POVERTY IN ALLEN COUNTY: Today, I spent a good portion of the day in the Citys 6th District. The line around Community Harvest Food Bank is always depressing, especially when seeing children in line without proper coats and cold weather gear. In light of the discussion below, I just wanted to get a real good feel for what these folks and others in their area are experiencing/thinking/wanting and needing. I didnt just visit Community Harvest, but other food banks (many in churches) as well as non-food bank sites, like the Grand Opening of the Grocery Store beside Pizza by Vito on Anthony as well as Ya Boy, Kaysans, Renaissance Restaurant, George Jones Auto Repair, Chips Auto Repair, Don Yeoman Auto Service, NuTech, AutoZone, Southern Heights Baptist Church, and more. I also revisited the residential area surrounding the location of the 2012 fire in the Wayne Trace Industrial Park and part of that felt like a homecoming. The business owners are divided on many issues -- but most are upset by the negative media coverage of their existing problems (i.e. high crime) and lack of positive media coverage, like how increased crime and high gas prices have caused a decrease in carry-out Pizza by Vito but has caused an increase in the number of pizzas being requested for delivery. (Btw, special thanks to Jerry Vito for taking time out to talk with me.) Business owners and residents alike are tired of the City and the County knowing that the same problems have existed for years going on decades and how no one (elected leaders) is doing anything about it. They say the problems are more than high crime, but increased number of homes left vacant, decrease of grocery stores and retailers, the long time it takes services to be restored to that area when there are natural problems like winter storms or tornado like forces. They also complained about how the water quality is poor, the police presence is high but menacing, and that well-intended church leaders talk-the-talk of holding meetings with elected leader to understand problems....but that is meaningless as nothing is changing and things continue to get worse. When discussing financial matters, such as Legacy Funding--businesses and residents are angered and frustrated. Businesses feel too small to get in the whole tax abatement deal and residents already know that many of the jobs created will be out of their reach. Residents also voiced frustration at how schools and higher education are out of their reach---ironically, not because of financing/financial aid, but because they dont have the gas money to get to and from traditional classes, that busses dont run as late as classes, and that they dont have the money for the kind of internet plans that allow them access to online educational programs. Business owners expressed an interesting problem -- that as more and more business go out of business, fewer and fewer people make it a point to visit locations that sporadically host a business here and a business there. Businesses and residents alike feel as though they are in a catch 22 and no one cares....and they are mad as heck that so much money is being dumped into Downtown and yet there is none to spare for help in the Citys 6th/Countys 1st District. Spending the day in this part of town was an amazing eye opener....and a sad one at that. :-(
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 03:47:35 +0000
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