SNAP Challenge Review

This is a follow up post to the SNAP challenge that we undertook throughout October. My original intention was to provide a weekly update on our progress, however over the past couple of weeks my schedule would not allow it. So this is a final note on our experience.

Looking back through October I am filled with grief over the congressional decision to go through with the cut to SNAP. I am grieved because millions of families will now have to make their food budgets work with 5.5% less than they had before. For the plan we were working off of, $267 a month for a household of two, would mean a reduction of $14.68 to a total of $252.32 per month. While $14.68 does not seem like a significant amount, when your food budget is so stretched that every dollar is pre-planned, analyzed and coveted, $14.68 means something will have to go. Maybe how that plays out is that the milk has to last a little longer than it already does, or there is yet another night of macaroni and cheese, but what it ultimately translates to is sacrifice in scarcity.

What I learned from participating in the challenge was that I hated being on it. Every day was filled with more stress, worrying about every meal, how much money was left, and what we could or could not buy. Surviving off of this amount of money is not a luxury, it is a burden. It is certainly a burden more preferable than having no supplemental support, but what it did not produce in us was a sense of security or comfort. Rather, every day was filled with anxiety over food.

At no point did we feel like this was a level of food income we would be comfortable maintaining.

Perhaps the biggest oversight in our challenge was that we did not truly experience what 76% of SNAP households do: a dependent. Whether that be a child, an elderly parent, or someone with a work prohibitive disability, we did not have to worry about a mouth to feed that could not provide a source of income. It breaks my heart to think of parents who have to worry about how much food their child(ren) will be able to have on their plate.
Maybe we could have cut $14.68 out of our budget, made it work, squeezed through it. Maybe I could have gone to bed with a little less food one night. But if I had a child I do not know how I would make that adjustment. How could I take food off of their plate?
This was also our greatest insight over the past month. When thinking about how these cuts would effect families with children, I wondered if we would have even tried this challenge if we had a child. The answer is no, we would not have taken this challenge on willingly. So now, more than ever, I am abundantly aware of the privilege I have in being able to make that choice. To say that this would not be right for my child when we can afford more. Which is why it also hurts me to know that those who control how much SNAP money is contributed to each family's food budget find themselves in the same privileged position that I am and yet find it so easy to make cuts.

For all the families that are having to make cuts to their food budgets this month I pray that God would help them find a way to be fed.
For all of those who are in positions of power over our budget I pray that their hearts be warmed and that God's Spirit would work in them so that all people might have access to the food they need and that none would go hungry.

SNAP Week 1

Ezekiel 18:5,7
"People are declared innocent when they act justly and responsibly. They don’t cheat anyone, but fulfill their obligations. They don’t rob others, but give food to the hungry and clothes to the naked."

We're now a little over a week into our month of SNAP challenge and what we have noticed the most is the constraint placed on our eating habits. Many of our meal choices haven't deviated too much (after all I just graduated from Seminary and my wife is just starting her graduate level education so we're used to eating cheap foods) but it's the choice that's really missing.

There have been many moments in this first week where I've been working on a sermon, preparing for a meeting, or even relaxing when it hits me. I want food. Typically we eat a small breakfast, usually nothing more than a bowl of oatmeal or cereal with coffee. Lunch consists of a sandwich or a quickly prepared pasta dish. Dinner is a slightly larger affair, usually some side dish included and a small dessert. All of these meals are less than normal and all of them contain far fewer fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. This I expected, but what I did not anticipate was how difficult it is to not have a choice.

Before we started this challenge, when we wanted something extra, or something healthy, or even a specific item, we would go get it (within reason). Now every meal has to be carefully thought out and there is always the concern as to what will happen when we run out. This is a common problem for those who need supplemental assistance like SNAP. Yahoo News ran an article this week with some of the stories of those who are actually on SNAP, and what their grocery/food allowance looks like. Below is an excerpt from that article:

"Warrick, one of several food-stamp recipients who shared stories with Yahoo News this week, knows how pricey that food is. Her budget for her family of three is stretched. “Have you noticed food prices lately?” she asks rhetorically. “I mean, really noticed?”She says preparing a fresh, healthy dinner for her family of three costs $20, four times more than a pizza. So they live on macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, spaghetti and canned vegetables — cheaper but less healthy meals that run about $2 to $3 each. (Her homemade enchilada recipe, at about $15 a meal, is often out of the question.)"

For those who receive SNAP benefits, this $4.45 a day is a vital lifeline that allows individuals and families the chance to put food in their stomachs. However, this much needed assistance does not mean that people will be eating healthy foods, or have much of a choice in the variety of their meals. The lack of choice was the first thing we have experienced and its absence is felt every day.

Hungry

Isaiah 58:6-12

Isn't this the fast I choose: releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke, setting free the mistreated, and breaking every yoke? Isn't it sharing your bread with the hungry and bringing the homeless poor into your house, covering the naked when you see them, and not hiding from your own family? Then your light will break out like he dawn, and you will be healed quickly. Your own righteousness will walk before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the finger-pointing, the wicked speech; if you open your heart to the hungry, and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted, your light will shine in the darkness, and your gloom will be like the noon. The Lord will guide you continually and provide for you, even in parched places. He will rescue your bones. You will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water that won’t run dry. They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account; the foundations of generations past you will restore. You will be called Mender of Broken Walls, Restorer of Livable Streets.

Matthew 25:44

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't do anything to help you?'" Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’"

My brother put up a blog post earlier this week that was quite prophetic. He is a missionary serving in Albany, NY with the Albany United Methodist Society (AUMS). His post covered a growing crisis that AUMS is struggling to meet; the overwhelming number of hungry people in the U.S. Our government is currently embroiled in a budget crisis, where debt and spending are high. The argument is over what will be cut, to stem the rising debt and bring the government back to economic solvency. What was on the cutting room of the House this past week was the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides a maximum of $6.57 per day in food for individuals who make less than $1,211 a month (though the average for 2012 was $4.45 per day).

(For comparison one McDonald's Big Mac meal costs an average of $6.64 in the U.S.)

The House voted last week to cut $40 Billion out of the SNAP program. This change doesn't just affect the amount of SNAP benefits that are available to each individual, but also means that nearly 4 million American's who are currently benefiting from SNAP will be kicked out of the program. As my brother rightly points out, Non-profits, NGOs and religious organizations account for 1/24th of the total assistance currently provided to the hungry in the U.S. alone. As a nation we spent over $81 Billion in 2012 feeding the hungry and all non-government support accounted for only $4 Billion of that total. There are currently over 47.7 million people who benefit from SNAP nationally. 76% of SNAP households have children, elderly adults, or at least one person with a disability. Last year, SNAP accounted for less than 0.6% of the total GDP. However, for every dollar spent on SNAP, there is an estimated $1.79 return to the economy. On average people use SNAP for 9 months. This means that SNAP functions as a true safety net. People who cannot afford to eat are caught by the net and are stabilized enough so that they can make whatever change is necessary for them to live at or above subsistence.

"Over the past decade, the percentage of [SNAP] households with earned income has increased from 27 percent to 30 percent, whereas the share of households with unearned income has declined from 79 percent to 60 percent." This means that more and more SNAP recipients primary source of income is from a low paying job, where fewer and fewer are relying on unearned assistance such as child support, SSI, or unemployment. However, "the percentage of households with zero gross income has grown from 7 percent in fiscal year 1990 to 20 percent in fiscal year 2010. Similarly, the percentage of households with zero net income, after all applicable deductions, has doubled from 19 percent to 38 percent during the same time period." -USDA

Why am I writing this? Because there are very real people whose ability to survive is on the line. Last Sunday we talked about which societal practices truly scandalize God. Chief among them is neglect of the poor and the vulnerable. Our bible has a lot to say about those practices and with 79% of SNAP recipient households having children, elderly adults, or disabled persons, I think this more than qualifies.

