Pam Fueshko
Acting Executive Director
St. Peter’s Haven
pam@saintpetershaven.org
Liz Loden
Development Consultant
lizloden@irainmakers.com
Volunteer Coordinator
volunteers@saintpetershaven.org
The U.S. unemployment rate is under four percent, the lowest rate since 2000. And yet, 11.8 percent of the American population is food insecure.
Even with the economy approaching full employment, nearly 40 percent of adults reported that they or their families had trouble meeting at least one basic need for food, health care, housing, or utilities in 2017.
Nearly 51 million U.S. households do not earn enough to afford a monthly budget that covers housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and a cell phone.
66% of all jobs in the U.S. pay less than $20 an hour. They comprise child care workers, home health aides, office assistants, store clerks, Uber drivers, hotline operators, grocery baggers, adjunct professors (college students) at community-colleges, and more, all working two or three jobs to make ends meet with little if anything left to save.
Today, nearly a third of the American work force — 41.7 million laborers – earn less than $12 an hour, and almost none of their employers offer health insurance.
Minimum wage workers in the U.S. would need to work a 122-hour week, or hold down three full-time jobs, to make a modest two-bed rental home affordable.
Over 1,000 individuals utilize the food pantry at St. Peter’s Haven every month. Half are seniors and home-owners. They could be your neighbors, friends, or people that serve you in low-paying jobs.
During the 2016-2017 school year, 193 children in the Clifton school system self-identified as homeless, living with relatives or friends or in temporary housing.
Experiences of homelessness and housing instability in early childhood are associated with delays in children’s language, literacy, and social-emotional.
development.
In the winter of 2017/2018, 12 homeless individuals were living on Clifton streets. Three homeless men died on the streets.
The Federal Reserve Board recently reported that four in ten Americans can’t afford to cover an unexpected $400 expense.