Democrat-controlled Senate gives community action programs a reprieve.

See this article online here.

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Will Obama Budget Cause More Pain for Hurting Arizonans?

Public News Service-AZ

February 15, 2011

PHOENIX – President Obama’s budget proposal would halve federal funding for community-action programs. Managers of the agencies which administer those funds in Arizona say such a drastic cut will cripple efforts to provide critical assistance for thousands of families struggling to survive.

With the rough economy and high unemployment, many Arizona families remain at risk of losing their housing or even their ability to put food on the table. Malissa Buzan, Gila County Community Action manager, says the programs may represent the last hope for those families to return to self-sufficiency.

“Sometimes it’s just emergencies. They’ve been on unemployment, just reaching the end of their rope, and we help them with an emergency assistance – utilities or rent or mortgage assistance. But the long-term goal is to stabilize the family so that they don’t have to come back into our doors.”

Arizona’s 10 community-action programs served nearly 54,000 families last year. Employment assistance and home weatherization are two areas of emphasis, Buzan says, adding that the need for community-action services in her rural county has never been greater.

“Our unemployment runs about 12 percent right now. We had three businesses close last week. That’s 30 people out of work. We’re hurting.”

Critics of federal spending levels say private charities and churches should be taking care of the poor, the jobless and the disabled. However, Buzan says, churches and charities have been overwhelmed by the need.

“Their coffers are empty. They call me constantly for assistance. Their congregations are giving at a record rate, and still they cannot meet the demand. And frankly, neither can we, even before the cuts.”

Arizona received nearly $5 million for community-action programs last year. Buzan says that money was used and leveraged to raise another $45 million from non-federal sources including the private sector.

See this article online here.

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Energy-Assistance Funds Rely on Out-of-Date Stats

·         By CARL BIALIK

A proposed $2.5 billion cut to a program helping low-income Americans heat or cool their homes could leave some states out in the cold.

The cuts would shrink spending on the main portion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to $1.98 billion, from about $4.5 billion in the current fiscal year. The proposed budget would set aside an additional $590 million in contingency funds to distribute as need arises, an amount unchanged from the last budget. But because of a quirk in the funding system, some states would see their fixed share of the funds fall by much more than half, while others are protected from steep declines. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas—states where some low-income residents depend on the money to cool their homes during scorching summers—all would lose more than 75% of funding, according to the Congressional Research Service, while funding for Iowa, New York and Wisconsin would drop by less than half.

These uneven cuts are the product of an oddball formula that in certain cases relies on population and other data that are around three decades old. When the budget allocation in any year surpasses about $2 billion, the funds exceeding that amount are divvied up among the states based on current demographic, climate and energy-cost numbers. But when the program’s funding drops below roughly $2 billion, as it would under the proposed budget, the bill governing the program says that each state’s share should match its proportion of the total funds in 1984.

Population changes since 1980 have been especially significant. Between 1980 and 2010, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas each had population increases of at least 77%, compared with a nationwide gain of 36%. Meanwhile, population increases in Iowa, New York and Wisconsin were 5%, 10% and 21%, respectively.

“The formula really plays havoc with the amount of money we receive,” says Cynthia Zwick, executive director of the Arizona Community Action Association, which advocates for low-income people. Noting the state’s rapid population growth since 1980, she said, “None of that is taken into consideration.”

When asked about the allocation of funding by state, a White House spokeswoman pointed to comments by White House budget director Jacob Lew on Monday, where he addressed the cuts in funding but not the formula that spreads those cuts unevenly. A spokesman for the energy-assistance program, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Write to Carl Bialik at numbersguy@wsj.com

Find this story online here.

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President Obama’s State of the Union Address

As you probably know, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 25th, 2001, President Barack Obama specifically referred to the impact his proposed Federal spending freeze may have on Community Action Programs, which he described as a program he deeply cares about.

Although we were a bit surprised to hear that specific reference, we want you to know that we will continue to vigorously work with our advocates, supporters and partnering agencies to make sure that any proposed funding cuts and reductions do not disproportionately harm our most vulnerable individuals and families.

We know that community action programs work, and work well.   We see the results every day in every success story we’re part of.

But we also want you to know that we’re going to need your help now more than ever in our advocacy efforts to be sure that our stories are told loudly and clearly to everyone from elected officials to small business owners and from educators to community leaders.

In the coming months, you will hear much more about our plans and strategies and how you can help us continue to make a difference.

Thanks for your hard work and dedication.

Cynthia Zwick, Executive Director

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NEWS RELEASE

Toll-free Hotline Established Following Tucson Shooting

Professionals available to help citizens process tragedy

PHOENIX (January 11, 2011) – The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Division of Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) and Magellan Health Services of Arizona have set up a 24-hour toll-free hotline to help citizens process feelings of grief, sorrow and depression following Saturday’s shooting in Tucson that that left six people dead and 14 injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The hotline is staffed by behavioral health professionals to offer counseling services to people outside Pima County. Arizona residents can call the hotline at 1-800-203-CARES (1-800-203-2273) to connect with crisis response professionals that specialize in behavioral health.  Individuals within Pima County should call (520) 284-3517.  This information and more can be found on the ADHS/DBHS website.

“Tragedies of this kind are never easy. The feelings of fear, sadness, anger and hopelessness are stronger when a horrific event happens close to home,” said Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. “ADHS wants to ensure that every Arizona resident has access to professionals who can help counsel them through these feelings.”

“We want to take every opportunity to support those in need at this difficult time,” said Dr. Richard Clarke, CEO of Magellan Health Services of Arizona.

The hotline is being managed by Crisis Response Network (CRN), which provides crisis services in Maricopa County and Pima County. CRN has the infrastructure to handle thousands of calls and professional counseling staff to assist those in need in their preferred language.

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About ADHS/DBHS

The Arizona Department of Health Services promotes and protects the health of Arizona’s children and adults. Its mission is to set the standard for personal and community health through direct care, science, public policy, and leadership. The Department operates programs in behavioral health, disease prevention and control, health promotion, community public health, environmental health, maternal and child health, emergency preparedness and regulation of childcare and assisted living centers, nursing homes, hospitals, other health care providers and emergency services. For more information, visit www.AZDHS.gov or www.AZDHS.gov/bhs or call ADHS at (602) 542-1025.

About Magellan Health Services of Arizona

Magellan Health Services of Arizona is the Regional Behavioral Health Authority for central Arizona, which includes all of Maricopa County and part of Pinal County. In this role, Magellan serves as a critical point of connection to the more than 80,000 individuals who have experienced life challenges as a result of mental illness and substance abuse. Magellan gives these individuals voice and choice to realize their desired outcomes and supports them with caring, unrivaled customer service that is sensitive to the diversity of our communities. For more information, visit www.MagellanofAZ.com or call Magellan of Arizona at (800) 564-5465, TTY (800) 424-9831. Information is available in English and Spanish.

About Crisis Response Network

The Crisis Response Network, Inc. operates the several of nation’s largest publicly funded Crisis Call Center and makes a full array of other crisis services available to any individual or family who may be experiencing a behavioral health emergency. The network is overseen by a Governance Council and is comprised of several system partners all of whom have an extensive history in providing crisis services. Services include mobile teams, crisis transportation, hospital rapid response and Child Protective Services (CPS) crisis programs.

The Crisis Response Network, Inc. is accredited as a Crisis Intervention Program by the American Association of Suicidology and is committed to providing services that are research based. For more information, visit www.CrisisNetwork.org or call (800) 631-1314, TTY (800) 327-9254.

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NEWS RELEASE

FREE “PEOPLE’S INFORMATION GUIDE” PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT NO-COST/LOW-COST PROGRAMS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, INDIVIDUALS

Newest Edition Available On Line And At Community Action Agencies Statewide

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Dec. 8, 2010):  The new edition of the People’s Information Guide, which provides information about free and low-cost programs to help the growing number of struggling low-income Arizona families and individuals, is now available online at www.azcaa.org and at food banks and Community Action Agency offices throughout the state.

Published by The Arizona Community Action Association (ACAA) in partnership with APS, SRP and the Arizona Department of Economic Security, the 106-page People’s Information Guide is available at no cost thanks to the support of sponsors including Arizona Department of Health Services, Bashas’, Southwest Gas, the Arizona Department of Housing and Maricopa County.

“With Community Action Agencies and other human service agencies seeing a growing number of families and individuals needing assistance, many for the first time in their lives, the Guide offers resources to help prevent them from falling into deeper financial crises,” said ACAA Executive Director Cynthia Zwick. “The Guide is a single resource for individuals and families to get them to the services they need as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

In addition to listing contact information for the 40 Community Action Agency offices throughout Arizona, the People’s Information Guide offers information about programs and services in categories including: Aging Services; Children’s Services; Disability Services; Domestic Violence Services; Employment, Training and Education; Financial Benefits; Food and Nutrition; Health Care; Homeless; Housing, Home Repair and Weatherization; Transportation; Utility and Short Term Crisis Services; and additional resources for (DES Family Assistance offices, Emergency and Disaster Assistance, Indigent Burial Information, Legal Assistance and Veteran’s Services.

Each of The Guide’s sections includes program descriptions, eligibility information for individual programs and contact information by Coounty.

For additional information, visit www.azcaa.org, www.arizonaselfhelp.org or call the Arizona Community Action Association at (602) 604-0640.

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Congress must preserve program to help poor pay heating bills

It’s getting cold in Arizona, a fact that raises thermostats here and eyebrows across the country. Most Americans believe Arizona is always sunny and warm in the winter and sunny and unbearable in the summer.

The perception is the problem.

Arizona’s mountain winters are no less miserable than the state’s desert summers. And, if you’re living on the edge of poverty and trying to decide whether to pay the utility bill or for a bag of groceries to feed your family, does it really matter where you live?

For thousands of Arizona families facing that dilemma, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has provided a safety net by making the choice a bit easier.

High unemployment, unaffordable energy bills and cold weather create crises for families whose energy bills represent a disproportionally high percentage of income. Generally, households in poverty pay around 16 percent of their income on home energy while the non-low-income population spends about 3.6 percent.

Unfortunately, Congress is threatening to slash LIHEAP funding for this winter by nearly 40 percent leaving a potentially enormous hole in that safety net for the 35,450 Arizona households using LIHEAP to supplement their income and stay in their homes.

That means thousands of Arizona families and millions of Americans are at even greater risk of having the power shut off, one of the major factors leading to homelessness for families. It also means potentially higher costs for Arizona utility companies which could, at some point, be passed on to customers.

At the same time, Arizona faces the double whammy of losing LIHEAP funding that is already minimal because of the perception that, as a warm-weather state, the problem is not as severe as in Maine, Wisconsin or Iowa. Tell that to families trying to survive in subfreezing weather in the winter and abysmally hot summers with few, if any, options to move.

Arizona is looking at a 47 percent cut in LIHEAP funding which will drop the allocation from the current $34.2 million to approximately $19.6 million.

That is unacceptable on so many levels, but most importantly, for the families barely scraping by – a population increasing dramatically in the current economic environment as witnessed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture report that 15 percent of U.S. household, or 17.4 million families, lacked enough money to feed themselves at some point last year.

The Arizona Republic recently reported that food banks are giving out more food than ever before, which is also true in Tucson, and that the number of food stamps distributed has jumped 14 percent from the previous year to more than 1 million people.

Although we’d prefer to solve the big-picture problem in its entirety, one way of easing the burden is for voters to ask Congress to restore funding to the highly effective LIHEAP program so that millions of low-wage working families, the recently unemployed, retirees and medically challenged consumers can pay their utility bills and keep their homes at safe temperatures.

Putting on an extra sweater just isn’t enough.

Cynthia Zwick is executive director of the Arizona Community Action Association, which provides services and resources for the poor and working poor. For information or to make a donation to the Arizona Home Energy Assistance Fund, visit www.azcaa.org

From the Arizona Daily Star at: http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/article_3d3b6ece-6165-587b-8786-7df9297b0de3.html

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Public News Service-AZ

November 19, 2010

Advocate: Wrong Time to be Ending Jobless Aid

PHOENIX, Ariz. – More than 50,000 Arizonans are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits during the holiday season if Congress lets federal support for extended unemployment insurance expire. However, such benefits have never been ended when the jobless rate is above seven percent, and Arizona Community Action Association director Cynthia Zwick says this is not the time to start.

“The indication is both at the national level and at the state level that our economy is not going to recover any time soon, and that jobs are going to continue to be hard to find. There’s one available job for every five unemployed workers searching for work.”

Arizona’s unemployment rate remains at 9.5 percent, matching a 27-year high. A new national poll from Hart Research Associates shows voters favor continuing extended jobless benefits by 60 percent to 37 percent, even when reminded of the soaring federal deficit.

Continuing the support would not add weeks of unemployment insurance, just pay for the additional weeks now available. Those additional weeks can be a lifeline for the long-term unemployed.

Robert Pugh’s situation is an example of the need. He’s 59 and has worked steadily since he was 16, mostly as a chef but more recently as a financial analyst. That job was eliminated this year, and he says he has about four weeks of benefits left.

“I’m barely surviving. I can pay my rent, buy enough food to eat, pay my insurance, put gas in my car. If I run out, I’m going to have to move out of my house and basically I’m going to be homeless.”

Zwick rejects the idea that extended jobless benefits are discouraging the unemployed from seeking work.

“In Arizona, if you are offered a suitable job and you don’t take that job, you will lose your unemployment benefits.”

Eliminating extended benefits now could actually worsen Arizona’s jobless rate, Zwick points out, because those receiving checks spend the money immediately, helping to keep retail sector workers employed.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/17062-1

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Weatherization effort kicks into high gear

Weatherization effort kicks into high gear

CYNDY COLE Sun Staff Reporter azdailysun.com | Posted: Saturday, October 9, 2010 5:00 am |

There’s a big push going on in Flagstaff, stretching from NAU and City Hall into local churches and schools — and even into other countries.

Worldwide, various communities are taking Sunday to show what they’re doing to fight global warming. Locally, kids, churchgoers, environmentalists, bike riders and even local clergy are asking residents in Plaza Vieja, Sunnyside and Southside to apply to have their homes made more heat-efficient for winter this Sunday afternoon. Some local clergy are even building the effort into Sunday sermons, and more than 1,000 homes are being canvassed by local students, said Northern Arizona University graduate student Jason Lowry.

His goal: To sign up 350 households for retrofits in one Sunday afternoon.

The overall reason is three-fold, said one of those involved, NAU Professor Rom Coles: To persuade one state agency to make a home-improvement loan fund for low-income households big enough to help hundreds, to help permanently cut utility costs for people barely making ends meet, and to redirect money formerly spent on these utilities to other purposes or creating new jobs. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to live in a home that leaks hundreds of dollars in heated air out of an old attic, for example, Coles said.

“That is money that is going into the sky. Take those hundreds of thousands of dollars and put them into buying food and everything else you do here,” he said, rather than warming the earth.

Yet, sometimes people living in the poorest housing can least afford the up-front costs of these repairs.

Coconino County Sustainable Economic Development Initiative and others are pushing the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve a loan fund of about $10 million to help cover these up-front costs, to improve homes, following a rate increase. UniSource is pushing for a smaller amount. At the same time, the Corporation Commission is requiring utilities to aggressively cut electricity and natural gas demand by 22 percent for 2020 for electricity.