Next month, my wife and I will be taking the SNAP challenge, one month of living off of the average equivalent SNAP food allowance for a two person household. I'll catalog our experience here. If you have any doubts about the difficulties faced by those benefiting from SNAP, I would encourage you to do the same. If you too believe that this scandalizes God, I would encourage you to talk to your congressional representatives and tell them.

Prayers for the City

In the coming weeks, Motown Mission's website will be releasing an art project that is the symbol of all of the work our volunteers have been doing this summer. At the end of each week, we ask the groups to join into a collage of prayer. When they are all done, their prayers make up a house, a symbol of the work that they've done. On the site, we've compiled many of these prayers into a virtual collage.

Check it out here

Each prayer represents a hope for the future of the city, the individual, and the love that God brings to the world. Many have brought insight and inspiration to my life, and so I've compiled a few for you. The following is a look at some of my favorites:
---------------
"Dear heavenly father, this trip has reminded me of why I became a part of this church. I know now that I can’t do it without you because I’ve tried and it never worked. Lord I thank you for this week, it really refreshed my faith. “when the world hates you, remember that it has hated me first"

"I pray that the hope we have ignited burns long after we leave... and the change in our hearts spreads awareness of those who need us to be God's hands and feet"

"Father, your children here are hurting. Let them feel your presence surround them and your love hold them. Give them the ability to hold onto hope of a future better than they have dreamed. Christ have mercy."

"Just Peace and Love."

"I pray for Detroit. I pray for all the lives we touched this week. But I also pray for the lives here we did not get the chance to touch. I pray that their lived will be touched soon. Changes are being made. I pray things keep changing. I pray for each child and parent we helped by making it safer. I pray for all the things that got done and also all those that didn't That they will be done soon. You are changing things. Thank you."

"Thank you for the unity of Spirit that took place with the team."

"Lord, pour out grace and healing upon Detroit."

"Holy Spirit, restore the city to its place of prosperity, that the glory of the Lord falls upon us. Lord break the spirit of poverty, fear and shame within its walls."

"Lord, use the Church to bring your light into the darkness."

"Thank you for this week. You have been doing so much in this city and love this city. Thank you for putting it on the hearts of those in charge to put on this trip so we can visibly see what difference one person can do. We were able to be your hands and feet, serving others. It didn't seem like much work for us - but to those living in the neighborhood it made a difference and brought hope. Thank you for Brick. For his sister and family - for the refreshment we were able to bring them in simply cleaning a yard. Let him know you through that. He saw you though us. Thank you that we were able to be You to him. Thank you for our group who came, for those who grew this week and know you more because of it. Let us not forget what we have learned and experienced this week."

"Lord, a house is broken, a house is in disrepair, a house is ugly. Your love, Your servants changed a house that's fixed, a house repaired, a house that is beautiful. Your love changed our hearts, your love changed the hearts of those with the house, Your love made a garden grow without weeds, your love made people happy and gave them hope."

"Here in Detroit there are wounds, deep cuts that are leaving deep scars. So even though I believe that we touched so many people in this week, all of the people need assistance not just a select few. So please God love these people and send them your strength, so it will help heal this city. This city is all so filled with hopeful people. Please give them courage. Love. Love. Love."

"Help us to remember that through you, we can be the hands and feet, the light and hope for a world in need. Give us the courage and strength to stand up to and fight injustice wherever we might find it."

"I pray people realize how beautiful the city of Detroit is already, and how wonderful it can be."

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace - let me be an answer to someone's prayers, as Detroit has been to mine."

"Your love is all we need to change a life. Thank you Lord for Your abundant love."

"I pray for great communities, strong families and places of love and safety."

"Every kid in this city has a place to come 'home'"

"Detroit is Your city and thank for reminding me it's my city too! When we work with you we can make a difference in a big problem. Help is to keep making a difference and help everyone living here to have hope and have your love and peace guide them."

