written by Margaret Craddock, Executive Director, MIFA

They line up by 7:00 a.m.; eyes downcast, feet tapping, hands patting their children. They have never come to MIFA for help before; usually they are volunteering here and not standing in line themselves. Asking for help is uncomfortable, but now there is no other way to put food on the table or pay the utilities. They are the newly unemployed and therefore unaccustomed to negotiating social services. They are facing the foreclosure of their American Dream.

Several hundred people each day come to MIFA's Emergency Services Program for food vouchers, financial assistance or simply guidance from a kind person. Those in need receive help from the amazingly patient and warm-hearted staff. Seniors find hope in the Handyman Program, which provides critical home repairs, and teens find guidance in the Teen Jobs Program, which empowers young people by teaching life skills through after-school employment.

Memphis has an ugly legacy of wide-spread poverty; the current rate of 20 percent is unacceptable.* Our community has struggled for years with the effects of generational lack of assets and access. Severe mental and physical health problems prevent employment; too many children are lost; the jails are full. But today, this is compounded by the situational poverty emerging as a result of the economy.

We are in for a rough ride. Fortunately, Memphis' Safety Net infrastructure of social services is strong and mature, and Memphians are traditionally a giving group. Let's turn our attention to Memphis' "meet the basic needs groups," whose specialties are providing food, health care, crisis counseling, housing and financial assistance for the children, families and seniors who need them the most ... now.

*Source: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov