Economic reports also come from social service agencies

Traditional economic reports are not the only place to gauge the health of an economy. Social service agency activity often mirrors the numbers, and typically does so in a manner that is more personal than a percentage change in GDP.

Rick Foti, director of the Community Services Clearinghouse, provides a clear and unfortunate economic report in his recent analysis of 2010.

“Looking at our food and financial programs, we can come to a clear conclusion that financial needs among the population increased exponentially during the 2010 year as compared to the 2009 year, while contributions remained steady throughout the two years,” Foti noted.

Don’t tell Foti that national economists said the U.S. recession ended in June 2009. He’d probably respond by saying requests in 2010 for financial help increased 59% over the previous year. Specifically, he’d report that in February, 2010, 108 applicants requested $22,000 in financial aid. By June, the monthly total was 207 applicants, asking for almost $40,000 in aid. The high was reached in September when 306 applicants asked for $85,000. The request stayed greater than $80,000 per month the rest of the year.

“The Clearinghouse has not nearly enough funds to support such requests. As almost all of our money is donations, we are only able to help those who have experienced a financial emergency in the previous 30 days,” Foti explained.

It’s a similar story at the River Valley Regional Food Bank in Fort Smith. That group placed a quarter of a million more pounds of food into the eight-county area in 2010. The River Valley Regional Food Bank provides food to more than 190 organizations in Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Scott, Sebastian and Yell counties. A record 4.295 million pounds of food was placed with hunger-relief groups in the area during 2010.

“While this represents an overall 6.1% increase over last year, many hunger-relief agencies are reporting double-digit demand for food,” the food bank noted in its report.

One of the agencies support by the food bank is Calvary Baptist Church in Fort Smith. Seeing a need develop, the church began a food relief effort. In January, 60 households representing 184 people were helped by the church. By December, the church was helping 257 households representing 1,084 people.

Ken Kupchick, director of marketing and development at the River Valley Regional Food Bank, said conditions don’t appear to be improving.

“Sadly, we are seeing much more desperation as the new year begins. Out of work heads of households begin the year faced with difficult choices. When you only have $10 left in your pocket, do you feed your four kids or do you put 3 gallons of gas in your car to apply for a job?” Kupchick noted in an e-mail to The City Wire.

Kupchick said most of those seeking help are actively looking for work. Unfortunately, the clients report that job vacancies are met with an overabundance of applications, and individuals over 45 “are finding themselves over qualified or unable to compete against younger applicants,” Kupchick explained.

The good news is that Fort Smith regional communities continue to be generous. Foti noted that donations in November and December were 350% greater than in the 2009 period.

“Two things seem to be in play here: Fort Smith is a very generous community, and the greater the perceived need, the more generous are our citizens. Secondly, it seems that those with resources were feeling more confident of the economy by the end of the year, despite the cries of the politicos to the contrary,” Foti said.

Kupchick said the food bank is seeing more support from companies like Mrs. Baird’s that have donated more food in 2010.

“There is food available. It’s just a matter of logistics, volunteers and funding to offer some semblance of hope, and sometimes that’s all that is needed — for today at least,” Kupchick said.