"I pray that the joy I saw in the people of Detroit will be contagious; that it will spread throughout the neighborhoods and among the people, young and old. I pray they will have hope. Enough to take action to carry on the work I now have to leave. I pray for an army of joyful, hopeful people who are energized to recreate this beautiful city - and make it better than its ever been."

-------------
I want to thank each and every person who has been a part of Motown Mission this summer. Your work and love has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many people. We all hunger for to be closer to one another, to something or someone that can anchor us in when the world seems to slip away. By participating in Motown Mission, you become that anchor for someone else, a beacon of light to the love of God. I can only hope that ministries like this will continue to grow and foster real relationships with God out of love and bravery through the abundant need of God's people.

Set Free

For so many people around the world the standard of living in the United States is an unobtainable goal. This shouldn't be too surprising, especially when we tend to think of starving children on the streets of Kenya, beggars lining the walkways of India, the shanty towns of Peru, and small fledgling villages in the heights of Katmandu, when we hear about folks who can't afford to be American. What tends not to cross most folks minds is that the standard of living of the United States is unobtainable in many places WITHIN the United States. All across the nation, in every city, there undoubtably exists a population that is beyond the brink. In the city of Detroit, this is true for so many, and the thing that always gets me is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

When banks foreclose most of your neighborhood, you are left with depreciating property value. As homes are foreclosed, the rate of crime, poverty, illness, poor nutrition, and death, increase. When banks refuse to lend to perfectly qualified folks in your neighborhood, you are left with an ever increasing rate of foreclosure and abandonment, and the cycle continues. That’s what I find so ridiculous about folks who believe that poverty, crime, and illness are endemic. For some people, that may be true, but to the vast majority of folks who find themselves left out, they are left with no choices. There are more than a few people I know of that have suggested that the best way to “solve” the poverty problem, in the United States, is to simply remove or “eradicate” all of the nation’s poor. This follows the same logic as some other folks who suggested that the best way to cure the AIDS epidemic was to round up all of the victims and separate them from the rest of society until they died off. This line of reasoning denies the possibility that there may, in fact, be something wrong with the way the problem is treated from the very beginning.

Most debates I have ever listened to, about who/what is right and who/what is wrong, ignore the one constant for all time; the past. I have friends who would say that many of the homeless I had worked with two years ago, were products of their own err. During that same time I had colleagues who were working with elementary aged kids in another part of the city. Several of their kids came from single parent homes, where their mother/father had abandoned them and whose remaining parent was a drug addict. The area is so poor that the existing school system is 20 years behind the one I was brought up in. The kids live off of a diet of highly processed food, with little to no fresh foods. Their parents are mostly out of work, so there is little money to buy much of anything as it is. One of the kids had become addicted to meth. He was 10 years old. When he grows up and walks into the office I used to work in and sits down with someone to talk about his needs, what would my friends say about him? Is he the product of his own err? Did he have a choice? 

The biggest conundrum that I think we will someday find ourselves in, is reconciling the benefits gained by some, through the losses of others. I may not be an active participant in what happened to that kid, but because I do nothing to stop it, and that I benefit from it, means that I passively accept it. Life inside the system is a life of either active or passive participation in other people’s oppression. Life outside of the system that so many American’s enjoy is a life of resistance. It is resisting the pressures to fail, the pressures to give up and quit. For far too many, there is no way of getting in. Once you’re out you’re out, even if that means you were born out. Every day is a struggle to see how you fit in the world. Every day is a test of your will to stay afloat. Every time you lose your job, or your kid’s school closes, it is a trail by fire. That is why every day that ministries like Motown Mission and JSCDC send people out to work, there is victory. Every day that someone is able to keep their home, who is on the brink, there is victory. Every time a neighbor mows the lawn in the vacant lot next door, or replaces a boarded window on a foreclosed home, there is victory. Every time the farmers market sells out of produce, there is victory. Every family that manages to stay together, there is victory. Every child that graduates high school, there is victory. And every time there is victory, the chains forced upon someone by the world around them are loosed, and every victory brings us all one step closer to being set free.