For homeowners who apply, the revolving-loan fund gives them, for example, $3,000 for home repairs. That money is repaid over the next 10-12 years because bills for the homeowner stay mostly the same, but energy use is less, repaying the loan slowly to the utility. Ultimately, the house ends up more energy efficient, the money is repaid, and the loan moves to a new homeowner.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes, near the end of her term, said that while ratepayer money goes to fund these improvements, making homes more energy-efficient is an important part of the commission’s energy plan. “This is a hugely important piece of our strategy for meeting our energy efficiency targets for Arizona,” she said. There are 214 Coconino County households that have already had weatherization improvements to some degree (some funded with federal stimulus money) such as duct sealing, attic and floor insulation, HVAC repair/replacement, air sealing, or refrigerator repair or replacement.

For the more substantial weatherization jobs, utility bills have been cut by one-third on average, said Northern Arizona Council of Government’s Bob Baca. That’s an electricity savings of about $400 annually for these households, or slightly less in natural gas savings. Home-retrofit sign-ups are Sunday at Killip Elementary or Murdoch Center from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.

Posted in Local on Saturday, October 9, 2010 5:00 am Updated: 11:48 pm.

 

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CAA NEWS RELEASE

More than 1.04 Millions Arizonans Live on a Food Stamp Budget – Can You?

Arizona Community Action Association Board, Staff to Live on $30 Worth of Food for One Week

PHOENIX, Ariz.:  (Oct. 19, 2010):  Members of the Arizona Community Action Association Board and staff have pledged to live on the average Nutrition Assistance benefit level of $4.22 worth of food a day during the week of October 18 – 24.

ACAA Board and staff are taking part in the challenge to increase awareness around poverty and hunger in Arizona.

“Participation in the Food Stamp Challenge helps us see first-hand the challenges families face so we are better able to advocate for the community we are here to serve,” said ACAA Executive Director Cynthia Zwick. “While this week won’t provide us a true picture of what families on SNAP experience day-to-day, we hope it will give us a sense of empathy and increased compassion for those who struggle to put food on their tables every day.”

Established in 1939, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program) helps more than 35 million low-income people purchase needed food each month. In September, 1,044,410 individuals in Arizona received SNAP. Eligibility is based on income and assets depending on household size. Eligibility for SNAP also includes work requirements, with all non-elderly adults required to be employed or to register for employment.

SNAP encourages people to transition from welfare to work by supplementing their food budgets and gradually decreasing benefits as income increases.

As of 2008, almost 30 percent of Nutrition Assistance households had at least some earnings, and half of all new participants left the program within nine months. Of all Nutrition Assistance households, 83 percent contained either an elderly or disabled person or a child, and these households received 88 percent of all benefits.

In addition to helping families make ends meet, the Nutrition Assistance Program also gives back to a state’s economy. For every $1 in food stamps that are used in grocery stores or at local farmer’s markets, close to $2 is generated in local economic activity.

“The simple fact is that many families are having trouble making ends meet and it’s forcing them to choose every month between paying their housing, utilities, health care premiums, daycare costs and more,” said ACAA Program Manager Katie Kahle.  “For many families, the food budget is the first to be cut, and the small amount of assistance they receive through SNAP can make it possible for them to feed their families a healthier diet and also free up a little room in their household budget to cover those other expenses.”

Zwick said that this is a pivotal time for Nutrition Assistance as some proposed child nutrition reauthorization (CNR) legislation, which funds school lunch and breakfast programs, for example, threatens to cut $2.2 billion dollars from the federal program.

This cut to funding would take $56 each month away from the average household, or $9 per week from the average single person in Arizona.

One objective of the ACAA Food Stamp Challenge is to give participants an opportunity to think critically about the importance of the current benefit levels while Congress considers legislation that could negatively affect those levels.

To illustrate the additional challenges of living on the proposed reduced benefit level, some of the ACAA Board and staff have opted to limit their food budget for the week to $21 to reflect what the reduced benefit level would be if SNAP is used to offset CNR.

At just $1 per meal per person, participants quickly realized that eating a balanced diet was going to be the biggest obstacle in the Challenge.

“Even with coupons, calculator and a college education on hand I couldn’t make my $21 stretch to cover the food pyramid,” said ACAA Hunger Fellow and Challenge participant Marie Lawrence. “I had to leave milk, meat, and cereal off my list, which are normally staples in my diet.”

ACAA’s Food Stamp Challenge participants will be chronicling their experiences daily on a blog at www.acaachallenge.wordpress.com. To assist participants and followers understand the issues and complexity of SNAP, the blog also includes resources and information about the program and participation in Arizona.

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Energy EFFICIENCY LAGging

Oct. 14–TOPEKA — A national report released Wednesday shows Kansas lagging most states in its efforts to increase energy efficiency.

While Kansas could improve, state officials noted that the report also overlooked some of Kansas’ efficiency efforts, which are gaining attention nationally.

Kansas came in 46th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the report, released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The nonprofit group aims to improve energy independence and security through efficiency. This is the fourth scorecard the council has produced since 2006.

Missouri and Oklahoma were tied with West Virginia at 43rd, and Nebraska ranked 47th.

Colorado came in 19th. Its efforts include spending about $60 million on efficiency programs for electricity and natural gas.

Colorado electric utilities saved 203,344 megawatt hours in 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration. By comparison, Kansas utilities saved 13,900 megawatt hours in 2008.

Westar Energy, one of the state’s largest utility providers, did not report data to the Energy Information Administration.

Cara Sloan-Ramos, spokeswoman for the Kansas Corporation Commission, said no one from the state’s energy offices had been contacted by the council, and she was trying to determine how the rankings were calculated.

“What I can find as far as Kansas goes, there is no mention of any of our big loan programs,” Sloan-Ramos said. “There is a lot of stuff that they don’t have.”

She pointed to efforts such as the Facility Conservation Improvement Program, which helps public groups –including school districts and municipalities — work to find energy-efficient improvements for buildings.

That program is one of the best in the country, and other states are modeling their programs on it, she said.

Kathleen Hogan, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency, called Wednesday’s report a “call to action to see where we could do more and what we could do better.”

State governments were the best positioned to lead the way forward through policy changes and by investing money in efficiency programs, she said.

Hogan noted that over the past year, 20 states had either adopted or made significant progress toward requiring building codes that contributed to energy efficiency.

Among the states that made significant improvement were Utah and Arizona, which moved up 11 spots to 12th and 18th on the list, respectively, and New Mexico, which moved up eight spots to 22nd.

Arizona Corporation Commission chairwoman Kris Mayes said her state’s efforts had saved customers about $9 billion.

Among its continuing efforts are requirements that the state reduce its energy load 22 percent by 2020 and achieve 2 percent annual energy savings by 2018, she said.

With the improvements in energy efficiency, “we are able to defer, delay or eliminate the need for new power plants,” she said.

Arizona won’t need to add to its power-generating capacity until 2030, and “we won’t be building any new coal plants in Arizona ever again,” she said.

That contrasts with Kansas, where the permit for a new coal-fired power plant in western Kansas for Sunflower Electric is working its way through the regulatory system.

Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat who supports the project, also has pushed for more energy efficiency and green-energy jobs in the state.

“Current energy-efficiency programs and workforce training opportunities are under way in the state to help Kansans save on their energy costs and train Kansans for these jobs, but there is continuous room for improvement,” his spokeswoman, Amy Jordan Wooden, said in an e-mail.

Reach Jeannine Koranda at 785-296-3006 or jkoranda@wichitaeagle.com.

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See this article on istockanalyst.com

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CAHRA announces funds for home weatherization, improvements

Published: Thursday, October 7, 2010 4:15 AM MST

“Under the Weatherization Program, improvements are made by CAHRA staff to help reduce energy consumption and energy costs,” said Mary Lou Rosales, executive director.

A thorough assessment of the eligible home is performed, including diagnostic and blower door testing to determine how weather-tight the home is and what improvements need to be made. A test to determine carbon monoxide leakage in the home is also done.

Minor repairs are made to make the home safer, more sound and secure. Families are counseled as to changes in their energy use habits, which will complement the work done on the homes, and help promote the conservation of energy, she explained.

Weatherization repairs may include repair or replacement of cooling and heating systems. Repair or replacement of refrigerators, stoves, water heaters, doors and windows will also be considered. Homes needing larger repairs such as roofing, plumbing, electrical or major rehabilitation may not be eligible for the program.

Funding for the program is provided by the Department of Energy, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Southwest Gas Corporation through the Arizona Department of Energy Office. Other weatherization funding is provided by Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service through Arizona Community Action Association (ACAA). Funding for minor home repairs is provided by the Pinal Gila Council for Senior Citizens under the Older Americans Act Title III and Arizona Hosing Fund through Arizona Department of Housing.

Eligibility includes: 1) household must be low income, 2) the homes must be owned by the applicant or be in process of purchasing, 3) household must have lived in the home for least 12 months. An application must be completed and verification of income and home ownership must be provided. Other documents may be needed, depending of the source of funding to be used. For an application or for information, call the CAHRA office at (520) 466-1112 or toll free (877) 472-2472 (from long distance areas only) or write to 311 N. Main Street, Eloy, Ariz. 85131.

WEBSITE PROVIDES ELIGIBILITY DETAILS FOR STATE FOOD AID

By Allison Gatlin

A record number of people in May looked into the Arizona Self Help on the Internet, a site that pre-screens individuals and families seeking assistance for the programs that they could be eligible for, said Katie Kahle, a representative for the organization.

The numbers keep rising, she said, citing that 11,226 individuals accessed the site in May, an increase from 6,419 in April.

The reason, Kahle said, has everything to do with increasing unemployment and the housing crisis that Arizona has been experiencing.

 “When people lose their jobs, typically, the first place they’re hit is in the kitchen,” she said. “And then there are people experiencing rising mortgage rates, taking furloughs from work and they just can’t make (housing) payments.”

By accessing the Arizona Self Help website, www.arizonaselfhelp.org, individuals are directed to which of the 31 programs they would be eligible for.

Kahle acknowledges that there are a lot of barriers that keep someone from seeking assistance.

“It could be a problem as simple as they don’t know that there is help out there,” Kahle said. “Or something as complex as fear issues or transportation issues. So they can access these programs and information from the comfort of wherever they receive Internet access.”

Stout said the chances of him applying to one of the programs he’s eligible for are “very high.”

“If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have said high at all,” he said. “But the way things keep going, I keep getting part-time jobs and the hours just aren’t there.”

He added that the website would be helpful to families with children who are often eligible for a variety of food assistance programs and just aren’t aware of the fact.

But Kahle said families, more than ever, are struggling to put food on the table due to a law passed last year that shortened the Cash Assistance Program – a program that primarily helps households with children by providing them with cash for food – from 60 months to 36. The new law will take effect in July.

In Bisbee, Nicole Arrela, the manager of the Southern Cochise Action Program, said there continues to be a steady flow of people coming in to receive assistance. She added that in July, when the changes to CAP become effective, she expects to see an increase in the number of families looking for help.

It’s often a struggle for these families as they lose their benefits from these programs, Kahle said. “They have to ask themselves each month whether they would pay the electric bill or buy groceries,” she said. “And usually, you pay the electric bill, especially in Arizona.”

Read the article from Willcox Range News here.

NO ‘LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL’ FOR ARIZONA’S POOR

Posted: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:30 pm | Updated: 9:07 pm, Tue Sep 28, 2010.

Dan Zeiger, Tribune