D.C. Budget Cuts Would Slam The Poor
July 30th, 2009 · No Comments · Posted in food news
Saving the city's safety net
Bread for the City is one of those organizations that normally works behind the scenes, not only feeding the poor but providing a variety of badly needed social services. The group also has a dynamite blog that lately has been dishing up some cogent–and very scary–analyses of how Mayor Adrian Fenty’s recessionary budget proposals, scheduled to be taken up by the City Council tomorrow, would slash programs for the District’s least fortunate.
The proposed cuts in social services take millions–some $52 million in all–from programs that aide families with children, as well as others that provide legal services, disability services, youth jobs, rent support. In other words, the budget axe is coming down disproportionately on the poor. Here’s a more complete list under the heading “D.C.’s Safety Net is in Danger.”
Bread for the City itself is looking at a $500,000 cut in city funding. That comes on top of some $500,000 the agency has already slashed from its spending, mainly by reducing staff salaries and cutting service hours to clients.
Here’s what Bread for the City says it could do with that $500,000 in city funds:
• We could distribute a three-day supply of groceries to 2,874 hungry homes
• We could conduct 2,332 social services visits
• We could conduct 2,243 examinations in our medical clinic
• We could provide 2,332 hours of legal representation
Services like these, according to the group’s analysis, save the city far more than what is represented in the budget proposals. Bread for the City has launched a petition drive to try and stave off these cuts. It’s not too late to add your voice. Consider sigining on to the “Save our Safety Net” petition.
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