Gifts

Almost every night we do an evening worship session with our groups to give them a space to digest what they experienced during the day and relate those experiences to their faith. Tonight we asked the groups about gifts, and how their service relates. My coworker said something that I found to be very thought provoking. She said, “You guys have come here for a week and your experiences will last a week. But what you are doing, Ken will be living in that house for the next 3, 5, 10 years. The work you are doing in this week will be with him for a long time.” In other words, the actions that we carry out, the decisions we make, or even the gifts we give, may only last with us a short time, or in some memory. However, those same actions will continue to have an effect on someone else for a very long time. 

As I think about this revelation it reminds me of worship last night, where we talked about how God asks us to be a light and to do good. One of the questions we asked the youth was, why? Why does obeying that matter? Why should we do good things? If my coworker is right, it is because the effects of our actions last far longer than we may anticipate. God is asking us to act out of love because the choices we make will stick with others for a while and therefore the effects of our actions become magnified.

When folks come into the city and take pictures of all the abandoned buildings and then call them the “face” of Detroit, that has a lasting impact on the image of the city. When shows like Detroit 187 go on the air and claim to be the “real” Detroit, that has a lasting impact on the “safety” of the city. (By the way I know some folks who walked by one of the “murder” scenes from the show, all while being perfectly safe and enjoying their day in the real Detroit). When people talk about the “race riots” of the 60's and forget the race riots of the 40's, that has a lasting impact on the race relations in the city. 

When we go to work in the neighborhood and mow a few abandoned lots, that has a lasting impact on the safety of the neighborhood. When we are able to make a formerly unlivable house, livable again, that has a lasting impact on the quality of life in the neighborhood. When we till the land and successfully grow a crop of corn, that has a lasting impact on the hunger of the neighborhood. Because we do all of these things, instead of what so many other people do, we have a lasting impact on the faith of the neighborhood. It never ceases to amaze me when people see what our groups are doing and then come out and help. It also never ceases to amaze me, when I have a conversation with someone who stops by in the neighborhood and tells me that this work has restored their faith in God and what small acts of kindness are capable of doing.

We are to be lights in the world and do good, because a small act of kindness can go a long way, but so too can a small act of selfishness. That is why God is so good, because God allows us to minister to one another through love. Every group that comes in takes away the knowledge that they gave something of themselves, and that something will continue to grow and spread for a very long time.

Witness

You can drive down any block in the neighborhood that I work in and find a mixed bag. The average block has about 6 abandoned/foreclosed/burnt-out houses for every twenty that exist. Some have far more, some have far less. The Cody-Rouge neighborhood is on the West side of Detroit, just south of Brightmoor and just north of Dearborn. The average income is around $5,000, and the state of the economy and rate of joblessness isn’t helping. The stories that I hear from folks are all the same: “We were doing fine, but now that I’ve lost my job, I’ve got no where to go. We’re stuck, and the bills and repairs keep piling up.”

Cody-Rouge is a neighborhood that is struggling to keep its head above water. The good news is that it is succeeding, but not without its share of struggles. The other day I sat down in the JSCDC office to review applications for the next week’s projects. One of the hardest parts about the work I’m doing right now is that there are so few funds to spread around. When I looked through the enormous stack of applications I was overwhelmed with the size of many of the projects. My job was to pick a few that a group of unskilled volunteers could work on, that could be priced out at around $500 a project. Unfortunately, most of the projects required massive roof work, or plumbing, or electrical. The roof work is incredibly expensive and the plumbing and electrical require skilled labor. Many of the applicants will be left waiting until those gaps can be filled. This was the first time I was able to actually take a look at this seasons applications since I started working for Motown Mission in June. I knew the need had been great, but I was finding myself overwhelmed with the information in front of me. Each application is filled out by hand, so each one is incredibly personal. There is a lot you can tell about a person from the way they write, what they ask for, and how they ask for it. Each application is a hope, a prayer, a chance at a better reality. Each application represents a real person, who had committed the unforgivable crime of falling on hard times, only to look up and find no one there to help out. JSCDC is often a last line of defense in some parts of the neighborhood, the only barrier that is left between a real community and an abandoned section of city property. 

That’s why the work that the volunteers do here is so important. Every day that they are out working, breathes new life into the community. Every day that they are mowing a lawn, painting a house, playing with some kids, mortaring new front steps, painting a swing set, praying with a homeowner, planting some corn, or trimming an overgrown bush, awakens neighbors to the realization that there is something about this community worth saving, worth fighting for. Just today while the group was sitting out in front of the house, taking lunch, three different folks walked or drove by and thanked us for the work we were doing, saying how much they appreciated the difference we were making.

Part of my job over the next few weeks will be to review how we can improve over the next couple of years and help connect those folks with some greater needs to some folks with great heart. As we finish up this summer, the pile of applications still exists, and it keeps growing. But the neighborhood has come alive, and for every application that comes in, more hands from around the block come out to help. If that isn’t the power of the witness of God at work, then I don’t know what is.

The Destruction of Ignorance

I had spent a lot of time struggling with my calling. Not in the sense that I didn’t want to be called by God, but in the sense that I wasn’t sure if I could reconcile the two very distinct lifestyles that I have grown up in. On one hand, my life has been surrounded by wealth, prosperity, and a kind and loving environment. On the other hand, my heart has grown to love those who are surrounded by poverty, despair, oppression, and a suffocating and subjugating environment. I had a difficult time seeing where I fit. I have always been inclined to follow my heart, because I believe that that is where God speaks to me the most clearly. So I grew to be agitated by the decisions and prosperity of the people and area I grew up with. Part of me knew that if I were to pursue a particular track in ministry it would lead me to be a leader to people that I increasingly could not identify with. However, my experiences in my education and in the work that I have pursued over the past couple of years has reconnected me with reality and restored my patience. The conflict still exists, but the feelings of frustration and anger are far less intimately connected with a particular income bracket and are now directed at specific situations and circumstances.
For example, the volunteers that come to us at Motown Mission are all unique but they all share a similar sense of the unknown. Many groups have had people drop out at the last minute out of fear of the city. The ones that do arrive do so for many reasons, but the struggle for me has been to recognize that each person who comes, comes bravely. I have learned to recognize that each individual has had different life experiences and many of those experiences have not been so blessed as mine. So I have grown to see my role in ministry as one that rights the wrongs of a life of privilege. So many people live in blissful ignorance of the struggles that surround them. For me that focus has been primarily on the struggles of the poor and oppressed, but I have learned, from my fiance, that that ignorance can extend to a great number of things, including the environment and rest of God’s creation.
At Motown Mission we focus on the “slow motion Katrina” that is the economic disaster that plagues the city of Detroit. Within that we try to show our volunteers that the people they are serving did not choose this. The city did not collectively decide to become one of the poorest in the nation. What many of the neighborhoods have collectively decided is to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. In my eyes the city is like any other oppressed group of people driven to the brink. It is taking what no one will give it. There are neighborhoods in the city that have decided that they are fed up with the current system that exists, because that system treats them like they don’t exist. So neighborhoods take charge. No grocer will move into the city to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, so the people grow their own. No bank will lend to give them money to buy a vacant house on their street, so the block maintains the yard to keep the crime down. So few people want to help out with the task of, literally, cleaning up the streets that the job becomes impossible to handle, so when people do come out to clean up, local businesses offer discounts and a helping hand. There is so little money available that people can't afford goods or services, so some local business owners will barter the skills that are available.
It is because of all of that that I have loved working for Motown Mission. This job has given me the opportunity, every week, to help right the great wrong of privilege. This job has given me the chance to open peoples eyes, to see the world a little differently, to walk away a little less afraid, and a little more angry for all the right reasons.